Stamp Out Stigma's Programs

• Panel Presentations
• Consultation
• Employer Training

Presentations are usually made by four members of the Stamp Out Stigma organization.

All panelists are mental health clients diagnosed and living with mental illness. Our panelists represent a wide variety of experiences with mental illness, different diagnosis, genders and age groups. They share their personal experiences of living with mental illness in an intimate setting. Panelists give a brief bio-sketch of how mental illness has affected their lives, relating their own experience with stigma and putting a human face on mental illness. Sometimes a family member or a clinician comes along to give another perspective. These programs are interactive and audience members are encouraged to ask questions to generate further discussion. To learn more about our panelists please read panelist bios which contains personal stories of some of our panelists

• Presentations to mental health professionals focus on what clients need and find helpful in therapy.
• At the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, presentations to dental students going into the clinics for the first time, teach ways to assist mentally ill patients and what to do if a person becomes symptomatic.
• At five Bay Area county suicide prevention centers, Stamp Out Stigma's focus is how a hotline volunteer can help callers in a time of crisis.
• Stamp Out Stigma collaborates with San Francisco's Mental Health Board to train police officers in more humane ways to deal with mentally ill people in the community and to bring those needing care into the hospital.
• When addressing community leaders, the Stamp Out Stigma presentation is tailored to raise "voter issues" like the increase of homeless mentally ill, the cutbacks in mental health programs, the difficulty of returning to gainful employment, and the problem of mentally ill clients falling into the criminal justice system.

Our panelists also work with other local advocacy groups to help them start their own community based anti-stigma programs. Stamp Out Stigma has developed a comprehensive toolkit called "Train the Trainer," that provides groups with instruction and inspiration.

EMPLOYER TRAINING

Stamp Out Stigma provides training and consultation to employers in defining "reasonable accommodations" under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for mentally ill persons in the workplace.

Learn how you can get involved