Let’s Talk: Healing Mental Illness
April 21, 2022 at 7pm
Free Virtual Program
Can you truly heal from mental illness? It doesn’t have to be a life sentence and healing can be individualized, says bipolar psychiatric survivor and alternative mental health advocate, Jennifer Gaita Siciliano, who is fighting for the disenfranchised and often ignored voices of psychiatric survivors.
As an artist and writer, she is trying to bring to the table another narrative that is often dismissed in the discussion on mental health. Creator and host of Not As Crazy As You Think Podcast, Jennifer challenges our world’s current limited understanding of mental illness through the biomedical model, offering fresh perspectives on alternative healing and creativity.
After 27 years of forced dependence, she is tapering off psych meds and is recording her progress and alternative views in her weekly podcast, as she seeks representation for her memoir about her journey.
Jennifer and some of her past guests from her podcast will talk about what constitutes true mental health and discuss topics on health sovereignty, alternative modalities of healing, the validity of stories from persons with lived experience, and the right of a person to not call themselves sick if that identity isn’t helpful. The discussion and Q&A will be moderated by Vanessa Smith, VanessaHSmithPictures.com
