HR!Day496 - Global Youth Mental Health Summit Day V: Parenting and Youth Mental Health

--- Humanity Rising Day 496 - Friday June 10, 2022      _{(GoTo Bottom)}

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Reconnecting with ourselves, with each other and with nature holds the promise of achieving a healthy environment for our youth.

Our modern society has become disconnected from the Earth and each other. The state of natural mental health has been lost as a result of the loss of good psychological, social and environmental conditions. In the past these healthy conditions were created by family and community which held the core values in common, supported each other and provided needed support. We have forgotten how to achieve harmonious relationships and be effective parents. Reconnecting with ourselves, with each other and with nature holds the promise of achieving a healthy environment for our youth.

Dr. Meredith Sagan, Connecting the Dots Director, Noemi Weis, accompanied by youth film participants from around the world, will reflect on what needs to change for a brighter future ahead.

Moderators:

• Micaela Harley, Caregiver Groundbreaker, Frayme
• Kristy Allen, Knowledge Equity Specialist, Frayme

Panelists:

• Dr. Meredith Sagan is a UCLA Semel Institute-trained holistic psychiatrist, holds a Masters in International Public Health, has a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry, and is an expert in treating trauma and addiction through movement and body-based therapy methods. She has over 25 years of professional experience working with children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of contexts, including the foster care system, inpatient and outpatient behavioral health, juvenile hall/correctional facilities, elite residential treatment facilities, and a successful Santa Monica-based private practice. Dr. Sagan completed her residency at UCLA, during which time she also travelled to India to study yoga therapy as a treatment for anxiety disorders. She also helped bring mindfulness research into what later grew into the MARC Institute at UCLA.Her passion for helping people heal from mental health issues led her to study with shamans, spiritual leaders, and yoga masters from around the world in an exploration of diverse approaches to healing. Through the integration of everything she learned, Dr. Sagan found that the root of people’s mental health issues is a disconnection from their core self as a result of trauma and instability. These experiences have led her to the discovery that the best way to help people heal from mental health issues is through Self-Alignment (living from a healthy, integrated state of self-connection) starting with physical, emotional, and mental stability, by working through the body in order to develop the skills for resilience and healthy relationships with others.

• Noemi Weis is an award winning Writer, Director and Producer that has spent over 20-years telling stories on the big and small screens, from her worldwide advertising projects to her award winning documentaries. As a humanitarian and an advocate leader Noemí journeys where stories take her to bring voice to the world’s most vulnerable. Her films have been seen in more than 100 countries receiving numerous awards but most important, making in a difference in communities around the world. She received a passionate message of support from Mm. Sophie Gregoire Trudeau for her film MILK and has been honoured with an invitation to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican in recognition of the impact her films have created in global communities. Additionally, Noemi has been recognized as one of the top 10 most influential Hispanic-Canadians, award given by Toronto Mayor John Tory. Noemi is a proud member of the Unesco, Team Canada’s Trade Missions and a Business Ambassador of Ontario, promoting the merits of Canadian production abroad. In this capacity, she participates in trade missions and has been honoured with the nomination of “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” for three years in a row, the last one by Export Development Canada and nominated as a finalist for “Woman Entrepreneur of the World,” as the sole Canadian nominee. For more information: www.filmblanc.com

• Tom Eddington is an author, Executive Coach and Business Advisor, and Executive Producer of “Connecting the Dots”. He holds an M.S. in Organization Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. As a scholar of Conscious Leadership, he is passionate about bringing more conscious leadership into the world which he does through his coaching and advisory work, film and media projects and Board positions. As CEO of Endangered.global he brings his commitment and experience to impacting climate change and biodiversity loss.

• Kristy Allen (she/her) is a Canadian youth advocate and a Knowledge Equity specialist with Frayme. She holds a Masters of Public Health degree, with a concentration in Social Inequities in Health, from Simon Fraser University. She is passionate about knowledge mobilization and knowledge equity, and believes that community engagement is the key to creating sustainable programs and services. Through her personal experiences, she advocates for youth, caregivers, and advocates to be key stakeholders in youth mental health system transformation. Kristy lives just outside of Muskoka, Ontario and is an avid hiker, skier, yogi, who can often be found with her canine sidekick, Moose.

• Micaela Harley (she/her) is a strategic change maker in the Youth Mental Health and Substance Use System, with a focus on the inclusion of lived and living expertise within this work. Micaela’s passion for change in this area began in her early teen years, stemming from her own personal experiences as both a direct service user and a youth providing caregiving support to a loved one who was struggling. Utilizing these experiences, along with her professional and educational knowledge, she has advised and implemented a variety of youth mental health and substance use projects within local, national and international contexts. At Frayme, Micaela works strategically to ensure the expertise of youth, caregiver and advocates are embedded through the work being done internal to Frayme and externally within the system. When Micaela is not working, she enjoys painting, reading, watching Netflix, and going on adventures. Additionally, Micaela has graduated from the Bachelor of Social Work program at Carleton University and Masters of Applied Health Sciences degree at Western University.

• Angel Richards is from from Ajax, ON, Canada and decided when she turned 18 that she needed to make her mental health a priority. From as early as age six, Angel started having frequent panic attacks. After years of suffering with depression and anxiety, and learning how to cope with past traumas, she now uses her music as a way to escape, heal, and inspire others. Since being Featured in the "Connecting the Dots" film, she went on to speak on the Marilyn Denis Show for Bell Let's Talk Day 2021. Earlier this year, Angel became an official  youth mental health advocate for the Made of Millions Foundation. Together they launched the "Shame Shouldn't be a Symptom" campaign and worked with CTV to release the youtube series "What We Get Wrong About Mental Health". It focused on debunking the misconceptions we have about different mental illnesses. Sharing her story on the "Connecting the Dots" film has truly "changed her life" she says. Angel is currently studying social work. Her aim is to learn how to help those in crisis. She looks forward to shedding more light on the reality of living with a mental illness!

• Finty Royle is a medical student and international mountain runner passionate about creating change within the healthcare system so that young people have the best chance of reaching their potential. Finty is a youth ambassador for the national autistic society and speaks at conferences on the topics of mental health and autism. She also participates in campaigning for many charities and is a youth advisor for organizations. Finty is one of the youth film participants in the Connecting the Dots film with the hopes that more young people can be empowered to talk about mental health.

• Heavenly Tanner is  a 21 year old college student that attends Indiana University Southeast. She says” I participated in this eye-opening film when I was about 17 years old simply for the purpose of I wanted to make a difference. I went through some depression and anxiety as a teenager due to being bullied. I used to think I didn't have a purpose. But I found my purpose through my pain and that is to become a psychologist and a motivational speaker. I am destined to shine light on youth's mental health, and to let them know that bad times do not last forever, they are worthy, and they have purpose.”

• Lyr Weltsman is the founder of BreakingTheChalk, an education and mental health company. That aims to break the way we provide education and support our youths' mental health; with progressive education, therapy, and awareness for the needed change. Since the age of fourteen, Lyr struggles with mental illness and is passionate about sharing her story through her advocacy and company. For the past eight years, Lyr has been the Youth Spokesperson for the South African Federation of Mental Health and speaks at governmental conferences, podcasts, talks, summits, and international mental health research. She is dedicated to standing up for the youth and the staggering suicide, bullying, and mental illness statistics worldwide through her advocacy and work. Lyr believes that mental health stigma and misunderstandings are primarily due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of mental health and a lack of support for our kids and teens. With her company, she is leading efforts to improve youth mental health and education by empowering our future generations.

• Lexi Shepard is a Sophomore studying Foreign Language Education at Ball State University. At seventeen, she had the privilege to begin her mental health advocacy with her participation in Connecting the Dots, a film by Naomi Weis. Lexi is also a dancer, published author, and member of the LGBTQ+ community.

• Mariana Politti is a PhD candidate in psychology at Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) with a research grant from the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). Her research interests are in legal psychology and psychological well-being. Participating in Connecting the Dots was a very enriching experience for her professional life and has helped her to have a broader and more holistic view of social problems.

• Shannon Ackerman is a senior at Eastern Kentucky University majoring in Psychology with a focus in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She is aspiring to achieve my Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Shannon participated in the Connect the Dots documentary during her freshman and sophomore year of college . “My participation in the film contributed heavily to my road to recovery. It not only showed me new methods and ways of coping, but jt also showed me that I wasn't alone on a national scale, but also an international scale."

• Jake Bradshaw lives in Toronto and is a recent graduate of Queen's University where he studied Politics, Philosophy & Economics. Ever since his own struggle with depression and anxiety he has been passionate about mental health advocacy. Jake has advocated for mental health through public speaking, writing and community organizing alongside a variety of organizations. Jake loved being apart of Connecting the Dots and having the opportunity to share his experience with mental illness in order to break down the stigma that still exists. Jake is now a Co-Founder of The Social Reset, an organization that is working to address the mental health crisis by empowering young Canadians to spend less time on technology and more time connecting with the offline world.

Co-convener:

• Jim Garrison, President, Ubiquity University

66 Participants

Resources:

Dr. Meredith Sagan : <nowiki>http://www.drsagan.com::

Connecting the Dots: <nowiki>https://connectingthedotsfilm.com/::

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