The National Alliance on Mental Illness Mississippi will host its annual spring conference on Thursday, May 17, and Friday, May 18, at the Dr. Billy Kim International Center at Belhaven University. The theme of this year's event is "Thrive: Navigating the Journey."
The conference will feature lectures on the role of law-enforcement leaders, faith communities, schools, advocacy groups and media outlets in promoting mental health, reducing the stigma of mental illness, and helping provide access to mental-health support and services.
Confirmed speakers include Dr. Bradford Smith, director of Belhaven University's Institute for International Care and Counsel; editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey; Tiffany Anderson-Washington, coordinator of mobile crisis response with Hinds Behavioral Health Services; Dr. Thomas V. Recore, a forensic and clinical psychiatrist at Mississippi State Hospital; Daisy Carter, executive Director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of the Central Mississippi Area; Diana Mikula, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health; and more.
The conference will also feature breakout sessions and panel discussons on a variety of topics, including how the media presents mental illness, youth mental health, chemical dependence, jail and prison-to-community transitions, and self-care practices for caregivers.
Featured panelists include Jewel Hillery, a WAPT reporter and director of marketing at The Redeemer's School; Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence Executive Director Wendy Mahoney; WAPT News anchor Erin Pickens; Lauren Parker, mental health advocacy and public policy intern for NAMI Mississippi; and more.
Admission is $85 per day or $125 for both sessions. For more information or to register for the conference, visit http://www.namims.org/conference2018/.
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