-
The Power of Peer Support: Walking Alongside Someone Towards Recovery
I remember the nights I’d cry, looking in the mirror, not recognizing the girl I was looking at. I wanted and needed a way out. With so much shame and stigma around substance use and mental health, I did not know how to ask for help. The process of calling detoxes and getting certain documents...
-
City Voices: A Peer‑Run Legacy of Connection, Recovery, and Community
In 1995, a man named Ken Steele began what he described as his recovery from a “30‑year schizophrenic odyssey.” His story stretched across the United States — from Hawaii to New York City — through periods of homelessness, halfway houses, and profound disconnection. Everything changed...
-
Between Two Homelands: The Mental Health Burden and Strength of South Asian Immigrants
My father is fluent in English. He has two master’s degrees and a law degree from India. He can debate policy, analyze contracts, rattle off political science, and write with precision. But when he came to America in the early 1980s, he learned that fluency was not the same thing as...
-
Amplifying Peer Specialists in the Behavioral Health Continuum of Care
We have witnessed the ongoing strain on our traditional mental health care system over the past five years. There is a growing need for help across communities, where help seekers are experiencing nuanced mental health challenges. From suicidality, stress, bullying, substance misuse, to family...
-
The Impact of Peer-Based Storytelling on Workplace Mental Health
NAMI-NYC participant reflections illustrate why a peer-based approach matters. One participant shared that they did not know anyone in their life who had experience depression and that hearing a peer speak made them feel less isolated, saying, “I don't have anyone who has depression around me, so...
-
Westchester County Develops “Lives Forward” Program – Providing Dual Certification MH and Addiction Peer Training to Currently Justice Involved Individuals
The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Few things illustrate this better than using one’s lived experience to support another person seeking recovery from co-occurring disorders. Now formally recognized as “peer”...
-
An Exclusive Interview with U.S. Soccer Legend Carli Lloyd: Advice for High School Athletes on Mental Health and Thriving Under Pressure
Few athletes know pressure like Carli Lloyd. Across two decades on the world’s biggest stages, she not only met it, but she also thrived in it. I wanted to know her secret. With two Olympic gold medals, two FIFA World Cup championships, she’s a National Soccer Hall of Fame member, and two-time...
-
What It’s Really Like Living with Bipolar Disorder
As of 2019, 0.53% of people in the world are bipolar, according to a study from the World Health Organization. I am one of them. Living with bipolar disorder isn’t easy. Scholarly journals document the symptoms and struggles that come with this disorder, but they’re far from accurate. Common...
-
Hope, Healing, and Peer Support: A Path Through Depression
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated 1 in 5 teenagers experience depression, and 1 in 12 adults have experienced depression in their lifetime.¹ Depression can be a devastating illness; symptoms may include persistent sadness, hopelessness, loss of enjoyment in...
-
Ira Minot, MHNE Founder, Bids Farewell: Looking Forward to New Challenges
Mental Health News Education (MHNE) recently held its 2025 Leadership Awards Reception, where Founder and former Executive Director Ira Minot, LMSW, was honored with the Founder’s Legacy Award for his more than 25 years of visionary leadership. Presenting the award was Ashley Brody, CEO of Search...
