MHASF on the Road: MHA National Conference 2023

I’ve been attending Mental Health America’s annual National conference on-and-off for the past decade and it continues to be a source of inspiration. Thousands of people from all over the world coming together to share their innovations, visions, and voices keeps pushing us forward.This year’s conference theme was “Live Mas”. Just kidding, it was actually “Next Gen Campaign Prevention”. Sorry, it was too uncanny not to make that light-hearted joke. Also, I do want to point out there were tacos as an option for lunch. We’re just having fun, MHA National team! We love you all!

I do want to point out that Taco Bell has the Taco Bell Foundation “Live Mas Scholarship” that supports their employees pursue educational goals. We may not all be fans of Taco Bell but we all can get behind their scholarship. Check it out!The conference focused on promoting lived experience, advancing health equity, and centering the social determinants of mental health. Through exploring the ways these topics intersect with collective efforts to promote well-being, prevent illness, increase resilience, and foster recovery—all at population scale, Next Gen Prevention truly created a space that had a cross-section of speakers and examining the core issues of mental health care from every angle.MHA National not only offers a space to share ideas but it also offers connection. Our work is often challenging and filled with moments that make you want to pull your hair, or shout at the top of your lungs. A lot of times it leaves us feeling alone. Attending national is a reminder that you are not alone. That when I feel like picking up the phone and going off on a public office holder because of their appalling policies, or at government bureaucrats for denying services and support to individuals because they have reached their “daily allowance of food and services”. What I’m experiencing in San Francisco is also happening in places like Tulsa, East Tennessee, Chicago, and on and on.

While sharing laughs at the ridiculousness of this broken system builds a shared bond, the exchange of knowledge and ideas builds our future. It comes from the experience of leaders paving the path to radically change how our justice systems respond to individuals with SMIs and SUDs. It’s the trust of traditional healers returning to hundreds and even thousand-year-old practices to help their people. It’s peer professionals offering a different approach like peer-run warm lines and case management successfully complement each other for a continuum of care. And sure, it’s also the future visionaries and innovators using AI to help us look at the data to understand better the gaps and challenges of fitting augmented/virtual reality into treatment and support. From mobile peer and clinical RVs to the internet of mental healthcare, the MHA National Conference reminds us that all ideas—no matter how big or small—have a place.Attending the MHA National Conference rejuvenates, inspires, and affirms that what we do daily at MHASF is life-changing. The lifesaving 15-minute call on the Warm Line with the single parent experiencing a really rough day, the virtual weekly support groups that many of our isolated seniors steadfastly attend to find connection with a community, or the sharing of a cup of coffee and a sandwich when someone gets to go back home after being held on a 72-hour hold. These acts, while simple, are profoundly life-changing.

We want to thank Mental Health America for graciously welcoming the MHASF squad, along with the thousands of us in Washington D.C., and virtually all over the world. It was a phenomenal experience, and we look forward to bringing a larger group next year!