Virtual Ability Symposium Spring 2018 - Philip Yanos
Channel: AvaCon Inc
Date: 2018-04-24

This presentation will review what we know about stigma toward people diagnosed with mental illnesses. It will review what we know about how common stigma is, how it impacts the self-images of people who are diagnosed with mental illnesses, and ways that people with mental illness can overcome the effects of stigma.

Dr. Yanos is a professor of psychology at John Jay College, City University of New York, and the author of Written Off: Mental Health Stigma and Loss of Human Potential (Cambridge University Press, 2018). A clinical psychologist, he is currently the interim Director of Clinical Training for the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at John Jay College. He is the author of over 90 articles and book chapters and has been the lead investigator on several federally-funded research grants. He is an internationally recognized expert on mental health stigma and its effects on identity, is an associate editor of the journal Stigma and Health, and is the co-developer of “Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy,” a treatment approach developed to combat the effects of self-stigma on people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses that has been translated into 6 languages. In his new book, he aims to make the importance of mental health stigma understandable and accessible to a general interest audience. In early reviews by professionals and advocates, it has been praised as “extraordinary” (Dr. Lisa Dixon) and “captivating and well-researched” (Kurt Sass, City Voices).

The Virtual Ability community hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within our cross-disability community we have members who deal with a variety of mental health issues. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost.