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Registration is NOW OPEN for NAMI NH’s 2025 Virtual Annual Conference!
Each spring, NAMI NH hosts an annual conference. Participants come from communities all around New Hampshire and are interested in learning more about mental illness, including broadening their understanding of ways to support each other, reduce stigma, advocate for quality mental health services, and find needed resources. This conference is a fantastic opportunity to come together to learn, network, and communicate messages of hope.
Click here to register for this year’s virtual event, and continue reading for more information on our conference sessions for 2025!
NAMI NH’s 2025 Annual Conference will launch Tuesday (3/25) night with keynote speaker Professor Ahmed Hankir, MBChB MRCPsych, presenting The Wounded Healer’ Harnessing the Power of Storytelling to Reject Stigma and Humanize Persons Living with a Mental Health Condition.
Despite increased awareness and what can be perceived as progress, persons living with a mental health condition continue to be stigmatized, shunned, and dehumanized the consequences of which can be both tragic and fatal. Indeed, stigma remains a formidable barrier to mental healthcare services and persons living with a mental health condition continue to suffer in silence. Moreover, our human rights continue to be violated.
The evidence included in the 2022 Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health is simple and clear: Persons living with a mental health condition have the power to reject stigma. We have voices, we can speak for ourselves and we will be heard. We must not only be included and involved in the design, development and delivery of anti-stigma campaigns and initiatives, we must also be given the reigns to lead them.
In this Keynote Lecture, Professor Ahmed Hankir will describe The Wounded Healer program. The Wounded Healer is an innovative method of teaching that blends the power of the performing arts and storytelling with facts about persons living with a mental health condition. In The Wounded Healer, Professor Hankir traces his recovery journey from, “hopeless, impoverished, shunned, stigmatized and suicidal service user with mental illness” to “empowered patient advocate, survivor, and psychiatrist living with a mental health condition.” The main aims of The Wounded Healer are to dispel myths, break down barriers, reject stigma, and empower, dignify, and humanize persons living with a mental health condition. Professor Hankir will also read excerpts from his book, Breakthrough: A Story of Hope, Resilience and Mental Health Recovery.
The conference will continue on Wednesday morning (3/26) as NAMI NH’s Executive Director Susan Stearns officially opens the conference, provides NAMI NH updates, and introduces Lori Weaver, Commissioner of the NH Department of Health and Human Services, who will discuss the state of NH’s mental health system before we move on to the following presentations!
In Individualizing Hope: A Person-Centered Approach to Supporting People with Mental Illness, Leah Rothchild, APRN, CPNP-PC will discuss hope, stigma, and person-centered care through the lens of her lived experiences with mental illness and substance use disorder, as well as her professional experiences as a psychiatric nurse and a peer recovery coach. Cultivating hope is not a “one size fits all” approach. Leah takes a humanistic approach to healthcare, seeking to connect with and guide individuals to health, rather than aiming to simply treat an illness. This session will utilize personal stories to illustrate strategies for enhancing personalized support for those struggling with, or recovering from, mental illness.
Join Walk Manager, Brittany Porter, for We Are NAMIWalks NH: Bringing Hope, Help, and Healing to the Granite State, an information session on the 23rd Annual NAMIWalks New Hampshire, the Granite State’s largest mental health awareness and suicide prevention event!
Hear important updates about the 2025 Walk, listen to inspiring stories, and learn how you can get involved!
Save the Date!
NAMIWalks New Hampshire returns on Sunday, October 5, 2025, in Concord, New Hampshire!
After these sessions, grab your lunch and join us for a conversation about self-compassion, as Leah Rothchild presents Don’t Forget to Care for YOU!
Compassion fatigue and burnout are serious problems that plague healthcare workers, psychiatric providers, and those caring for loved ones with physical or mental illnesses. During this short breakout session, Leah Rothchild will briefly share the science of self-care and guide participants through a self-care activity. When we pause and create space to care for ourselves, we enhance our abilities to care for others.
Also during this time, learn more about NAMI NH programs in mini sessions including:
- Upcoming NAMI NH Events
- Life Interrupted Presentation
- NAMI NH Online Training Platform
- NAMI NH 101
- Sponsor Booths
After the lunch hour, join us for our Wednesday afternoon Keynote Presenter, Kim LaMontagne, MBA, CPC, CFAA, presenting From Recovery to Resilience: Leading with Purpose and Compassion.
In this powerful and inspiring keynote, Kim celebrates 16 years of sobriety and shares her transformative journey from battling alcohol addiction and mental illness to becoming a beacon of hope and change.
Now a sought-after trainer for leaders, Kim draws on personal experiences to highlight the intersection of resilience, mental health, and effective leadership. Attendees will discover actionable strategies to foster mentally healthy workplaces, reduce stigma, and build cultures of empathy and support.
This keynote offers a compelling message of growth, courage, and the profound impact of prioritizing mental health in both personal and professional spheres. After this keynote, stay with us for the rest of the afternoon for the following presentations!
Join David Glazebrook, 2004 & 2005 Iraq Tour Veteran, as he shares his journey with PTSD and presents PTSD & Yoga for the Mind and Body.
Stories matter, and David is looking forward to sharing his journey at the NAMI NH Conference. In this presentation, David breaks down the stigma around finding hope and how the practice of yoga has been beneficial for him and the military and yoga communities. David’s passion for yoga comes through in the trainings he offers for teachers and the classes he teaches as a Yoga Instructor and Owner of Yoga on York in York, Maine.
In 2024, a cast of brave community members shared their stories of hope, empowerment, and honesty in NAMI New Hampshire’s inaugural production of This is My Brave.
In Storytelling Saves Lives: Bringing This Is My Brave to the Granite State, This Is My Brave Director Melissa Wieters and cast members from the 2024 show will share highlights, insights, lessons learned, and plans for the 2025 show!
Save the Date!
This Is My Brave returns on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
Lastly, stick around to hear closing remarks from NAMI NH Deputy Director Liz Hodgkins, who will share key takeaways and wrap up this important event full of inspirational sessions. Don’t want to miss out? Click here to register today!