A film screening of Healing Voices, and panel to challenge the cultural understanding of “mental illness” with a critical look at America’s broken mental healthcare system and a message of recovery. Preceded by a reception. Co-sponsored by the Empowerment Exchange.

Healing Voices is presented by: The Mental Health Empowerment Project, a section of the Empowerment Exchange. After the screening there will be a panel discussion featuring members of the production.

The Empowerment Exchange is a peer support program that offers people throughout Rensselaer County strategies and encouragement to use their personal power and to find their own unique voice. As peers who have used mental health services themselves, they know firsthand about the day to day struggles, but they also know about the successes. As a group, the Exchange celebrates the many different ways to wellness, and how spirits and passions are rekindled when you follow your own path.

The Empowerment Exchange:

2136 Burdett Ave

Troy, New York

(518) 235-2173

About the Panelists:

Sarah Felman: Sarah works as a peer support mentor at the Mental Health Empowerment Project and facilitates the Hearing Voices peer support groups at the Empowerment Exchange in Troy, New York. When Sarah is not doing peer support, she is typically on the back of a horse as an avid equestrian.

Oryx Cohen: Oryx Cohen is the Chief Operating Officer of the National Empowerment Center. Oryx is a board member of the Hearing Voices Network USA and Empatiko, and an Emotional CPR trainer. Oryx co-produced and is a subject in the award-winning social action documentary HEALING VOICES, which was released in April 2016. Oryx lives with his wife and two children in Massachusetts.

Dan Sullivan: Scientist. Athlete. Professor. Hello, I’m Dan Sullivan and I’m none of these things. I do have long winded conversations with a seven foot tall ant creature, hear voices, and have a pretty decent sense of humor.

We are committed to lowering the barriers to access for events at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. For people who are hard of hearing or deaf, blind or low-vision, or whose physical limitations can interfere with a satisfying experience, let us know two weeks in advance so we can make appropriate arrangements.