This Saturday, the city of Eureka is hosting the latest in its series of mental health town hall meetings.
A collaboration between Crisis Alternative Response of Eureka (CARE) and Mayor Kim Bergel’s Mental Health Initiative, the seminar, titled “Wait… Why Did I Do That? Turning Brain Science into Real-Life Resilience,” will feature Neuro Leadership Academy’s Rick Griffin. Griffin will discuss the neuroscience behind stress, trauma and negotiating life’s everyday challenges, breaking down what might seem like baroque concepts into easily digestible — and actionable — lessons.
Eureka’s Managing Mental Health Clinician Jacob Rosen told the Times-Standard last month that he and Bergel had been impressed with Griffin’s ability to do just that when they heard him speak at Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) International’s annual conference last year.
“We were really impressed with his ability to take really complex topics on neuroscience and kind of break them down, and make them applicable to real life,” Rosen said. “… We’re really excited to have him up here, and we’re selfishly excited to get to hear him speak again — but also really happy to be able to share his knowledge with the community.”
Bergel said that she would like to see everyone in Eureka attend the meeting (or at least as many as the Wharfinger Building can accommodate). She said that this mental health town hall, the seventh she and CARE have hosted in recent years, presents an opportunity to have a frank discussion about mental health in a way that avoids stigma.
“For me, it’s really important as a community that we lift each other up rather than put people down or marginalize them for maybe how they look or how they behave,” Bergel said. “And so, this is an opportunity for people to learn about each other in a way that it probably isn’t presented in any other place.”
“Being able to get that education and bring that to the community so that the community can learn together, I think is a really powerful way to combat stigma,” Rosen said. “And we know that there’s still a lot of stigma towards mental health. We know that based on the language that gets used, and we know that based on how things get framed in some media sources around some stories and how conversations occur.
“And we can see that, whether it’s public comment in city council or overhearing a conversation at the coffee shop, we know that it’s a topic of discussion, but it’s often a topic of discussion that not everyone is always informed of. And so I think, as with anything, the more people are educated around these issues, the less afraid they will be, and the more aware that they’ll be of … not only their own mental health, but maybe have some more compassion for those around them. since they have a better understanding of it.”
Also at the town hall, participants will be able to learn more about various partner organizations that work with community members experiencing mental health crises. Those groups include NAMI Humboldt, the Betty Chinn Homeless Foundation, Crossroads, START, Uplift Eureka, DHHS Hope Center, Aegis, Waterfront Recovery Services and the Open Door Street Outreach Team.
The mental health town hall will take place Saturday, May 9, at the Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way, Eureka. More information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/mr33j5hw.
Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.