Mental Health Speakers

Mental Health issues

Judy Collins

A Grammy-nominated folk artist who has been recording for over 40 years, Collins has spent her career chronicling her life through narration and song. After facing the tragedy of her son’s suicide, she found solace in reaching out to others through words and music. Her book, Sanity and Grace, is a deeply moving memoir of her journey from the depths of agony onto the path of hope and clarity.

Christopher Kennedy Lawford

Prior to his successes in politics, government, business, and acting, Lawford battled a drug and alcohol addiction. Speaking on the challenges of overcoming this illness, he offers a compelling message of survival, hope, and finding one’s integrity. The author of Symptoms of Withdrawal, his latest book is Moments of Clarity.

Patty Duke

An Academy Award-winning actress, Duke secretly battled bipolar disorder for many years. In her autobiography, Call Me Anna, she describes her struggles with mental illness, alcohol abuse, and suicide attempts. Now a best-selling author, Duke also wrote A Brilliant Madness, a compelling account of hope and triumph over hardship.

Kathy Cronkite

A mental health advocate, Cronkite is a popular writer, journalist, and public speaker, and counts herself as one among millions who live with clinical depression. She is the author of On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations about Conquering Depression, and delivers the clear message that, in order to combat the stigma attached to depression, it must be accepted as the medical condition it is.

Joey Pantoliano

An accomplished actor, Pantoliano is often recognized for his roles in The Sopranos and Memento. A mental health advocate, he grew up with a bipolar mother and has himself struggled with clinical depression as an adult.

In the 2006 film Canvas, Pantoliano portrays a character whose wife has schizophrenia, and must help his son cope with the problems this creates for the family.

Dorothy Hamill

Hamill leaped into America’s heart as a 19-year-old when she took the Olympic figure-skating gold medal in 1976. In her book, A Skating Life, she reveals her lifelong struggle with a depression that sometimes left her contemplating suicide. Now, she shares how she successfully manages her depression through exercise, medication, therapy, and the support of family and friends.

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Mental Health issues

Greg Louganis

A competitive diver known for his multiple Olympic medal-winning performances, Louganis battled depression for years. He now addresses groups nationwide, sharing how he overcame such personal struggles as coming out as a gay man, an HIV diagnosis, and enduring domestic violence.

James Garbarino

Author of Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn to Violence and How We Can Save Them, Dr. Garbarino is a national expert on the roots of youth violence. He has advised such organizations as the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, the National Institute for Mental Health, and the American Medical Association.

James Gilligan

A Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and author of Preventing Violence, Dr. Gilligan offers insight into the psychology of crime and punishment and the prevention of violent behavior.

Terry Wise

After losing her spouse to Lou Gehrig’s disease and surviving her own suicide attempt, Wise wrote the acclaimed Waking Up: Climbing Through the Darkness, a roadmap to restoring emotional health. Sharing a story of hope and personal triumph, she provides inspiration to those facing similar struggles.

Jennifer Ayers-Moore

A passionate, outspoken advocate for the artisticallygifted mentally ill, Ayers-Moore is sister to Nathaniel Ayers, the subject of the book and film The Soloist.

Founder and chair of the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation, her goal is to create havens for the mentally ill in cities across the nation.

David Satcher

The 16th Surgeon General of the US, Dr. Satcher published groundbreaking reports on such issues as mental illness, suicide and violence prevention, and sexual health. Satcher prepared the report Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation.

David & Nic Sheff

A recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Nic Sheff penned the memoir, Tweak, sparing no detail about his experiences. His father, renowned journalist David Sheff, shares the struggle from his point of view in Beautiful Boy. The two recount a compelling, heartbreaking, and honest story of the emotional rollercoaster of addiction.

William Cope Moyers

Will Miller

A licensed psychotherapist, Dr. Miller is also a former educator and stand-up comedian. He understands the stresses of everyday life and offers audiences a humorous guide to working at full power without blowing a fuse.

A lvin Poussaint

Jennifer Holliday

A Broadway star recognized for having one of the greatest voices in entertainment, Holliday struggled with depression for over a decade. She now shares her story of overcoming this illness, teaching that there is a healing path out of depression’s darkness.

A Professor of psychiatry at Harvard, Dr. Poussaint is a proponent of non-violent parenting and parenting education. He co-authored the book Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans.

Moyers, Vice President of External Affairs for the Hazelden Foundation, draws on his own experiences with addiction to help individuals, families, and communities understand the power of addiction and the promise and possibility of recovery.

Paul Williams

A Grammy Award-winning composer, recording artist, and drug rehabilitation counselor, Williams draws on his experiences as a Betty Ford Counseling Center alumnus in educating audiences on the risks of substance abuse.

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