Compassion in Action
April 19 - 20, 2023
About the Conference
The Cabrillo College Student Health Center is excited to announce the 2nd annual Mental Health Conference. This year’s conference goal is to cultivate compassion in ourselves, our immediate circles, and our greater communities to promote healing, health, and wellness. This is a FREE conference that is open to the community at large.
The conference will feature two inspiring keynote presentations, and workshops led by campus mental health professionals, faculty, students and community partners.
Keynote Speaker Wednesday, April 19th: Bob Stahl
Keynote Speaker Thursday, April 20th: Dr. Kristin Neff
Who is invited?
Students
Campus professionals
Community members
You!
In Person Details
The conference will be in person at the Aptos Campus. Capacity is limited register today to confirm your seat. Room/location confirmation will be sent via email.
Virtual Details
The conference will be simultaneously broadcasted via zoom and a recording will be available 1 week after the conference concludes. The Zoom link to this will be noted on the conference website on the day of the conference and sent to participants via email.
Check back regularly for most current information
Day 1
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Light food and beverages will be provided
JUMP TO DAY 2
Using current theories of neuroplasticity, we will explore how to use easy activities and practices and to build our compassion for ourselves and others.
Presenter: Gail West, Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor
Length: 60 minutes
Location: HORT 5005
Parenting can be challenging. Actually, parenting IS challenging. The Positive Discipline approach has practical ideas and behaviors that can support building mutually respectful relationships withing family systems that fosters voice and choice with children while being kind and firm as a parent. This training will touch on the key concepts of Positive Discipline. Participants will leave with some practical skills and resources for further study and practice if so desired.
Presenter: Eli Chance, LCSW
Length: 50 minutes
Location: HORT 5005
Ending the Silence is an evidence-based program designed to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health conditions. The presentation introduces topics including the warning signs of mental illness and suicide, how to get support for yourself, and how to support others. Ending the Silence presenters are people who have lived experience; as a family member of someone with a mental health condition or as someone who has a mental health diagnosis. The presenters share their personal stories with the goal to inspire others to end the silence surrounding mental health conditions.
Presenters: NAMI: Leslie Paulides, Michael Chapman, and Paige Kieding
Length: 60 minutes
Location: HORT 5005
This session will provide foundational information on disability civil rights and normalize self-care and how to ask for entitled resources such as Americans with Disabilities Act Civil Rights academic accommodations. The ASC serves over 1,000 students at Cabrillo. Any student with a disability that substantially limits access to educational programs at Cabrillo College is entitled to request accommodations to address the disability-related barriers. The goal of this session is to ensure you are using all of the resources that you need to be successful. This includes knowing your rights to an accessible education. We will cover the following topics:
The Social Model of Disability
Mental Health and ASC Services
Normalizing Support and Access
How to get started with the ASC
Presenter: Rick Gubash, ASC Director
Length: 50 minutes
Location: HORT 5005
A mindful meditation practice to teach mind and body awareness techniques that help with the physical or psychological effects of stress, pain, or illness. Bob Stahl, PhD, has founded eight Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs in medical centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more about these programs here: Mindfulness Programs Website
Presenter: Bob Stahl, PhD
Length: 60 minutes
Location: HORT 5005
Day 2
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Light food and beverages will be provided
BACK TO TOP
For the past few years we’ve been coping with intensifying events of climate crisis and environmental disaster on both a local and global scale. Join us to explore ways we can work with the symptoms of ongoing stress and create lives that are still meaningful, vital, and connected!
Participants will learn skills and tools for coping with fatigue, overwhelm, anger, anxiety, despair, and other effects of chronic stress. We will also explore how to better access values and internal resources to support action and connection and prevent burnout.
Presenter: Erin Johnson, LPCC, Personal Counseling, Student Health Services Cabrillo College
Length: 90 minutes
Location: Room 913
IN PERSON ONLY, PICK ONE:
Art for Healing (FULL) | Come relax and paint away your stress as you express your feelings through lines, shapes and colors. Convey your feelings through art as you integrate your story by way of painting.
Presenter: Donna Harris
Length: 70 minutes
Location: HW1119
OR
Music and Movement for Healing | Gather together for a community music experience that combines listening, singing and percussion to elevate your mood, body, and playful side. Come produce sounds, find joy, and feel safe without pressure to self-express through musical responses geared toward releasing tension.
Presenters: Penny Hanna and the Standing Tall Choir
Length: 70 minutes
Location: HW1126
Validate, Appreciate, Refer is a simple way to offer support and be a compassionate listening ear for a friend in who may be struggling. Presented by leaders from our Active Minds Club. Learn how to show up for friends who may be struggling by using Active Minds’ everyday tool for everyday conversations, the V-A-R® (Validate-Appreciate-Refer) technique.
Presenters: Cabrillo College Active Minds Club
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Room 913
Opportunity to ask our panel of campus experts questions regarding well-being, services and compassion in action.
Panelists:
ASC Learning Disabilities Specialist
Active Minds Club Member
HR Benefits Analyst
SHS Personal Counselor
Director Student Resource and Support Network
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Room 913
Our first instinct when we fail, suffer, or feel inadequate may be to criticize or to judge ourselves—but there is a better way to get through life's hardships, says Dr. Kristin Neff. A way that enables us to achieve our highest potential and lead more contented, fulfilling lives. And that's through self-compassion.
Some people fear self-compassion is a form of self-pity, and obsessively chase high self-esteem instead—their self-worth fluctuating with every success and failure. But research shows us that people who are self-compassionate lead healthier, happier, more productive lives than those who are self-critical. These people also have the resilience needed to cope with traumatic or stressful life events such as divorce, parenting, pressures at work, or the collective health crises we're going through now with COVID-19.
In this talk, she walks audiences through practices designed to increase motivation, foster grit and growth mindset, and rebound from failure, all through the cultivation of self-compassion.
6:30 PM: Evening Keynote with Guided Practice
7:30 PM: Q&A, Reception & Book Signing
Location: Crocker Theater