The 16th Journey to Wellness Symposium

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Sunshine from Darkness Presents….. The 16th Journey to Wellness Symposium “Inspiring Hope...Making a Difference” Saturday, March 14 8:45 am to 12:15 pm (Doors Open at 8 am ) Michael’s on East ballroom , 1212 S. East Ave, Sarasota, FL *

NEW SYMPOSIUM VENUE !

Vikaas Sohal, M.D., Ph.D., Staglin Family/IMHRO Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, USCSF “Stimulating the Brain to Unlock the Potential for Learning and Recovery in Mental Illness” We are beginning to learn about how patterns of brain activity relate to normal cognition and behavior and how abnormalities in these patterns might contribute to many devastating aspects of mental illness. Dr. Sohal will describe 2 projects designed to identify ways of restoring normal patterns of activity in the brain in order to enhance recovery from mental illness.

Carrie Bearden, Ph.D. Director of the Staglin Music Festival Center for the Assessment and Prevention Of Prodromal States (CAPPS) at UCLA “Developing and Implementing Early Detection and Intervention for Psychosis” Under Dr. Bearden’s leadership, CAPPS has revealed new evidence supporting biomarkers for oncoming psychosis and that family focused therapy may benefit. Dr. Bearden’s research aims to understand neurobiological risk factors for the development of psychosis using converging methods to study cognition and neuroanatomy in clinical high-risk samples Dottie Pacharis National Advocate for appropriate care and family involvement for those with mental illness Author of “Mind on the Run...A Bipolar Chronicle,” the book chronicle’s a family tragedy. It is the story of a family’s efforts to help their son through five major, prolonged bipolar manic episodes. It is a compelling story of love and loss and a family’s futile attempts to save their loved one.

Dottie’s book will be on sale at the IMHRO table with all proceeds going to mental health research

Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA) Sponsor of Bill H.R. 3717 “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis” Rep. Murphy is a six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives. A clinical psychologist by training, Congressman Murphy led the charge on Capitol Hill to reform our broken mental health system.

Bunny Skirboll , Founder of Compeer 2015 “Inspiring Hope...Making a Difference” Honoree " I always believed that people diagnosed with mental illness were the most lonely, isolated, and stigmatized. I believed that I could make a real difference in helping these people on their road to recovery through the healing power of friendship." Bunny Skirboll

FREE

CEU’S OFFERED! Register for Continuing Education Credits (3.0 CEUs) by emailing marlene@imhro , or online , imhro.org /sunshinefromdarkness

QUESTIONS? EMAIL MARLENE@IMHRO.ORG or CALL 941-504-6717 WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Friends, family, health care professionals and those personally diagnosed with any form of mental illness.

WHO CAN OFFER HELP LOCALLY? Local Community health organizations will be present from 8 am to 11:30 am to answer questions.

“Committed to raising awareness and funding brain health discoveries to improve lives now and tomorrow.” www.imhro.org

MODERATED BY: Andrew Cutler, MD, CEO and Medical Director Florida Clinical Research Center, LLC

CEU'S provided by Tidewell

Q & A with scientists, Congressman Murphy, Dottie Pacharis and Bunny Skirboll following the presentations *Valet parking on East Avenue entrance to Michael’s, additional parking on East Avenue and Midtown Plaza

Bob* and Lee Peterson, Co-Founders of Sunshine from Darkness 2015 Making a Difference Honoree Lee and Bob Peterson became involved with NARSAD to help fund mental health research in its early stages. The Peterson’s move to Florida was the genesis of NARSAD Florida and they swept into their passion for their cause. In the summer of 2008, the Petersons decided to create their own not-for-profit organization titled “Sunshine from Darkness”. Between 1997 and 2011 Sunshine from Darkness raised over 5 million dollars for mental health research. In 2011, after Bob Peterson’s death at the age of 88, IMHRO carried on the impactful efforts of Sunshine from Darkness in Sarasota on behalf of The Peterson Family and now provides the 501c3 non-profit, public benefit structure ensuring that the funding raised from Sunshine from Darkness continues to support the most promising research and affective programs for the cause.

Bunny Skirboll, Founder of Compeer 2015 Making a Difference Honoree Bunny Skirboll founded Compeer in 1975 in Rochester, NY following a near-fatal automobile accident. Her long rehabilitation helped her to realize the healing power of friendship and its importance to our total health, both physical and mental. She then vowed to make a difference in other people's lives.

Compeer grew from a small program to an internationally recognized mental health agency that matches community volunteers in supportive friendships with children and adults who are receiving mental health treatment. Today there are over 5,000 volunteers in over 50 cities around the world serving people with mental illnesses, contributing thousands of hours and nearly $3 million dollars in service hours. Compeer has received local, state, national and international recognition from mental health professional organizations, government and media. The National Institute of Mental Health chose Compeer as a model program. The Compeer model is recognized as a best practice for recovery by the American Psychological Association. Bunny retired as CEO of Compeer Inc. in 2004 and now serves on its Board of Directors. She chairs the Board of Compeer here in Sarasota. In 2013 Compeer was added to the SAMHSA National Registry of evidence-based programs and practices.

About Sunshine from Darkness

With the mission of funding mental health research in its early stages to further the scientific discoveries necessary to find cures and better treatments for psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, the Bob and Lee Peterson Family hosted the first Sunshine from Darkness fundraising event and Journey to Wellness free educational symposium in Sarasota in 1998. Attended annually by over 500 people since, the Journey to Wellness Symposium has featured a long list of accomplished scientists sharing their latest research findings as well as acclaimed mental health advocates such as Patty Duke, Dorothy Hamill, Mike Wallace, Patrick Kennedy, Rod Steiger and Barbara Cook to name a few. Over the past 16 years, Sunshine from Darkness has raised over $5 million and funded mental health research projects and programs through organizations such as IMHRO, on which Bob, Lee and Janice Peterson also served as Board Members and then as Trustees Emeritus into retirement. After Bob Peterson’s death at the age of 88, IMHRO carried on the impactful efforts of Sunshine from Darkness in Sarasota on behalf of The Peterson Family and now provides the 501c3 non-profit, public benefit structure ensuring that the funding raised from Sunshine from Darkness continues to support the most promising research and affective programs for the cause.

About IMHRO IMHRO is an international mental health research organization committed to raising awareness and funding brain health discoveries to improve lives now and tomorrow. Now officially named One Mind Institute, IMHRO is a 501c3 non-profit, public-benefit corporation, tax ID of 68-0359707, founded in 1995 by Shari and Garen Staglin. Psychiatric diseases affect one in five people and cause much suffering - both for people afflicted and those who love them. IMHRO is dedicated to raising and distributing funds for research to find preventions and cures for psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder. Lead and supported by families and individuals whose lives have been touched by brain disorders - and who have seen how far brain research has come in the last decade, contributions to IMHRO have resulted in almost $210 million for research, changed thousands of lives, and funded stunning discoveries for better therapies now and tomorrow. www.imhro.org "Sunshine from Darkness continues its mission of finding cures and better treatments for psychiatric illnesses by supporting IMHRO. With this ongoing partnership, we are motivated to help accelerate brain research and continue Bob and Lee Peterson's mission of one day achieving sunshine from darkness".

Shari and Garen Staglin

About ONE MIND™ ONE MIND™ is a new-model non-profit organization co-founded by Shari and Garen Staglin with Patrick Kennedy and launched by IMHRO that is taking the lead role in the research, funding, marketing, and public awareness of mental illness and brain injury, by bringing together the governmental, corporate, scientific, and philanthropic communities in a concerted effort to drastically reduce the social and economic effects of mental illness and brain injury. With ONE MIND™ as the hub for open-science, big data, and research, compelling the scientific, health care, and pharmaceutical communities to collaborate completely for the common good, we can accomplish would have previously required 50 years to less than a decade. www.onemind.org *deceased