The National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery is excited to announce the 36th annual Alternatives Conference, to be held virtually: November 2, 3, and 4, 2022. We look forward to connecting nationally and internationally with old friends and colleagues, and to making new connections. We invite all of you to join us from wherever you are. Alternatives 202 will not have workshops.
Information on Alternatives 2021 is below:
Conference Program: Click Here
For information on how to join a workshop via Zoom, click here.
Descriptions of workshops and bios of presenters can be downloaded here in word
Download Descriptions here in pdf
Alternatives 2021 Workshops Listed by Time
Thursday, july 8
Workshops Session A: 12:45 p.m. Eastern (11:45 a.m. Central; 10:45 a.m. mountain; 9:45 a.m. pacific)
Adversity and Resilience - Amela Sandra Dzurlic
Forensic Peer Mentors: Ready4Reentry and Beyond! - George S. Braucht, Lindsey Sizemore, Gena Garner: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
Awe: Healing Through Spoken Word/Poetry/Journaling and Letter Writing - Lydia F. Theon Ware i: Click here for the recording.
Advocacy 101: Nothing About Us Without Us - Ginger Phillips
Redefining Youth Peer Support Across the States - Tymber Hudson and Shayn McDonald: Click here for the recording.
Youth Peer Advocates (YPAs) Are Here To Stay! - Robbie Lettieri, Tiara Springer-Love, LMSW: Click here for the slides.
Workshops Session B: 3:15 p.m. Eastern (2:15 p.m. Central; 1:15 p.m. Mountain; 12:15 p.m. Pacific)
The Evolution of Consumer and Family Advisory Committees in North Carolina - Wes Rider
MadFreedom: Political Power and the Path to Liberation - Wilda White
Fostering Youth Empowerment During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond - Kate Barrow, Rachael Landau, Whitney Rosenblatt: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
Art For The Heart - Andrea Mannila: Click here for the recording and here for the presenter’s contact information.
How Does a Peer Specialist Dialog About Spirituality, Faith, or Religion? - AJ French: Click here for the slides.
Conflict Resolution Skills to Prevent Crisis - Dan Berstein
Workshops Session c: 4:15 p.m. eastern (3:15 p.m. central, 2:15 p.m. mountain, 1:15 p.m. Pacific)
Public Policy: Ready for Prime Time - Kevin Fitts, Laura Van Tosh: Click here for the recording.
Expanding Equity - Chris Johnson, Roslind Hayes:
Resilience and Historical Trauma Among African Americans - Flora Releford
Creating Space for Myself - Sean Perry, Miranda Todt
Why Can't I Sleep: Tackling Insomnia - Sean Bradrick
Come the Wild Weather: A Musical Conversation - Karen Webber: Click here for the recording.
Changing Hearts, Changing Minds: Teaching Others to Treat Us Right - Robyn Gantsweg: Click here for the recording.
saturday, july 10
Workshops Session d: 12 p.m. Eastern (11 A.M. Central; 10 a.m. mountain; 9 a.m. pacific)
Confronting the Enemy Within After Military Service - Sherman Gillums Jr.: Click here for the recording, and here for the slides.
Integrating the Intentional Peer Support Model into Multidisciplinary Clinical Teams Through a Lens of Shared Power - Danny Kochanowski, Randy Morrison
How the ReAwaken Model Can Lead to Connection, Compassion, and Meaningful Action in Your Community - Oryx Cohen, PJ Moynihan, Matt Ball: Click here for the recording.
The Ongoing Journey of The Friendship Project - Dan Frey: Click here for the recording.
Five Pillars to Facilitating Safe Spaces in School for Youth - Aime Hutton: Click here for the recording.
Creativity and COVID: A Lived Experience Perspective - Karin Jervert: Click here for the recording.
SHARE! Collaborative Housing: Propelling People into Self-Sufficiency - Maria Gonzalez
Workshops Session e: 4:15 p.m. eastern (3:15 p.m. central, 2:15 p.m. mountain, 1:15 p.m. Pacific)
Catching New Giants - Jim Rye, Kristina Kapp: Click here for the recording.
Training Peers to Better Understand and Advocate for LGBTQ+ Clients - Beth Bloom: Click here for the recording.
SHARE! Recovery Retreat—A Recovery-focused Peer Respite - Camille Dennis
The Intersection of Uncertainty, Possibility, and Creativity - Jenn Cusick: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
Tools for Boundaries and Safety with Self and Others - Moriah Williams: Click here for the audio recording and here for the presentation slides.
Transformative Peer Support - Becky Brasfield: Click here for the recording.
Workshops Session F: 5:15 p.m. Eastern (4:15 p.m. Central; 3:15 Mountain; 2:15 p.m. pacific)
Peer Power: How to Be an Effective Systems Advocate - Joseph Rogers: Click here for the recording.
Swimming In/Against It: Capitalism and CSX Leadership - Walter Wai Tak Chan: Click here for the recording.
Crisis de Salud Mental: ¡Planificar con Anticipación nos Ayuda a Decidir qué es lo Mejor! - Maria Garcia and Senobia Pichardo: Click here for the recording.
The New York City Justice Peer Initiative: A Model for Activating Justice-Involved Peers in Our Communities - Helen ‘Skip’ Skipper, Frank Barretto, Jeanette Toledo: Click here for the recording.
THURSDAY, JULY 15
WORKSHOPS SESSION G: 12 P.M. EASTERN (11 A.M. CENTRAL; 10 A.M. MOUNTAIN; 9 A.M. PACIFIC)
“Una Guia de Animales de Servicio y Apoyo Emocional” English (A Guide to Service and Emotional Support Animals) - Senobia Pichardo, Maria Garcia: Click here for the recording.
Hope from Behind the Walls and Serving a Life Sentence - Lee Horton, Dennis Horton, Mary Ellen Copeland: Click here for the recording.
Transcending the Aftermath of Abuse: Moving from Victim to Expert - Rosie Anderson, Joel Glenn-Wixson
The Garden as Spiritual Practice - Joann Calabrese: Click here for the recording, here for the handout, and here for the slide show.
Whole Health Employment Support and Training - Sadie Thompson, Danielle Smith
Revolutionizing Young Adult Peer Support: Empowerment, Advocacy, & Leadership - Vesper Moore: Click here for the recording.
WORKSHOPS SESSION H: 4:15 P.M. EASTERN (3:15 P.M. CENTRAL, 2:15 P.M. MOUNTAIN, 1:15 P.M. PACIFIC)
Green Disability: Peer Support Unites the Mental & Physical Disability Movements - David Oaks: Click here for the recording.
Peer Support for Empowerment and Recovery from Borderline Personality Diagnosis (BPD) - Paula Tusiani-Eng, LMSW, M.Div., Rachel Hay, Hannah Fox: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
LGBTQI2S Gender-Nonconforming - People Empowering People - K. Kozi Arrington
I Laugh, Therefore I Am: The Healing and Connecting Power of Laughter - Anna Lubarov
The Transmutation of Emotions: The Alchemical Process of Change - Diana Catherine Bella: Click here for the recording.
Helping Youth on the Path to Employment (HYPE) - Emily McCaffrey, M.Ed., Debbie Nicolellis, Carlos Teveras: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
WORKSHOPS SESSION I: 5:15 P.M. EASTERN (4:15 P.M. CENTRAL; 3:15 MOUNTAIN; 2:15 P.M. PACIFIC)
Shifting Attitudes and Beliefs that Lead to Provider Stigma - Katy Welty
Creative Connections Campaign - Emily Vaianella: Click here for the recording.
Intersectionality of Mental Health/Substance Use and the LGBTQ Community - Sarah Humble: Click here for the recording.
Youth Peer Generation - Ryan Tempesco, Amey Dettmer
What I Learned about Resilience from Underserved Voices During COVID-19 - Paul Iarrobino: Click here for the recording.
HELD: Parishioners Showing up for Each Other's Mental Health - Barbara Meyers: Click here for the recording.
The Effectiveness of Peer-Led Suicide Attempt Survivors’ Support Groups - Eduardo Vega, Stephen Marks
SATURDAY, JULY 17
WORKSHOPS SESSION J: 3:15 P.M. EASTERN (2:15 P.M. CENTRAL; 1:15 P.M. MOUNTAIN; 12:15 P.M. PACIFIC)
Building Plural Safe Spaces: One Body, Many Activists - The Rings System, The Alexandrite System: Click here for the recording.
Alternatives Therapies: The Experiential Approach Can Transform Lives - Gene Katz: Click here for the recording.
The History of the Consumer/Survivor Movement - Sally Zinman, Gayle Bluebird: Click here for the recording.
The California Peer Run Warm Line - Peter Murphy: Click here for the recording and here for the slides.
Disruption, Discovery, and Balance - Greg Parnell
WORKSHOPS SESSION K: 4:15 P.M. EASTERN (3:15 P.M. CENTRAL, 2:15 P.M. MOUNTAIN, 1:15 P.M. PACIFIC)
HUMAN2HUMAN Understanding: A Culture of Resiliency - Kristina Kapp (KK): Click here for the recording.
Perceiving Identity: What Make Me Different is What Makes Me, Me - Jennifer Randal-Thorpe
The Art of Wellness - Alexia Jones, Cassaundra Bingaman
“With All I’ve Been Through, I Could Write a Book”: A Workshop on Writing and Publishing Your Story - Sarah Elisabeth Brown, Lexi Mohney: Click here for the recording.
During Covid-19: Virtual Peer Support Group (VPSG) - Clarence Jordan, Lisa Kugler
Emotional CPR by and for Youth - Shira Collings, Miranda Todt: Click here for the recording.
Alternatives 2019 Workshop Handouts
More than 60 workshops took place at the alternatives 2019 conference. please see below for the powerpoints, handouts, and other materials from the workshops.
Click here for Jacquese Armstrong’s website (presenter of “What Gratitude Can Do for You and Tips for Practicing Gracious Living”).
Click here for Corrine Taylor’s website (presenter of “Beyond the Story: Letting Go of Judgment of Others, Getting to ‘Know Thyself’”).
Click here for the Voices for Choices intro video (from “Using Video/Film to Educate, Advocate, and Activate”).
Click here for the PowerPoint from “Effective and Innovative Peer Culture: The Prosumer Experience”
Click here for the PowerPoint from “The Humanistic Effect: An Experiential Prison Abolition Project.” You can learn more about Culture2Culture at www.culture2culture.org or contact eddie@culture2culture.org for training information.
Click here for the PowerPoint from “Save My Job, Or Save My Soul?” Click the following links for the presentation handouts: SAMHSA Recovery Principles; Intentional Peer Support Principles; National Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters
Click here for the PowerPoint from “Your Voice Matters: Using Lived Experience to Influence Change in Policy and Practices Relating to Neurodiversity in Post-Secondary Education.”
Click here for the PowerPoint from “Arts for Fun and Purpose.”
Click here for the PowerPoint from “The Simulation Hypothesis and What It Might Mean for Voices, Visions, and Other Unusual Experiences.”
Please see below for the powerpoints, handouts, and other materials from the caucuses.
Click here for the PowerPoint from “Peer Led Initiative to Improve Life in Room and Board Homes,” and click here for the Our Voice Spring 2018 newsletter, which features an article on this topic.
The organizers and attendees of the caucus “Mental Health Professionals with Lived Experience” decided to form a digital space for clinicians with mental health diagnoses/psychiatric disabilities. To join the digital space, click here.
Please see below for the keynote speakers’ powerpoint slides and presentations.
Click here for John Herold’s keynote speech, and here for his PowerPoint slides.
Click here for Phillip Schulman’s PowerPoint presentation.
Alternatives 2021 Certificate in pdf: Download here
