Speakers: In My Own Words
Michael Greenberg
Hurry Down Sunshine: A Father’s Story of Love and “Madness”
Sally was his bright, beautiful daughter one day, and a complete stranger the next. Michael recounts the summer of 1996, when his 15-year-old daughter, Sally, suffered a manic breakdown that left her hospitalized for several weeks, and medicated for years. He shares the pain and the hope of a father who waited day after day in the visitors’ lounge, to give Sally “a point of return” from the psych ward.
Victoria Maxwell
Crazy for Life — Escapades of a Bipolar Princess
Victoria’s one-person show, Crazy for Life, features her roller-coaster ride with bipolar disorder and psychosis. It is a brave, funny, and compelling
look at surviving and coming to terms with mental illness. Victoria takes us round the bend and back again; from meditation groups to hospital psych wards, from black depressions to manic highs and psychedelic psychoses. She entertains and educates, exploding stigmas and celebrating life.
Tim Page
Parallel Play: Growing Up With Undiagnosed Asperger’s
It was obvious that he was not “normal.” His parents, neighbors, and teachers (even as they gave him failing grades) described him as a genius. Between the ages of seven and fi fteen, Tim was given glucose-tolerance tests, anti-seizure medications, electroencephalograms, and an occasional Mogadon to shut him down at night. He grew up to become a classical music critic for The Washington Post and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize
but remained an “eccentric.” Tim was 45 when he found out he was an “Aspie,” or had Asperger’s syndrome! Learn how Tim handled life before and after his diagnosis.
Steve Luxenberg
Annie’s Ghosts – A Journey Into a Family Secret
Growing up in Detroit, Steve took his cues from his striving parents and poor immigrant grandparents, who “seemed to have a collective amnesia about anything sad, tragic, or pre-American.” But after his mother’s death, Steve set out to look into the life of his phantom aunt, Annie Cohen, who was “buried” by her family 32 years before she died — they could not handle the shame and stigma of having a family member with a mental illness that might be darkly hereditary and refl ective of everyone in the household. Share the many family secrets Steve uncovered on his quest for truth.
Rupert Isaacson
Horse Boy: A Father’s Quest to Heal His Son
When his seven-year-old son Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert was torn by grief and shame, as though he had cursed his child by giving him faulty genes. He watched horrifi ed, as his son began to drift away to another place. Rupert had to find a way back into Rowan’s world, into his mind — and he got help from a horse named Betsy. Join this amazing family on their impossible adventure in Mongolia, where they sought help from horses and shamanic healing to help Rowan connect with the world.
Tonier Cain
Back in the Trenches: Turning Trauma Around
A long history of childhood and adult sexual abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, prostitution, homelessness, hunger, incarceration… “What is wrong with you?” was all Tonier ever heard from those who were supposed to help. But the turning point came when one trauma-informed clinician in a program for pregnant women with addictions finally asked her “What happened to you?” See how Tonier become drug- and alcohol-free, a homeowner, a mother, a consumer advocate who has returned to her old haunts to help teens struggling with addictions.
Commander (ret) Mark Waddell and Marshele Carter Waddell
When War Comes Home: Transitioning to Life in the Community
Marshele explains that when her husband, Mark, returned home after 25 years of service in more than 100 countries, the war came home with him — “It sits on our sofa, rides in our car, and eats our meals with us. The war is here 24/7.” Marshele bears testimony to the effectiveness of Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group’s Peer Navigator Model, which helps veterans and families avoid the poor decisions that result in homelessness, family violence, unemployment, substance abuse, and suicide.
