I wanted to announce my new speaker website. It probably has some glitches and typos so if you see any, let me know. There is also a blog there but it will be geared to professional pursuits. Your stories, my stories, will still be on this site.
Kim O’Brien, PhD, LICSW, and I spoke at this event for social workers. It was such an honor for me to co-present with Kim and she was amazing. We are in the first three hours. It’s long. But worthwhile if you work with adolescents which were our focus.
Watch at the YouTube link below:
Kim was my co-author for the book, Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognize Students at Risk. My first book, a memoir is Diary of a Broken Mind which includes my son’s lyrics … Read more...
I was honored to be one of the opening keynote suicide prevention speakers at this youth summit with Christopher Thomas Veal, in February 2021. The focus was to get together stakeholders across the USA and create a blueprint for how healthcare systems can come together to prevent youth suicide.
Chris and I represented the voices of lived experience. How did I see things from the perspective of a parent who had a child who struggled and died by suicide? How did Chris see things from the perspective of someone who struggled?
The following presentations and small workgroups were very … Read more...
This is my candid thirty-minute conversation about depression, addiction, suicide, COVID social restrictions, and more with Charles Gates from Local Legislature Live.
The Speak Up Reach Out (SURO) event in Edward, Colorado was the first live event I’ve done since February. COVID-19 shut down most live events. However, they did this one outside within guidelines as people sat on lawn chairs spaced apart. Although it doesn’t appear to be so, attendance was great with some 80 people attending this outdoor walk event.
Earlier that week, air quality was unbreathable due to fires. Then it snowed and was stormy. But Saturday, September 12, 2020 in Edward, Colorado? It was gorgeous.
The SURO organization is really amazing and I love how they work together … Read more...
It’s never the “right time.” So we need to talk about it all the time.
There are a lot of events happening soon. So I’m going to post the ones coming up fast. The calendar links will add it to your calendar together with a registration link so you won’t forget to sign up. Join me for one or all of these. And please share.
DATE/TIME
Date(s) – Fri, 08/28/2020
2:00 pm-3:00 pm EDT
Woohoo! I qualified to be a National Speaker’s Association Professional Member. At the moment, I have more virtual events than ones on stages but it’s taken a year to qualify and I turned in all my paperwork and now it’s official.
I hope you are OK with my sharing my braggy news. And if you know of someone looking for a speaker on topics about mental health, grief, suicide prevention, or addiction see my professional speaking page.
This isn’t all of it but it’s most of it. And here I thought February would be a slow month.
A Night For Scott Fundraiser for Recovery Scholarships
Legislature for HB 1063- Abolishing Suicide as a crime. Didn’t pass.
Speaking at school nurse’s conference at VCU
Panel at Jewish Community Center for Screeing of Kevin Hines … Read more...
Teri Rafferty, Nora & Andrew Crouch bought books for the SUD support group at REAL LIFE. None of these participants are in a place in their recovery to afford a book but they wanted one. And it looks like we didn’t do landscape and get every one in the picture. But we tried! It was a great group and I appreciated how everyone participated.
I have a list of high schools, however, you might want to request that I speak to a high school near you. If so, please list the name of the school and add other information about that school on the Google form below. That form will populate a spreadsheet from which I will work those contacts.
I will be sending an actual paper letter in an envelope to the principals of these high schools and follow up with phone call and an email.
At this time, I am focusing on high schools and … Read more...
