This 90-minute webinar features presenters sharing their lived experience with mental health conditions to combat stigma and provide further information and resources.
The Northwest MHTTC is proud to partner with National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Seattle to present "In Our Own Voice."
NAMI In Our Own Voice presentations change attitudes, assumptions and stereotypes about people with mental health conditions. This 90-minute presentation will provide a personal perspective of mental illness, as presenters with lived experience talk openly about what it's like to live with a mental health condition. Their trained presenters humanize the misunderstood, highly stigmatized topic of mental illness by showing that it’s possible—and common—to live well with a mental health condition.
This presentation also provides:
David Reveles is a mental health advocate from the Chicagoland area and has served in other states too. He has been helping NAMI combat the mental health crisis, across the U.S., for over a decade. His favorite coping skills are listening to music, meditating, working out, and being in nature. His greatest wish is to create an accepting and inclusive world that supports the wellbeing and evolution of all. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and loves studying different languages. He says that one of the best ways to combat problems of the mind is by shifting the paradigm and observing them through an alternative lens or a different language. Due to the immense adversity he has faced, he has dedicated his life to being a holistic and natural wellness consultant (Origins Unity LLC) to promote the improvement of quality of life through practical and cost-effective means. His goal is to create wider access to wellness for everyone. David has a strong care team of trusted (medical) professionals that help him navigate the challenges of mental health. He claims that his openness and willingness to reach out and receive help has been his saving grace. David believes in a combined or "holistic" approach of both conventional and natural methods for health and wellbeing. Wellness are the steps we take to achieve wellbeing. Wellness means everything from physical, emotional, social, occupational, financial, intellectual, environmental, to our personal values (spiritual). David grew up wrestling and martial arts have been his primary coping skill. Living by the philosophy of "the great way" or " the Samurai code" he has found deeper purpose in life and he gives credit to being able to remain here on Earth because of this single decision.
Vince Medrano is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Washington, Seattle campus. Prior to joining the nonprofit world in Washington, he spent 8 years working in mental health research in Arizona and Wisconsin. Vince’s focus is primarily in working with folks with psychosis. Vince uses his lived experience to connect with others. He is a NAMI Seattle volunteer and co-facilitates two Connection Recovery Support groups including the LGBTQ+ group. In his free time, Vince likes to make art, chat with friends, and hang out with his cat named Booger. Vince is excited to get more involved with NAMI Seattle as a program coordinator.
