Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities Part II

August 3, 2010

This NNED Network in Action Forum call that took place on July 28, 2010, is the second of a two-part series featuring efforts taking place in communities across the nation to celebrate Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (view the recording of Part I).  This call focused on the Asian American, African American, and LGBT communities.  Speakers provided both a national overview of the efforts taking place to enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities and focused on local efforts in New Jersey and California.  To learn what other communities are doing and see how you too can celebrate this important month, download presentation slides from the webinar below.

Watch the webinar recording.

Speakers:

DJ Ida  |  Executive Director, NAAPIMHA

Dr. D.J. Ida has over thirty years experience working with the Asian American Pacific Islander communities and received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado.  She has a long history of community organization and helped establish several organizations including the Asian Pacific Development Center, a specialty mental health clinic in Denver, the National Asian American, Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, NAAPIMHA, and the National Alliance of Multi-ethnic Behavioral Health Associations.

Kavoos Bassiri  |  President and CEO, Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.

Kavoos G. Bassiri is President & CEO of Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS), a private non-profit mental health agency in San Francisco.  He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Group Psychotherapist with over two decades of clinical and administrative experience in the field of mental health. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF School of Medicine and maintains a private psychotherapy & consultation practice.

Kathy Wright  |  Executive Director, New Jersey Parents’ Caucus

Kathy Wright’s experience as an advocate, mental health professional, educator and marketing professional has spanned over two decades. Most recently, she has been instrumental in developing and implementing programs and supportive services that empower parents, caregivers and family members who are raising children with severe mental health challenges. She Executive Director of the New Jersey Parents’ Caucus (NJPC) and is the developer of NJPC’s New Jersey Model of Parent Empowerment and Collaboration & Parents Empowerment Academy and remains dedicated to working with families to become self-sufficient, overcome the stigma placed on them by society and work with dignity as collaborative partners with professionals. 

Caitlin Ryan  |  Project Director, Family Acceptance Project

Caitlin Ryan is the Director of the Family Acceptance Project.™ Caitlin is a clinical social worker who has worked on LGBT health and mental health since the 1970s, and AIDS since 1982. She received her clinical training with children and adolescents at Smith College School for Social Work in inpatient and community mental health programstwo-part and began her social work career in school-based psychoeducational settings. Caitlin pioneered community-based AIDS services at the beginning of the epidemic; initiated the first major study to identify lesbian health needs in the early 1980s; and has worked to implement quality care for LGBT youth since the early 1990s. She developed the Family Acceptance Project™ with Rafael Diaz in 2002 to promote family support, decrease risk and improve well-being for LGBT youth.

** This webinar was offered in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Multicultural Action Center, National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, National Latino Behavioral Health Association, First Nations Behavioral Health Association, National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, and the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health. **