Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Erin Ramachandran
Mental Health Strong, USA
Keynote: Being Mental Health Strong and Walking Resiliently Alongside a Loved One with a Mental Health Condition
Time : 10:30-11:15
Biography:
Erin Ramachandran is a published author of Mental Health Strong, A Christian’s Guide to Walking Resiliently alongside Your Spouse with a Mental Health Condition. Erin holds a master’s degree in Health Care Administration and is a certified Mental Health First Aid USA instructor. She has worked in the healthcare industry for more than fifteen years and is the Mental Health & Wellness Program Director at one of the largest non-profit health plans in the United States. Outside of work, Erin enjoys traveling, swimming, mentoring, and watching movies. She is passionate about helping marriages affected by mental health challenges. Her and her husband, Keith live in Southern California and have been married for twelve years
Abstract:
Do you feel hopeless, tired, and worn out? How do we walk alongside our loved ones when they are driving us crazy? We tend to talk about cancer and diabetes in our relationships but rarely talk about depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. How do we learn how to love well and also how to not burn out? Provided from the perspective of a spouse whose partner battles multiple mental health conditions, Erin offers reallife, faith-based, practical examples to maintain a healthy relationship. She has tried over fifty resources and simplifies what works in eight effective steps to walking resiliently alongside her spouse with a mental health condition. These steps can be applied to any relationship where you have a loved one with a mental health condition that you are trying to walk alongside with including a spouse, a parent/ child, brother / sister or friend. Walk away with new tools in your toolkit, apply them to your relationship and have hope again as you learn how to be Mental Health Strong
Keynote Forum
Tobias Mol
HeartRoads, The Netherlands
Keynote: Winning and healing through inner-balance
Biography:
Tobias Mol (MSc in Strategic Human Resource Management and former Accenture consultant). He won three National titles (and a European cup/World bronze) in the sport that is all about balance; Judo. At the time few of his competitors knew that outside the mat he needed to balance something else, having been diagnosed with diabetes type 1 at the age of two, he needed to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. His experiences on and off the mat have resulted in a model for inner-balance that helps people win in the most important areas of life; Health and wellbeing, his works as a Coach and Professional Speaker
Abstract:
Statement of the Problem: Winning and healing are not that different. Both aim at moving from the current to the desired situation. The challenge is navigating the way to get there. In sports, the definition of winning is clear. You either do it or you do not. But this does not go for ‘real life’ where many different factors determine one’s outcome and the value of these factors is different for each person. And so, in order to win in life, we need to balance all the different aspects that are in some degree important to us; work, family, health, friendships, etc. When we fail to balance these factors in a healthy way, we start encountering a tension that can result into both physical and mental problems (burnouts, depression). While the knowledge of this process may be known, the balancing of these outer circumstances is often seen as the way to go for healing and wellbeing. What we need to realize is that any external disbalance (external in this case as to how we schedule our lives) always comes forth form an internal one. When we look at athletes, there are basically three types of characters; fighters, analyzers, and feelers. All three have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to winning and only the best know when to apply which characteristics (and can actually do so). But these characters exist in all of us and shape the way we deal with situations. In order to win and create the life we want, they need to be balanced. How this works is author demonstrated by him, walking the talk and applying this mechanism to reach author goal; physical healing of diabetes. Using examples from author professional career in sports, consulting and dealing with illness author takes the audience on a journey that will end in all attendees starting a new one; the way of inner-balance.