A Publication of NAMI Wisconsin The State s Voice on Mental Illness. The Iris. Volume 29 Issue 2 March/April 2014

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1 A Publication of NAMI Wisconsin The State s Voice on Mental Illness The Iris Volume 29 Issue 2 March/April 2014 In This Issue Hope & Recovery 2 Poems by Michael Smith NAMI Wisconsin Welcomes Kyira! Around the State & the Nation 3 Your Advocacy Made A Difference! Affiliate Highlights 4 Program Focus 5 Tobacco Treatment is Part of Recovery News from NAMI Wisconsin 6 Board of Directors Nominations 2nd Annual Video Contest Annual Conference Registration 7 & 8 Registration open until April 30 State Conference Schedule 9 Ask the Doctor 10 The Path to Becoming a Community Psychiatrist President and Executive Director Columns 11 Johnson & Johnson is a proud sponsor of the NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference 2014: Perspective Makes A Difference The NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference 2014, which takes place May 2-3 at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton, is approaching quickly! Although it comes with countless preparations, we are enthusiastic and thrilled about what this year s conference will bring. Appleton is the highlight of the Fox Cities, a unique blend of urban style and small town warmth located along the Fox River. This isn t all it has to offer though, as Appleton is a city rich with resources and support systems for people living with mental illness. One of NAMI Wisconsin s largest local affiliates, NAMI Fox Valley, is emerging as the Fox Cities voice on mental illness. With over 30 years of experience, NAMI Fox Valley takes part in copious collaborations and partnerships, including the United Way Fox Cities campaign focused on promoting and supporting mental health and the Children s Mental Health Initiative working to create a system of care from prenatal to young adulthood. We are pleased to host our conference in Appleton, a community that is so invested in mental health. NAMI gives a voice to people in my community. It brings hope that recovery and a full life is available to everyone Conference attendee, when asked why NAMI is important This year s conference, Perspective Makes A Difference, celebrates diversity, making the most of every individual s background, experiences and views. For the first time, NAMI Wisconsin s Annual Conference will include two special tracks, meaning, a series of workshops specially designed for a certain audience. The first is a CIT Track, for CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) officers, which will take place on Friday, May 2. This track will offer trainings on special topics for CIT officers only, including Juvenile Interventions and Building Collaborations with Local Governments. CIT officers will have a chance to network and deepen their understanding of crisis intervention. The second track is a Youth Track for young adults and students (ages 15-26), which will take place on Saturday, May 3. The Youth Track will offer workshops with topics of interest to young adults, including The Role of Peer Support and a Q&A session on The Brain with Dr. Mark Rovick, a local child psychiatrist and winner of NAMI s Outstanding Psychiatrist Award. Young adults will get engaged with the mental health movement by connecting with other young adults and working together to drive social change. Thanks to the Fox Valley Community Foundation, NAMI Wisconsin is able to offer Youth Track scholarships for young adults and students to attend the Youth Track FOR FREE! Call for details. But the conference activities don t stop there. Join us Friday evening for an exclusive performance of Behind the Door, a locally written series of vignettes regarding mental illness, performed by Appleton North high school students and directed by Ron Parker. Conference attendees will also have a chance to get their picture taken for NAMI Wisconsin s Why I Join campaign to boost NAMI membership and increase the impact we have on the community. Turn to page 9 for a complete list of conference workshops! NAMI Wisconsin is an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

2 Poems by Michael Smith Michael Smith facilitates a creative writing class at the Positive Image Center, a peer-run drop-in center in West Bend. She moves She moves carefully but deliberate planned and yet unknown and unpredictable even to her, but still she glides above like an angel appraising this unfortunate circumstance and giving praise to the heavenly host above awaiting my imminent arrival sooner or later 2 - The Iris Hope and Recovery FLIGHT I see it every day the black crows that nest up in the cemetery window just outside my house. they soar through the sky apprehensively as if flying somehow kept them alive. But they are not hawks or eagles or even ducks. They have no real purpose. They have no real audience. Most people consider them some sort of nuisance But the crackle of the crow itself is somewhat rewarding to me because I often feel I have no real purpose that people just don t care I hear the early morning song of the crow and it reminds me that I too must sing my song if not once than twice if not twice, then three times. Sure we could go on like this forever, but let it be heard that your song never ended because you never gave up just as the crow will never end its crackle. Sun beams Sun beams warm across my face piercing the cold winter air. Comfort in a cold desolate landscape where the snow rests like a thick white blanket of no consolation. But I seek comfort here beneath the sun beams caressing my cold heart reminding me that there is always Hope. This past January, NAMI Wisconsin welcomed Kyira Hauer to our team as our new Associate Director. Kyira is primarily responsible for supporting and developing our local affiliates and membership. She will work alongside our dedicated affiliates as they continue to grow their programs, expand outreach and advocacy efforts and strive to meet the NAMI standards of excellence. Kyira will be there to provide support and guidance and will promote and celebrate successes with our affiliates! When it comes to growing our membership, she brings some great ideas and looks forward to engaging and growing NAMI membership statewide. Kyira is also eager to hear from members so that they can help to shape the future of NAMI in Wisconsin. As a state organization we are always striving to build a strong, cohesive and integrated network of affiliates and members. This new position is an exciting step forward and we see great potential with Kyira at the helm of our membership and affiliate development! Growing up as the only child of a single mom who suffered from Bipolar Disorder and a severe drug addiction, Kyira has been active in the field of mental health and addictions since an early age. She has attended Al-Anon support groups and other support groups and workshops for children with a parent with a dual diagnosis. Her life experiences and curiosity to expand her knowledge drew her to the field of medicine and public health. Kyira focused her studies on Medical Microbiology and Immunology while studying at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, obtaining her Bachelors of Science in She then furthered her experiences in the field through activities including medical mission work in both Nicaragua and Nepal, employment at Journey Mental Health Center in Madison, providing in-home therapy to children diagnosed with autism, and held an active role in both the Recovery Coalition and the Chemical Dependency Consortium of Dane County. In thinking about her position here, she says, This job came at a wonderful time in my life and has ignited a passion in me to delve deep into the workings of the organization and further the impact I will be able to have by helping those around me fellow staff, affiliates, state and national representatives and all of the people they reach in their respective communities.

3 Around the State & the Nation Your Advocacy Made a Difference! In February, many of you received Action Alerts from NAMI Wisconsin and NAMI National asking you to speak out to protect the availability of mental health medications in the Medicare Part D program. The agency that runs Medicare (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)) proposed a rule that would, among many troubling provisions, remove the protected status of several classes of drugs including antidepressant and antipsychotic medications. As many of us know too well, it can take years to find the right medication(s). When the proposal was announced, we heard from many NAMI members who were, frankly, terrified about the potential prospect of experiencing another painstaking process of trial and error. As one NAMI Wisconsin member so eloquently summarized: I dread the thought of having to go through trials of different drugs if the special protections are lifted and my current medications are not offered or, if offered, require special authorization or exception. I fear the adverse effects of trying new drugs, but also the lack of control of my bipolar disorder. If [this proposal moves forward], I fear that for the remainder of my life I could be battered by adverse drug effects and active bipolar illness as I go through the possibly futile process of [trying new medications]. After receiving thousands of similar comments from consumers, family members and advocates, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced that they would not move forward with their proposal to restrict anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications in the Medicare Part D program. This decision shows what can be accomplished through grassroots advocacy! In their announcement, CMS specifically noted that they would not seek changes to Medicare Part D without meaningful stakeholder input. In other words, they heard us and knew we could not be ignored. Congratulations to all those who took a few moments to respond to the Action Alert and make your voice heard! To receive Action Alerts from NAMI Wisconsin, please Annabelle (annabelle@namiwisconsin.org) with Action Alert Sign-up in the subject line. Join our voice! The mission of NAMI Wisconsin is to improve the quality of life of people affected by mental illnesses and to promote recovery. NAMI Wisconsin will accomplish its mission through the following: Establishing local Affiliates in keeping with NAMI s principles and guidelines. Supporting Affiliates by providing follow-up advice and counsel, educational and training programs and materials, access to financial resources as appropriate, conferences, seminars, and presentations. Advocating at all levels of government and throughout the public sector. Promoting public education and understanding of mental illnesses. This newsletter is published six times per year. The views expressed in the newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily those of our officers or funding sources. Newsletter materials may be reproduced without further permission, if credited, except for artwork, which is copyrighted. See her in action! Annabelle Potvin, NAMI Wisconsin s Advocacy Coordinator, will be presenting at the NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference 2014! She will present NAMI Smarts, an advocacy 101 training on how to use your personal story when contacting legislators. The session takes place from 1:00-2:15 on Saturday, May 3. See you there! The Iris - 3

4 NAMI Brown County is continuing to grow its outreach- they are always looking for ways to help. They will offer a book club for women- Ladies Relaxing Book Club. Call Sue for more information- (920) They also have the Expressive Explorations Art Show coming up on Saturday, April 5 at the downtown library. NAMI Brown County also helped to create a Victory Garden for the Gathering Place drop-in center. It has been nominated for the large group category for the WPS Volunteer award! Good luck! NAMI Chippewa Valley had a movie screening during their last general meeting. They screened two documentaries- Unlisted, the story of a girl s attempt to reconcile with her father who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and Crisis in Control, about a living will for individuals living with a mental illness, called Psychiatric Advanced Directive (PAD). NAMI Oshkosh held their co-sponsored event with the Community for Hope of Greater Oshkosh, Confessions of a Depressed Comic with comedian Kevin Breel, a 20-year-old writer, comedian and mental health activist. Breel, who has been featured in the Huffington Post, on MTV and The Today Show, gave two presentations to schools and the general public that brought in over 800 people! Affiliate Highlights: NAMI Door County is offering some awesome groups at JAK s Place in addition to their general meetings and support groups. Tai Chi, Yoga, Chess, Art, Nutrition, Film and Journaling Poets- to name a few- are all offered from week to week. Call (920) to find out more. DOUGLAS BAYFIELD IRON ASHLAND VILAS BURNETT SAWYER PRICE ONEIDA FOREST POLK BARRON RUSK LINCOLN TAYLOR LANGLADE ST. CROIX DUNN CHIPPEWA OCONTO MARATHON MENO- PIERCE PEPIN EAU CLAIRE CLARK MINEE SHAWANO PORTAGE BUFFALO OUTA- WOOD GAMIE JACKSON BROWN WAUSHARA WINNE- CAL- LA BAGO UMET CROSSE MONROE MAR- QUETTE SHE- FOND DU LAC BOYGAN VERNON GREEN DODGE RICH- LAKE LAND SAUK COLUMBIA WASH- INGTON OZAUKEE Madison Milwaukee GRANT IOWA DANE MILWAUKEE LAFAYETTE GREEN ROCK WAL- RACINE WORTH KENOSHA WASHBURN TREMPEALEAU CRAWFORD JUNEAU ADAMS WAUPACA JEFFERSON FLORENCE MARINETTE WAUKESHA NAMI LaCrosse hosted a movie screening of Call Me Crazy during their February meeting. They invited representatives from NAMI Vernon, NAMI Trempealeau, NAMI Monroe and NAMI Winona. In addition to the screening, they provided information about NAMI and their affiliate as well as welcomed discussion about people s experiences while watching the film. At their last meeting NAMI LaCrosse also brought in State Senator Jennifer Shilling to discuss how the state government works and recent mental health law changes. MANITOWOC NAMI Monroe County is enhancing its services and plans to add 5 new programs by the summer of They will add Family-to-Family, Peer-to-Peer, In Our Own Voice, Connections and Family Support Groups! For inquiries, info@namimonroecounty.org. NAMI Manitowoc and Prevent Suicide Manitowoc co-sponsored a talk by Jon Lehrmann, an MD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with a play - Night Mother - by two professional actors, both followed by a panel discussion. The event was FREE to the public and they saw a good turnout! DOOR KEWAUNEE NAMI Greater Milwaukee hosted their yearly art show- Creativity Heals- at the Stonefly Brewery. The show featured art, performance, spoken word, and more. Jeanette Arellano, coordinator of this free event, says she wanted to show an example of what the arts and mental health can look like in a community basis when integrating local non-traditional artists living with mental health issues and with local artists. They had a great turn out and thank everyone who attended the event! NAMI Northwoods partnered with North Central Health Care to host their re-launch event to teach people in their community how to strengthen their voice and impact the community. Representatives were interviewed by hometown radio station, Sunny 1230 AM, to discuss implications and the importance of NAMI. Way to go! NAMI Oshkosh President Jamie Schrauth stands with comedian Kevin Breel after the event in Oshkosh. Chrissy Seidler of North Central Health Care tells WJFW TV-12 about how their partnership with NAMI can help fill the gaps in their community. 4 - The Iris

5 Program Focus Tobacco Treatment is Part of Recovery Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable deaths of Americans. Smoking causes more than 443,000 deaths annually and overall mortality among both male and female smokers in the United States is about three times higher than that among similar people who never smoked. In America, 22% of adults have a mental illness or substance abuse disorder, but consume 44% of cigarettes smoking in the United States. Their risk of heart disease is seven times higher than peers without such disorders and can take off an average of 24 years of life. Smoking cessation is necessary to help these individuals live longer and healthier lives. I am working on replacing smoking with daily exercise to keep me busy and better my health. It is important to replace cigarettes with something positive. Carol, long-time smoker Quitting smoking is hard, but with the available information and resources, the burden can be lifted by helping smokers to quit. The Wisconsin Mental Health Consumer Survey found that while almost 40% of patients would like to quit smoking, only half believe they would be able to do so successfully. Integrating tobacco treatment into the care for patients with mental-health or substance-abuse issues, offering relatable success stories and providing education can inspire and motivate. According to a WiNTiP survey, 23 percent of Wisconsin patients with mental illness have already quit smoking. Working together can provide the necessary resources to continue this success! NAMI Wisconsin, in partnership with the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), has been working on a multiyear research project that looks at the role that certified peer specialists (CPS) play in helping their peers quit smoking. This May, thanks to a grant provided by the Wisconsin Partnership Program, NAMI Wisconsin will hire two CPS s to work in Madison-based community support programs to serve as smoking cessation intervention specialists. Along with our academic partner UW-CTRI, and other stakeholders, NAMI Wisconsin will also be looking at ways to expand and sustain the use of CPS s as smoking intervention specialists. Smoking Cessation Resources: Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line: Freedom From Smoking: See it in action! The NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference will offer a workshop on Smoking and Mental Illness: What Can We Do with information about the relationship between mental illness and smoking as a call to action. Presenters Kim Murphy (CPS and smoking intervention specialist) and Bruce Christiansen (Lead Researcher UW- CTRI) will briefly describe the most effective, evidence-based, ways to quit and allow the audience time to share their experiences and ask questions. NAMI Wisconsin s Local Affiliates: Barron: (715) Brown: (920) Chequamegon Bay: (715) (Ashland, Bayfield) Chippewa Valley: (715) (Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire) Dane: (608) Dodge: (920) Door: (920) Fond du Lac: (920) Fox Valley: (920) (Outagamie, Calumet, Waupaca, Winnebago) Green: (608) Kenosha: (262) La Crosse: (608) Manitowoc: (920) Marinette (WI) & Menominee (MI): (906) Milwaukee: (414) Northern Lakes: (715) (Vilas, Oneida, Forest) Northwoods: (715) (Marathon, Lincoln, Langlade) Oshkosh: (920) (Winnebago) Ozaukee: (262) Portage/Wood: (715) Racine: (262) Rock: (608) Sheboygan: (920) Sauk: (608) Southwest Wisconsin: (608) (Grant, Iowa, Crawford) St. Croix Valley: (715) (St. Croix, Pierce) UW Madison: (608) Vernon: (608) Walworth: (262) Washington: (262) Waukesha: (262) Wishigan: (906) (Florence, WI, Dickinson, MI) The counties of Polk, Trempealeau, and Monroe are affiliates in the making. The Iris - 5

6 News from NAMI Wisconsin NAMI Wisconsin is launching its second Video Contest for interested students and youth. The first video contest was a success in 2013, with students from schools around the state submitting videos addressing stigma and dispelling myths around mental illness. These videos are available to view at This year, NAMI Wisconsin is seeking video submissions that aim to illustrate the many ways that mental illness affects us. Videos should depict the 2014 conference theme of how perspective makes a difference. Through the use of a personal story, our perspective is unique. If we personally experience mental illness, are a family member, friend, neighbor, teacher, woman or veteran, our diverse knowledge, beliefs, culture, and therefore our perspective, are unique. NAMI Wisconsin s Second Annual Video Contest Video submissions are due by April 1. The top videos will be available for open viewing and voting in order to select a grand prize winner. The top 12 videos will be featured on the NAMI Wisconsin website as an Info Fair for the months of September & October 2014.The top three videos will then be screened at the NAMI Wisconsin annual statewide conference in Appleton May 2-3, where the grand prize winner will be recognized and awarded their prize. The grand prize video will be used as a part of the statewide publicity campaign around mental illness awareness week To see a complete list of rules, please visit Contact Colleen or Julianne at NAMI Wisconsin with questions. Each year the NAMI Wisconsin board holds elections to fill board vacancies. This year we have one board member, Kathy Rohr, who will be completing her board term and we have a board vacancy to fill. Kathy will truly be missed and we extend sincere thanks for the commitment and contributions she brought to NAMI Wisconsin! The following people have been nominated for the NAMI Wisconsin board. All members are able to vote either at the state conference or via the mail-in ballot found in this issue of the Iris OR on our website. John Battaglia, MD, has brought passion to his service on the NAMI Wisconsin board since 2011 and is running to serve a second term. He is always willing to pitch in and has been an active member on the board program and fund development & marketing committees. Dr. Battaglia is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, and is Medical Director of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Battaglia has authored or coauthored numerous articles from his research on psychopharmacology, ethics in rural health care and seasonal mood disorder and he has lectured both nationally and abroad on a variety of topics including crisis intervention, treatment of agitation, and supportive psychotherapy. Rob Golub has known people in his life with mental illness and knows it rarely gets sufficient respect or attention. This is part of what led him to conceive of and lead a mental illness project as Managing Editor at The Journal Times, Racine. It s part of what drives his interest in NAMI. Rob is also a fan of servant leadership, which he tries to see reflected in his role at work. He sees serving an organization like NAMI to be an extension of that. Rob leads busy life rushing to a cheerleading event in Illinois for his daughter, Hannah; managing a deluge of issues and questions at work; or editing a tricky story on his iphone a half-hour before deadline on a Saturday night. He d like to add NAMI to the list! As for what he d bring to the table, Rob is comfortable with business management issues and can help with reaching people and managing the media from newspapers to TV to Twitter that s something his years of experience in media will allow him to easily contribute. Mary Tulinnye, is a lifelong resident of WI. She is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, currently working at the Madison VA as the Mental Health Clinical Coordinator. Mary is an associate professor for Edgewood College teaching Psycho Social Spiritual Nursing. She has worked diligently to prepare herself to address the challenges facing individuals with a mental health challenges. She received her Master s degree from UW Madison in May 2011 in Psychiatric Nursing and became certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in Sept, Last December she was awarded a Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a psychiatric focus from UW Madison. Mary is motivated to serve on the NAMI Wisconsin Board of Directors in order to improve the lives of individuals struggling with mental illness; to increase accessibility to early mental health screening and detection; and to enhance mental health promotion throughout the state. 6 - The Iris Board Elections Below is a list of nominees to fill vacancies on the NAMI Wisconsin Board of Directors. In accordance with NAMI Wisconsin bylaws, there are three candidates to fill two vacant positions. Each elected position is a three-year term, expiring in Please vote for three of the four candidates listed below. o Dr. John Battaglia o Rob Golub o Mary Tulinnye Please certify that you are a current NAMI member by accepting and checking the box below: o Yes I certify I am a current dues paying member of NAMI

7 NAMI Wisconsin State Conference Friday, May 2 Saturday, May 3, 2014 Radisson Paper Valley Hotel 333 West College Avenue, Appleton, WI CONFERENCE ATTENDEE REGISTRATION FORM You can also register online by visiting PLEASE SEND A SEPARATE REGISTRATION FORM FOR EACH PERSON REGISTERING Name: NAMI Affiliate: Home Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: Check the conference day(s) you plan to attend (Required): Friday, May 2 Saturday, May 3 Meal Preference: Regular Vegetarian Other Meal Restrictions: Special Accommodation Needs: X Conference Attendees 1 Day 2 Days NAMI Members $70 $115 Non-Members $130 $210 Low Income $45 $70 Student Interested in attending the Youth Track? $45 $70 X Support the NAMI Wisconsin Scholarship Fund Donate to the NAMI Wisconsin Scholarship Fund Subtotal Total REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED WITHOUT PAYMENT: Enclosed is my check for $, payable to NAMI Wisconsin. Please bill my credit card for $ Visa MasterCard Acct# Exp. Date / Print name as it appears on card: Signature: Mail this form with payment to: Or FAX to: NAMI Wisconsin (608) W. Beltline Hwy (Payment by credit card required Madison, WI for FAX registrations) The Iris - 7

8 Terms and Conditions of Registration Accommodations at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel: Call the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel at or for hotel room reservations. Ask for the NAMI Wisconsin group rate of $104 per night for single and/or double occupancy. Cut-off date for this rate is April 3, **NAMI Wisconsin cannot guarantee rooms beyond the number that have been reserved, so book now! Cancellation Policy: To cancel or transfer a registration, you must notify NAMI Wisconsin by April 23. No refunds after April 23. Cut-off Date for Early Bird Registration: Early Bird registration deadline is February 28, Last day to register for the conference is April 30, Exhibitors Welcome: Exhibitors may rent tables for the NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference. For forms and details please contact Colleen at colleen@namiwisconsin.org or Registration at the Conference: Registration opens Friday, May 2 at 7:30 a.m. Conference begins Friday, May 2 at 8:30 a.m. and ends for the day at 4:00 p.m. Registration re-opens Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 a.m. The conference starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and closes at 4:00 p.m. Attendees should register to attend prior to April 30, but onsite payments will be accepted. Returned Check Policy: A processing fee of $25 will be assessed for any checks returned due to insufficient funds. Special Accommodation Needs: If you need an interpreter, materials in alternative format or other reasonable accommodations, please notify the NAMI Wisconsin office at least two weeks prior to the conference. Youth Track Scholarships: A limited number of youth track scholarships are available for the conference. Youth track scholarships will be awarded to young adults/students between the ages of who would like to attend the youth track of the conference on Saturday, May 3. This scholarship will cover the cost of registration for Friday, May 2 and/or Saturday, May 3. Please call the NAMI Wisconsin office at before April 4 if you are interested in applying for this scholarship. Dates of Note April 1 April 3 April 4 April 23 April 30 Video contest submission deadline Hotel discount rate cut-off Youth Track Scholarship deadline Last day for cancellation refunds Last day to register for conference QUESTIONS? Call the NAMI Wisconsin office at or The Iris

9 NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference May 2 May 3, 2014 Radisson Paper Valley Hotel Appleton, WI Friday - May 2 Special Address- Mayor Timothy Hanna Keynote: Mike Veny Transforming Stigma Into Strength Ask the Expert series: Schizophrenia Update (offered twice) Borderline Personality Disorder (offered twice) Understanding and Treating Anxiety Disorders (offered twice) Transforming Stigma into Strength: Drumming Session BadgerCare Changes and their Implications for Mental Health Care Individual Placement and Support 101 (Supported Employment) Mental Health Treatment for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Consumers in WI Strengths-Based Approaches to Recovery: Using your Cultural Community Mental Illness and the Workplace The War Within- In This Fight Together Substance Abuse (AODA) and Psychiatric Disorder Chapter 51 Commitments Integrating Peer Specialists into Workforce CIT Track: Building Collaborations with Local Governments Using Your Personal Story to Effect Change Juvenile Interventions Saturday May 3 Special Address- Kathy Flores Keynote: Cinda & Linea Johnson Finding Your Voice: Inspiring Action Ask the Expert series: Depression Anxiety Disorders Qs & As Medications Bipolar Disorder: Our History, Present State of Affairs, and the Future Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: How to Help Kids Making it Work: Life After High School for Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions A New Way to Help- Behavioral Health Treatment Court CIT/CIP presentation The Arts and Healing NAMI Smarts WiSE Basics: What Works to Eliminate Stigma and Your Role in the Effort Increased Investment in Community-Based Services Smoking and Mental Illness: What Can We Do? NWCC Membership Youth Track: Ask the Expert: The Brain Role of Peer Support in Relationships Ending the Silence You Can Change Things! One Story At A Time visit or call to get a scholarship application for the youth track. Kicking off the event with an enthusiastic and upbeat (literally) keynote address is Mike Veny. Mike is a professional studio drummer with over 21 years of experience, entrepreneur, speaker and consultant. Mike uses his public speaking and drumming as a critical part of his recovery and will address the challenge of mental illness stigma through a message that encourages simple, proactive actions. Mike will also facilitate a special interactive drumming circle later in the day in which participants themselves will get to drum, an exercise intended to motivate, energize and unite the audience. Saturday s keynote address will be given by Cinda and Linea Johnson, a mother and daughter whose story of courage and faith helped them smash through the stigma of mental illness. They will tell the story of their remarkable journey as it is detailed in their co-authored book, Perfect Chaos, which will be available for purchase and signing throughout the day. Cinda and Linea have both worked and presented with national leaders at BringChange2Mind, NAMI and One Mind for Research. The Iris - 9

10 NAMI Wisconsin, Inc West Beltline Hwy. Madison, WI Executive Director Julianne Carbin, MSW Office Staff and Volunteers Carley Erickson Bob Fox Carol Grogan Maria Hanson, JD, CPS Kyira Hauer Lindsey Johnson Kurt Monson Annabelle Potvin Colleen Rooney Dennis Wilder Phone: (608) (800) FAX: (608) Board of Directors President Jim Connors Vice-President Thomas Christensen Secretary Kathy Rohr Treasurer Erica Falk-Huzar Executive Committee Member At Large Mandy Krahenbuhl Members At Large John Battaglia, MD Pat Evers Robyn Hardt-Schultz Lowell Jacobson Justin Odulana Jan Rodell Julie Sgambati Why do I want to become a community psychiatrist and work with the seriously mentally ill? This is a question I am often asked when people learn that I am attending a fellowship in community psychiatry in San Francisco next year. My interests and my response to that very question have developed over time, especially over the past 4 years of psychiatry residency training. I went into medicine knowing I wanted to help people, but beyond that I was clueless about what I really wanted to do. In medical school I tried out various options and thought for a while I was going to do primary care for HIV positive individuals. During my medical school training, I did my general inpatient psychiatry rotation at University of Illinois- Chicago (commonly known as the spill-over hospital from Cook County Hospital). We cared for the patients who did not have much, whether it was insurance, income, jobs, social support, anything. From that moment, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to work with the seriously mentally ill. I was witness to a part of people s lives that no one else could see and I felt like I made a difference as a part of the team. Over the course of psychiatry training, I had my fair share of highs and lows in terms of progress as a psychiatrist. I realized that I was more interested in the people who were quite sick in our inpatient See her in action! Ask the Doctor The Path to Becoming a Community Psychiatrist: An Unexpected Journey for a Psychiatrist in Training by Melissa Goelitz Dr Melissa Goelitz wards and in the emergency room than many of my colleagues. Moonlighting over in Milwaukee, I was drawn by the patients and their stories. I was also drawn to the wonderful colleagues I worked with. At the end of my third year of psychiatry training, I began looking at jobs and I realized I was still quite torn. There are so many people to help and so many interesting ways to care for them; I was not sure how to approach it. I loved working on the inpatient psychiatry unit, and in the emergency department, at Program of Assertive Community Treatment in Madison and Behavioral Health Division in Milwaukee. That was making applying for jobs quite confusing as I had no solid way to compare the options. After applying and interviewing at the University of California and San Francisco General Hospital Public Psychiatry Fellowship, I came back to Madison excited because I found a group of providers who cared about the same people I did. I realized truly, that I am a community psychiatrist first and foremost. Some days it might be challenging but here I can try to make the world suffer just a little less, one person at a time. While I have many areas of interest, being a community psychiatrist is the one that keeps me excited to go to work! Melissa Goelitz will be presenting at the NAMI Wisconsin Annual Conference 2014! She will present Ask the Expert: Bipolar Disorder- Our History, Present State of Affairs, and the Future which will take place from 2:45-4:00 on Saturday, May 3. Don t miss out! Each year the Appleton North High School Theatre Seminar & Production class prepares a play dealing with some social issue topic relevant to our community and its youth. Previous classes have dealt with the issues of depression, suicide, homelessness, drunk driving, and the disabled. Theatre is one of the most effective vehicles for change, and these young students of theatre have committed their time and talent to creating positive change in the world around them. This year s class chose the issue of mental health. Join us on Friday, May 2 at 7 o clock sharp for a special performance of Behind the Door: Stopping the Stigma of Mental Illness, a work intended to speak to the issue of mental health that confronts our schools and community every day. The show, directed by Ron Parker, will be performed by high school students from Appleton North High School The Iris

11 President s Column For some of you, this all too familiar, but it bears worth repeating over many times. Psychiatric disorders are the only kind of sickness that we as a society regularly respond to not with sympathy but with handcuffs and incarceration quoted Nicholas Kristof in the February 8th New York Times. We are reminded when we see the statistics: as money tightens, we have turned more to jails and prisons. More than half of prisoners in the United States have a mental health problem, according to a 2006 Justice Department study and almost threequarters of female inmates have a mental disorder. People are often incarcerated for offenses due the mental illness. Nationwide, more than three times as many mentally ill people are housed in prisons and jails as in hospitals As Sheriff Dart, Cook County sheriff says of the jail in Chicago: We ve systematically shut down all the mental health facilities, so the mentally ill have nowhere else to go. We ve become the de facto mental health hospital. Annual funding for treatment for mental illness is the community costs a fraction of the price of incarceration. Jim Connors It often amounts to less than $10,000 compared to $30,000 to $60,000 for incarceration. These high rates of incarceration are due primarily to a lack of community mental health services. In the past few years, $4.35 billion in funding for mental health services has been cut from state budgets across the nation, according to a recent report. A report by the Treatment Advocacy Center even found that there are more people with severe mental illness in prisons and jails than in hospitals. Ways you can work to improve the care and treatment of the incarcerated mentally ill include writing your congressional representatives and senators on the national level. On the local level, you can contact your state and local governments, or your state Department of Corrections. Find organizations that deal with the mentally ill and prisoners with mental illness, as well as those in the judicial and legal professions who work with them and get involved. A good place to start is with the NAMI-WI fact sheet on criminal justice and mental illness CriminaljusticeandMI.pdf and the NAMI national Main_Page/Fact_Sheets3/MIandCriminalJusticeSystem.pdf as well as the national A Guide to Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System at. NAMILand/CJguidetomentalillnessandcjsystem.pdf. NAMI Wisconsin affiliates work hard to run programs, mobilize advocates and educate their local community about mental illness and how it affects us as individuals, family members and professionals. NAMI members all work together to the same end of improving the lives of people affected by mental illness by advocating for improvements in mental health funding, policy and research. There are many other organizations and individuals who partner with NAMI to help grow and strengthen our movement. I hear many stories of collaboration from our affiliates and what strikes me about our partners is that there is a true sense of collaboration and desire for continuous learning. That is perhaps why the NAMI Wisconsin annual conference is such a momentous event! It is the one time of the year that researchers, educators, advocates and experts from around the state (and nation) come together to share their experience and learn from each other. The annual conference also serves as a wonderful opportunity for us to connect with other passionate and dedicated people from around the state in order to strengthen our partnerships. This year will be no exception. We will welcome our partners to present workshops on cutting edge research, treatment interventions and recovery principles. We will invite youth from around the state to help shape the future of NAMI in Executive Director s Corner Wisconsin. We will engage CIT police officers in the dialogue of how we build effective collaborations to better serve and protect people in the community. Yes, the agenda is packed! The theme of this year s conference is Perspective Makes a Difference so we are thrilled that so many of our partners can join us who bring unique and diverse perspectives to share. You might have heard that NAMI Wisconsin has set a new strategic agenda to ensure that our organization is more inclusive and welcoming to all who enter our doors. When we look at our membership demographics there are many groups that are underrepresented such as youth, African American and Hispanic. NAMI Wisconsin staff members and affiliate leaders have received training from NAMI and receive ongoing coaching from our national office to support these efforts. Starting this year, NAMI Wisconsin will begin to actively work with a select group of affiliates through a series of hands-on trainings and will provide grant opportunities to increase our outreach and inclusion of underrepresented groups. Keep an eye out for ways you can get involved with July Minority Mental Health Awareness month and youth engagement around October s Mental Illness Awareness Week. It is an exciting time for NAMI Wisconsin as we grow and extend our reach so that we truly are The State s Voice on Mental Illness! Julianne Carbin The Iris - 11

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