NAMI Greater Boston

PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Major General Gregg F. Martin, PhD, US Army (Ret.)
2024-03-07 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
About
Major General Gregg F. Martin, PhD, US Army (Ret.), aka the BIPOLAR GENERAL, is a 36-year Army combat veteran, bipolar survivor, thriver, and warrior, and a retired two-star general. He commanded an engineer company and battalion, and the 130th Engineer Brigade during the first year of the Iraq War. A former president of the National Defense University, commandant of the Army War College, and commander of Fort Leonard Wood, he is a qualified Airborne-Ranger-Engineer and strategist, who holds degrees from West Point, MIT (two master’s and a PhD), and both the Army and Naval war colleges. He unknowingly lived most of his life on the bipolar spectrum, which largely enhanced his performance as a leader, until it went too high and ended his career, threw him into crisis, and led to his hospitalization. Now in his eighth year of bipolar recovery, he is an author, speaker, and ardent mental health advocate, who lives with his wife in Cocoa Beach, Florida. He has three sons, two of whom live with bipolar disorder – an artist and a poet/Special Forces veteran – while the third son is an Army Special Forces officer. Gregg’s life mission now is sharing his bipolar story to help stop the stigma, promote recovery, and save lives. His new book, “Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness”, is available on Amazon, and co-published by the Naval Institute Press (Jack Clancy’s first publisher), and the Association of the US Army. For more information, visit www.bipolargeneral.com .

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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - MJ Griego
2024-04-04 18:30 - 19:30
About

MJ Griego is a certified peer specialist and director of The Hope Center recovery learning center in Boston, which offers mental health recovery and community groups online and in person, as well as 1 on 1 support. They have been interested in mental health and human connection from a young age, as well as the arts. They went to school for Sociology and Chinese and then had experience working at a Boston shelter, as well as community experience with offering peer support, mediation, and event organization. During COVID lockdown they focused on digital community building, and in 2021 they started at The Hope Center as a peer group facilitator, then taking over to direct the program in 2022. Since then the program has added new training and more groups than before COVID, offering both online and in-person groups and activities as well as starting 1 on 1 support offerings.
Outside of peer support, MJ has a passion for painting, having vended their art many times and having hundreds of paintings as well as over 40 filled sketchbooks of work. They also love gardening, and live with their chosen family of 7 in a big communal house. They are invested in mutual aid, subversive crisis care, and using trauma recovery as a tool to support people’s ability to work towards our collective healing and liberation.
Talk
I have struggled with mental health since a young age, one of my first memories being of concerning intrusive thoughts that led to my family getting me therapy at age 8. My experience with clinical therapists and psychiatrists has been mostly negative, and unfortunately my first therapy was exploiting my mental health issues for money without providing me support. After this experience my family didn’t try to get me a different therapist, so I went untreated for the rest of my youth. I felt like an alien, being judged for being quiet and not smiling enough. I had a few angry outbursts in elementary school towards others, but quickly learned to turn that anger towards myself and keep my emotional outbursts for when I was alone where no one could see. I kept to myself and made art my passion, and continued to struggle with painful intrusive thoughts and depression as well as fatigue.
I never had the experience of being a child full of energy, I would sit with the adults at parties listening to their conversation or drawing. I craved human connection but struggled finding people who understood me. Unfortunately my mom struggled with untreated mental illness also, going from idolizing me to angry outbursts and then later acting as if nothing had happened and offered no apology or promise for change. I also was pressured heavily by my family to go to college and become a financial provider for them, as we struggled with finances consistently. At one point I broke a tooth and my dental care was expensive so my mom didn’t try to get me help, and I was in pain every day for years.
In senior year I had the opportunity to get a full scholarship to study in Shanghai china. I loved learning Mandarin and being there but unfortunately the program isolated us from the rest of the students, and being on my own away from home gave me the opportunity to see how hard my home life was back in Vermont. When I returned, I could no longer keep my emotional meltdowns and depression hidden away. I found myself anxious and sad almost constantly. Through all this I was still able to apply to college and scholarship programs, and was offered a full ride to Tufts University in boston.
When I started college I continued to struggle severely with mental health. My whole life I experienced violent self loathing thoughts and thoughts of suicide and self harm. What was especially hard were the violent thoughts towards others, which are very stigmatized. Violent thoughts towards ourselves seem to be more socially acceptable to talk about, but it’s rare to hear people validate that violent intrusive thoughts towards others doesn’t mean we will act on them. Anyone who knows me will attest that I am a compassionate person who is able to deal with conflict well and treat people with kindness. Yet every day even crossing the street or being crowded at the grocery store, I would have very upsetting thoughts that took over my life and made me feel unsafe.
I couldn’t hide or pretend I was okay any longer, and my grades suffered enough that I was at risk of losing my scholarship. For this reason, I ended up taking a year off of school to focus on my health. During that time I got a job and my own housing, because I knew living with my family would make me unable to truly heal. I raised my own money to finally get my damaged tooth removed, and get a therapist. That year was incredibly important and I’m very proud that I prioritized my health.
Returning to school I still struggled due to mental illness and chronic pain and fatigue, but I was able to make it through classes. This was when I got gender affirming top surgery, as well as medication that was helpful for my mental health. I really learned to advocate for myself, and unfortunately when I tried to do so with my mom she didn’t validate or believe my mental health problems. I tried to stand up for myself and get her to take some responsibility for her own anger challenges, and she decided to disown me as she picked me up from my surgery and was supposed to be there helping me recover. She simply left and went back to our home state.
This experience destroyed my sense of self which I had built around being a good child to her, and eventually a financial provider. Family was everything to me, and suddenly I didn’t have that. I was forced to be distanced from my brother for years due to this estrangement, and I had PTSD from the experience with chronic nightmares and severe safety concerns for myself.
That was 7 years ago, and it has taken so much time to recover. Now, I have found my own chosen family who respects and loves me, reconnected with my brother, and I almost never have intrusive negative thoughts. I never thought I could feel this good being alive, but it is possible. Perhaps the most important piece of my recovery journey was not just getting therapy and medication and learning about self-help, but taking a lot of time for myself and self acceptance. I had a lot of time where I specifically didn’t say yes to any responsibilities or projects that weren’t necessary, and focused on joy and seeing my life as good enough as is. I was so fixated on helping others that I was putting myself last, and so obsessed with “fixing” myself that I was actually feeling like I would always be broken because of it. Peer support as a framework was especially helpful in focusing on my autonomy and not trying to “fix” anyone, including myself. It also empowered me to value my experience and expertise in my own life. Me and my perspective have value even if we are not helping others or being “productive” to the world. I hope you all get to feel that self love and self value no matter if you still have symptoms sometimes, or if you can’t always be productive or helping others. We are allowed to prioritize ourselves sometimes, especially if we have to make up for love we didn’t get from our childhoods.

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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Laura Kaponer
2024-05-02 18:30 - 19:30
About
Laura Kaponer is originally from New York State. She relocated to South Carolina for the second time in 2015 after a difficult bout of depression.
Walking into her first NAMI Connections meeting was truly a turning point in her recovery. For the next three years, her involvement waxed and waned based on where she was in her
recovery.
In 2018 she was inspired at the NAMI SC State Conference to
pursue public advocacy. She began writing monthly articles for two publications local to her, the online publication Thought Catalog, participated in podcast series with PSYCHU, became a Certified Peer Support Specialist, and established her own social media presence.
At the 2019 NAMI SC State Conference she was one of the recipients of the “Stigma Buster of the Year” award. In August 2021 she was appointed the NAMI SC PLC Rep, officially elected into the position at the end of
2022. For her state, she has helped reestablish the NAMI SC Peer Leadership Council with the generous support of the SC state affiliates.
On the national level she was appointed the NAMI PLC Advocacy Subcommittee Chair.
She is a trained connections facilitator, In Our Own Voice Presenter, and three-time NAMI Walks Team Captain.
Advocacy is truly what keeps her heart pumping. Her main passion is to help expand access to mental health services for her peers from healthcare to conferences.

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**Announcement: No Zooming Speaker Series in July due to holiday**
2024-06-17

PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Mary Phillips
2024-08-01 18:30 - 19:30
[Click on PSAN Recovery Speaker Series – Mary Phillips for details and Zoom info]
About
My name is Mary Phillips and I currently work at the BMC as a peer specialist. We have support groups that people can come in person or join on zoom. I am trained in three NAMI programs; NAMI IOOV, NAMI connections and NAMI peer to peer. I began my journey to become a peer specialist about ten years ago. I started volunteering at the NAMI office in the Schraftt building. This led to me sharing my recovery story at NAMI’s advocacy day at the statehouse.
I currently attend a NAMI support group for myself called NAMIpsan for my own support and to seek out wisdom from its leader. The BMC where I currently work is staffed by people in recovery from mental health struggles as well as addictions. We work together to support members in the community who struggle in these areas. I help facilitate a NAMI connections group there. It is a very positive community and I am really enjoying my work there.
My talk will share who I am, what happened in my mental health journey, what helps me and what’s next for me.

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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Priestess Ziona
2024-09-05 18:30 - 19:30
Biography
Priestess Ziona is the CEO of AMRON International Organization and current Outreach Coordinator for Brockton RCC of South East Recovery Learning Community. She is considered a peer in the Mental Health Recovery community and volunteers throughout the peer recovery movement in various organizations. Ziona holds the Howard Trachtman Award, an Honorary Doctorate, amongst other accolades. She used her creative writing talent to express her trauma experiences and became a self-published author. She has shared her story and taught suicide prevention in over 30 schools in Massachusetts. For Ziona, this is the beginning of her making big strides for her career in the recovery field.
About the presentation
In her presentation, she will share part of her story of surviving trauma, surviving multiple suicide attempts, and her road to recovery. Ziona will share information about her project, “Dating With a Diagnosis” © which was started to break the stigma on recovery and relationships. DWAD is about better advocating for our needs and building healthy relationships around us with our spouses/partners, friends, and family. The series merges various recovery-based tools and skills to accomplish the effort of having healthier social connections. Ziona will talk about her chapter in the America Psychiatric Association textbook of Hospital Psychiatry, “From within: A consumer perspective of Psychiatric Hospitals”. She looks forward to answering any questions that may arise during the presentation.
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**Announcement: No Zooming Speaker Series in October due to holiday**
2024-10-03

PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Michael Siena
2024-11-07 18:30 - 19:30
Biography – Michael Siena

I grew up in Connecticut and moved to the Boston area in 1994 to go to school at Tufts University. I left Tufts during my junior year in 1996 due to experiencing emotional distress and extreme states. I returned and graduated in 2004 with a degree in philosophy.
Due to a lot of work on my recovery that continues on a daily basis, I have a full and satisfying life today. I continue to experience emotional distress and extreme states at times but they are less frequent, less intense and last for less time. I also continue to experience personal growth through my recovery, as well.
I enjoy many pursuits including skateboarding, snowboarding, hiking, reading, writing, connecting with friends and family and watching basketball. I have been working as a peer specialist for about ten years and feel grateful to have a challenging and fulfilling job. I am also pursuing a recovery coach certification.
Life can still be difficult and painful at times. I seek to overcome the challenges of life as I reach out for support, use coping skills, engage in prayer, meditation, spiritual reading and practicing spiritual principles. Maybe most importantly, I try to put one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing regardless of how I feel. As I continue to try to do my best each day, I see life working out and becoming more beautiful.
About the presentation
My talk will start with my recovery story followed by an in-depth description of my work within the Metro Boston Recovery Learning Community (MBRLC) over the last ten plus years. I will cover working on the Peer Support Line as well as working at the Boston Resource Center, giving details of the tools, resources and challenges involved with working in both settings. At the end of the talk, I will go over some things I have learned over the years working in the MBRLC and as a person in recovery.
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Latinx SAN - Grupo de Apoyo Familiar
2024-11-20 18:30 - 20:00, 2024-12-18 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-01-15 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-02-19 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-03-19 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-04-16 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-05-21 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-06-18 18:30 - 20:00 and 4 more dates
Compañeros de vivencia pueden mandar un correo electrónico a latinx@namiboston.org o llamar 781-819-3282 para dejar un mensaje.

PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Justin
2024-12-05 18:30 - 19:30
Biography – Justin

I grew up in the small town of Duxbury, located on the South Shore of Massachusetts. I have since moved to Fall River and I am currently the Program Director at the Fall River Recovery Connection Center. I have been in recovery since 2010, and I worked at the Atlantic Clubhouse in Quincy from 2022-2024 before taking my current position. I have been at the Fall River RCC since June of this year and have been enjoying my time getting to know the peers who make our program so wonderful. I am able to spend time in each of the special groups that our RCC has to offer, and I have also got to know the amazing staff that we have. I completed my CPS Training through Kiva Centers in the beginning of September and will always value all of the tools and knowledge that I gained from that program. I graduated from Quincy College in 2018 with an associate’s degree in liberal arts with a focus in Behavioral Science. I was drawn to the Recovery Connection Center because of my belief that groups and peer engagement can play a vital role in anybody’s recovery. I enjoy spending time with loved ones, listening to my favorite music on repeat, and taking photographs while immersed in nature.
About the presentation
My talk will begin with my recovery story to help illustrate the challenges I have faced since receiving my original diagnosis. I will then speak about my transition from working in a clubhouse setting to a recovery setting. I will include the tools I use daily to maintain my positive mentality, along with the tools and mindset I use while working amongst my peers. I will also talk about the success of our program before I became the program director, and the steps I am taking to maintain its effectiveness. I will conclude my talk with what I hope to learn and build throughout my time at our Recovery Connection Center and the encouraging effect it has had in my life since being there in June of this year.
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Chris Laureano
2025-03-06 18:30 - 19:30
Biography – Chris

Christopher Laureano is a Certified Peer Specialist and Director of the Recovery Education and Learning (REAL) Program at Bay Cove Human Services. Christopher is an autistic person who has also experienced anxiety and trauma through various life situations due to having trouble with reading social cues and learning differently from others. He is passionate about both making peer support trainings and the REAL Program equitable and accessible for all, and including neurodiversity in peer support. Chris will be speaking about the importance of ‘breaking the cycle’ when overcoming anxiety, trauma, and life challenges with living as an autistic person, along with the importance of ‘self-evolvement’ in recovery.

About the presentation
Christopher Laureano will be sharing his recovery story and discussing his work as the Director of the Recovery Education and Learning (REAL) Program at Bay Cove Human Services, which offers both in-person trainings at the fifth floor of Center Club, and online trainings through the Zoom app with the purpose of preparing people for the workforce in human services. Christopher will also be sharing information on expansion developments of the REAL Program.

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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Vesper Moore
2025-04-03 18:30 - 19:30
Biography – Vesper Moore

Vesper Moore serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Kiva Centers. As an Indigenous activist and leader, Vesper is deeply committed to promoting mental health and disability rights through activism, leadership, organizing, public speaking, and education. Their work focuses on cultivating social movements and raising public awareness to foster lasting social change.
Vesper has contributed to the establishment of mental health organizations worldwide and has been an advocate for civil rights in the United States. Through their advocacy, they have brought the perspectives of people with mental health challenges and disabilities to both national and international platforms.
Collaborating with the United States government and the United Nations, Vesper helps shape strategies around trauma, intersectionality, and disability rights. They have been featured on NBC News, PBS NewsHour, Politico, and at The White House. Vesper is at the forefront of legislative reform, striving to shift the societal paradigm surrounding mental health.
About the presentation
We Are the Evidence: Certified Peer Specialists and the Commitment to Community-Based Services
This session will explore the role of Certified Peer Specialists (CPS) in shaping and sustaining community-based behavioral health services in Massachusetts. As the commonwealth continues to advance its commitment to accessible and person-centered care, it is crucial to recognize the momentum behind these efforts and ensure the continued expansion of peer-led and peer-run initiatives. This presentation will highlight the significance of the Certified Peer Specialist profession as well as the state credential and training program that equip individuals with lived experience to support others, and the integration of CPS professionals into behavioral health teams, including Mobile Crisis services.
The discussion will also focus on the growth and development of peer-run centers and respites, essential spaces that foster recovery, autonomy, and community support. By centering the voices of those most impacted, peer-run services provide an effective approach to behavioral health care that prioritizes dignity and self-determination. Through this presentation, participants will gain insight into how Certified Peer Specialists contribute to a more equitable and person-driven system, reinforcing the commonwealth’s commitment to transforming behavioral health care through community-based solutions.
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital’s Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research (COE)
2025-05-01 18:30 - 19:30
The Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital’s Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research (COE) aims to enhance the lives of those with mental health challenges through community-based projects. The COE focuses on research, psychoeducation, and addressing healthcare disparities while implementing psychosocial interventions to improve individual and community well-being.
In 2018, the Peer Specialist Team at the COE conducted a psychosocial needs assessment with mental health service users sampled from across Massachusetts. Listening group participants spoke about the benefits of peer support and a central theme that emerged was the clear need for more programs to include Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) services and better access to CPSs across the state.
In response, the COE peer team organized four listening groups with Massachusetts CPSs to identify the challenges faced by peer specialists in various work environments, along with corresponding recommendations, with the goal of improving the working conditions, effectiveness, and satisfaction of CPSs across Massachusetts.
Findings highlighted several areas where CPSs expressed a desire for improvement, categorized into four key topics:

Organizational Culture: The values, beliefs, practices, and behaviors that contribute to the overall success of CPSs in their work settings.
Resource Availability: Whether CPSs felt they had the necessary physical resources to perform their jobs effectively.
Training and Education: Whether, after their initial certification, CPSs felt prepared to fulfill their responsibilities and if they had access to opportunities for further growth through additional training and certification.
Role Definition: Whether CPSs felt empowered to perform their duties as trained, in accordance with the CPS Code of Ethics, and if their non-peer colleagues acknowledged, respected, and understood the peer role.

The COE Peer Specialists will present on this Peer Integration Project, followed by a discussion about the challenges Peer Specialists face, and what subsequent recommendations can aid in the integration of Peer Support Specialists into larger healthcare systems and improve access to their services.
Presenters for this talk from the COE include Valeria Chambers, Ryan Markley, Jacquie Martinez, Anne Whitman, Sandi Whitney Sarles
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Opening Doors to the Arts
2025-06-05 18:30 - 19:30
The next National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Boston Peer Support and Advocacy Network (PSAN) monthly speaker series will feature several members of opening doors to the arts telling their recovery story and how opening doors works. We get free and reduced price tix to concerts, theatre and more! see www.openingdoorstothearts.org

Speakers: Hilary, Michael, Howard
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Lawrence Harris
2025-07-03 18:30 - 19:30
Bio
Lawrence Harris is a 19-year-old Youth Empowerment Speaker who helps teens and young adults break through limiting beliefs and build lives rooted in confidence, resilience, and mental wellness. As someone who is autistic and a survivor of childhood abuse and C-PTSD, Lawrence brings a raw, relatable, and powerful presence to every stage he steps on. His story is proof that no matter where you start, healing and growth are possible—and worth the work.
With four years of speaking experience, Lawrence has inspired thousands through school assemblies, youth events, and mental health panels. His message connects deeply with students, educators, and youth advocates alike, offering practical tools and real hope for anyone fighting internal battles they rarely speak about.
Description of Talk: Think Different, Feel Different, Live Different
A practical, emotionally grounded experience that helps teens and young adults transform their mindset from survival mode to self-leadership. Through the lens of lived experience—navigating trauma, autism, and the internal battle of limiting beliefs—I break down how thought patterns affect emotional regulation and long-term decision-making. The talk equips youth with tools to reframe their thinking, shift their emotional responses, and take active steps toward personal growth and clarity.
Structure of the Talk:

THINK DIFFERENT – The first segment addresses internal dialogue, mental habits, and the roots of negative self-perception. I introduce common limiting beliefs and provide practical reframing techniques that help young people to disrupt these thought cycles.

FEEL DIFFERENT – This section dives into the emotional weight teens carry, how it connects to mindset, and how to build emotional intelligence as well as offering tangible tools to navigate shame, anxiety, and disconnection.

LIVE DIFFERENT – The final segment focuses on identity ownership and long-term behavior change. Audiences learn how consistent mindset shifts lead to new actions, greater self-trust, and the ability to make empowered life decisions—even when circumstances are hard.

Two References from organizations I’d previously worked with, attached below:
Recording of the speech given at New Leash of Life: https://youtu.be/851dkXDIYPM?si=LW1IUa1vJ8_OADcj
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Ashley Sproul
2025-08-07 18:30 - 19:30
Bio
Ashley Sproul is the Director of Recovery and Empowerment with the Department of Mental Health and a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS). She began her career as a CPS within The Living Room model, where she was able to provide peer support to individuals experiencing significant emotional distress in a trauma-sensitive setting. Throughout her career, she has benefited from working in various settings, including a peer-run Recovery Learning Community and an interdisciplinary treatment team within a Community Behavioral Health Clinic. Her background includes both direct support and supervisory roles, where she has been passionate about collaborating across roles to support individuals seeking wellness and highlighting the importance and implementation of person-centered care. Ashley has training experience as a former member of the Massachusetts Certified Peer Specialist training team, where she was responsible for providing education around racism and oppression in the Systemic Racism Module. Outside of her role, you will find her spending time painting, playing music, and finding ways to incorporate artistic creativity into Peer Support spaces.

Title of Talk: Follow Recovery Road
Description of talk: Ashley Sproul will share her recovery story of how she has navigated her own wellness both within and outside of the traditional mental health system, with an emphasis on what tools, supports, and organizations that were helpful on her journey. Ashley will then share more about the Office of Recovery and Empowerment with the Department of Mental Health as well as her personal and systemic vision for DMH. Questions and comments will be welcome!
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Elizabeth Moore
2025-09-04 18:30 - 19:30
Bio
Elizabeth Moore is currently employed as one of four Certified Peer Specialists at Waverley Place, the community support program associated with McLean Hospital. She has been employed there for 8 years and loves helping members strive to meet their individual recovery goals. Some of her other responsibilities at Waverley Place include leading groups, coordinating referrals, and managing inventory. In late August she will start co-facilitating groups 4 hours per week at the McLean Hospital Behavioral Health Program.
Description of talk: Her talk will focus on the vital importance of charting your own path and learning how to build a rewarding life while in recovery from mental illness
Key Points:
*Focus on finding and maintaining communities of non-judgemental people who will walk with you on the journey. Whatever you are dealing with you can’t do it alone.
*The judgement of clinicians and other professionals is not the final verdict on your future and they don’t know how to fix you
*Just because you are not initially successful doesn’t mean it will not happen. Some of us just take longer.
*Avoidance is not a viable long term coping strategy for dealing with symptoms. Eventually you have to learn how to face them so you can build the life you want.
*Building a meaningful productive life is VERY possible despite having ongoing severe mental health issues.
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PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - No Event
2025-10-02 18:30 - 19:30
There will be no event on October 2nd because of Yom Kippur.

PSAN Recovery Speaker Series - Heidi Lee
2025-11-06 18:30 - 19:30
Bio
Heidi HyunJin Lee (she/they), BFA, MEd, CPS/certified peer specialist is an artist, visual arts educator, mental health activist, somatic healing fanatic, and mother to a beautifully spirited child who keeps her heart young and mind curious.
She is currently working on her MSW degree, inspired by her former clients at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Common Art (an art program for those experiencing homelessness), leaving her former life as a Boston high school art teacher, community organizer, and community advocate for those experiencing homelessness.
For self care, Heidi practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Forrest Yoga as a form of exposure therapy to combat cPTSD, bipolar disorder, and cooks massive amounts of Korean food economically for fellow hungry souls.
Title of Talk: Somatic Modalities: Releasing Trauma From The Body

Description of talk:
When we experience trauma, especially early in life, it can erode our trust in our own bodies. Healing is not just about repairing what’s been hurt, but about building new pathways for safety, self-trust, and balance.
In this talk, we’ll explore how the concept of Yin-Yang or Fire and Water activation and restoration can guide us in reconnecting with our bodies as allies in healing.
Using polyvagal theory as a foundation, we’ll look at how the nervous system shifts between states of overactivation, regulation, and shutdown.
Practices such as yoga, diaphragmatic breathing, walking, martial arts, or other mindful movement can help regulate the nervous system — moving us toward a calm, alert, and grounded state.
Some of these practices also provide safe, intentional activation — through pressure, resistance, and release, which strengthens nervous system flexibility and expands the window of tolerance, making it easier to stay present without becoming overwhelmed.
By combining activation (fire) with restoration (water), we can support both body and mind in developing resilience and adaptability. Somatic practices not only help us release tension and regulate in the moment — they also lay the groundwork for long-term nervous system health, body trust, and the possibility of post traumatic growth towards one’s homeostasis.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://bostonmedicalcenter.zoom.us/j/96984874345
Meeting ID: 969 8487 4345
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