Amy Dresner is a former professional stand-up comic, having appeared at The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Improv. Since 2012, she has been a contributing editor of the online addiction and recovery magazine TheFix.com. She’s also written for the Good Men Project, The Frisky, Refinery 29, and has been a regular contributor to Addiction.com and PsychologyToday.com, where she has her own addiction blog entitled “Coming Clean.” “My Fair Junkie” is her debut book.

She joins our host Kristin Sunanta Walker for candid talk about her journey through addiction.

www.amydresner.com

www.mhnrnetwork.com

Erika Reva is a writer and mental health speaker, who until recent years worked as a photographer. She has always been apart of the arts in some capacity. She lives with Dissociative Identity Disorder, OCD & other mental illnesses that accompany DID. Her and her parts strive to end the stigma surrounding mental illness, specifically trauma based disorders. She works with various groups and individuals on an ever growing global scale spreading awareness about DID, in an attempt to alter (only a little pun intended) the stigmatizing beliefs surrounding dissociative disorders. “It took far too long and is unfathomable to me that people, like myself, living with DID are often cast aside or re-traumatized while on their respective journeys to recovery. It’s asinine. No more!”

Now with the help of her parts and support system they’re applying their own experiences to written word and in the realm of public speaking with the goal that others living with DID will have their voices heard. She has written a seven week course, Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, to share her experiences and the dozens of stories she has consent to share from people living with this disorder who are still not being helped or otherwise unsafe and unable to share it personally.

It is for herself, her parts and the endless number of people who reach out to her and others like her whom do speak openly and share glimpses of their lives that they created “Living DID Talks” and have now deepened the conversations and transformed these speaking engagements into a course.

www.theweinme.com

Dr. Killion stopped by the media room at Converge Autism by Springbrook Behavioral Health to discuss his work as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and why this field has been his inspiration that continues to this day!

Dr. Killion possesses 40 plus years of direct experience with individuals with developmental disabilities including autism. He possesses a B.S. in Speech Pathology with a minor in Psychology, a M.Ed. in Special Education and a PhD in Developmental Psychology. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He is the author of the Functional Independence Skills Handbook or F.I.S.H. Developmental Program.

www.mhnrnetwork.com

Jeff Cohn works diligently with Springbrook Behavioral Health and is a popular presenter at their Converge Autism conference. He joins us again to discuss a new program he created and the importance of listening to the needs of the autistic child.

With a BS and MS in Occupational Therapy, Jeff has a deep well of educational professional experience. As lead OT in a pediatric development outpatient clinic, lead OT in CA school districts, experience in long and short term rehab facilities, and now with experience in the Autism Program at Springbrook Behavioral Health, Jeff brings a wide range of real-world patient and clinical experience with a specialization in Autism.

www.mhnrnetwork.com

Dr. Victoria Naumann joins us live from the Converge Autism conference by Springbrook Behavioral Health in Greenville, South Carolina. She is the Executive Director & Owner of Greenville’s Brain Balance center and an exhibitor of this event. She stops by the media room to discuss how her center works with all children including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Dr. Naumann became part of the Brain Balance team in 2008 .  Her background in health care as a chiropractic neurologist and the training she has had with Dr. Robert Melillo led her leave the health care field and focus on children with challenges.  She has never looked back and seeing children go from can’t do to can do during their sessions at Brain Balance is the reason. Along with being part of the Greenville, Charlotte and Cornelius Brain Balance Centers Dr. Naumann also enjoys her family, being outside with horses, and furthering her knowledge about neurology. 

www.mhnrnetwork.com

Join us for an impromtu podcast about the dangers we see in behavioral health regarding patient privacy. Stephen Kavalkavich of Rescue the Rescuer, Dr. John Huber of Mainstream Mental Health and Brian Cuban (Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Advocate and Best-Selling Author of The Addicted Lawyer) join our host, Kristin Sunanta Walker, to discuss how social media can become a nest of patient rights violations. 

Using possible examples from real life each guest dissects how one post can shame someone in a very delicate place in their lives struggling with addiction and mental health issues. What can this do to the person seeking help? How does this affect any business possibly associated with the violation of patient rights? Is there a difference between sharing a history of abuse at the hands of others and sharing information about someone’s addiction?

www.mhnrnetwork.com

Mike Rowley joins us live at Converge Autism to discuss the advocacy and self-education parents have gained as services were not available. He is the CEO at SpringBrook Behavioral Health. SpringBrook is 112 psychiatric hospital offering short term acute psychiatric services for adults, long term services for children with behavioral and psychiatric issues and long term services for children with Autism.

Kimberly Kizito stopped by the media room where Mental Health News Radio was broadcasting podcasts live from the 2nd annual Converge Autism conference with Springbrook Behavioral Health. Kim serves as an advocate for parents of children with autism. She works closely with parents by attending school IEP and 504 meetings to ensure proper accommodations for the child. She is a parent mentor for the South Carolina Autism Society.