Beyond the Numbers: Talking to Your Loved Ones About Mental Health
Asking for help and talking to your loved ones about your mental health is important, but it can be difficult to know how to start or facilitate these conversations. This panel-style webinar will discuss how Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals can navigate conversations with their loved ones about their mental health given the stigma, cultural factors, shame, language barriers, or personal beliefs that they may encounter.
In recognition of BIPOC Mental Health Month, join Mental Health America and guests for this free, 60- minute webinar where we will:
- Provide insight and skills on how to approach conversations about mental health in an open, honest, and shameless way.
- Learn from the lived experiences and expertise of others on how they navigate difficult or new conversations with loved ones.
- Discuss how we can best support someone who is living with a mental health condition.
- Explore how to use culture not as a barrier, but to our advantage when talking about and healing our mental health.
Meet the Speakers
Dennis Tran, director of partnerships at the Asian Americans with Disabilities Initiative, is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) advocate and storyteller. Tran has a ranged skillset in emerging new media, communication, technology, and innovation for social change. As an autistic Vietnamese American with partial blindness, Tran tackles intergenerational trauma as he finds his sense of identities. Through these struggles and hardships, he found his passion for creativity and storytelling. Tran believes everyone has a story to tell and, through these stories, we can all identify with each other.
Dior Vargas, M.S., M.P.H., is an award-winning mental health activist with over 10 years of experience in advocacy. She specializes in working with universities and corporations to discuss self-care advocacy, wellness accessibility, diversity within mental health, and related topics. Vargas is the creator of the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo project, a response to the lack of representation in the media of BIPOC people living with mental illness. Vargas is the recipient of numerous awards, including the White House Champion of Change for Disability Advocacy Across Generations honor given under the Obama administration.
Israa Nasir, M.H.C.-L.P., is a psychotherapist, speaker, and founder of the digital mental health brand WellGuide. Israa curates meaningful experiences through one-on-one emotional and mental health coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements to further amplify the message of emotional wellness and personal growth. Her work is focused on transforming the way we talk about mental health, taking it from a place of shame to a place of empowerment; with a specific focus on identity formation and healing for the BIPOC immigrant (first and second generation) experience.