People all around us are affected by mental illness and are mostly ignored. NAMI Mercer, the area chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness, presents a full day of workshops on Saturday, October 6, in Lawrenceville. The event is focused on a holistic approach to recovery from mental illness. The $10 admission includes workshops and lunch.
Tricia, Kurt, and Katelyn Baker of Plainsboro, the parents and sibling of a teenager who committed suicide, will bring Miki, the Attitudes in Reverse awareness dog, to the conference.
The family founded A.I.R. to promote mental health awareness. The organization was started by the Bakers to educate families about mental illness and remove the stigma attached to it. Katelyn created the name to describe the effort to reverse current societal attitudes about mental illness. Her brother, Kenny, completed suicide three years ago.
“No one chooses mental health advocacy unless you are touched by it,” says Tricia. “Since Kenny’s death, we’ve made so much progress to fight the stigma of mental illness.”
Cindy Calotta of West Windsor has been an assistant teacher at Millstone Upper Elementary’s preschool for the disabled for close to eight years and has incorporated yoga and children into a program for NAMI. She also works with Mercer NAMI’s Friends to Friends and Just Kids. Calotta presents yoga, arts, and crafts for children with challenging behavior.
Calotta, also a yoga instructor at the Integral Yoga Institute Princeton, is certified in hatha yoga, therapeutic yoga, and Yoga-Fit for Kids. She began her yoga study 11 years ago with Jayadeva Mandelkorn through WW-P Community Education.
“I have been taking yoga classes on and off for most of my adult life,” she says. “I decided that I wanted to deepen my practice and asked about teacher training. I chose Integral Yoga because it is the most comprehensive practice I have experienced.”
Calotta, whose spiritual name, Sandhya, means twilight, was born in Summit and raised in Clinton. After graduating from Villanova University with a degree in business, she was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York City. She and her husband, Jeffrey, have three children; Paul, Mia, Leigh. The family moved to West Windsor from Maplewood 13 years ago.
Both Calotta and the Baker family of Plainsboro will be at the annual NAMI Mercer conference on Saturday. The theme is “Empowering Your Mind, Body, and Spirit.” The event will be held at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. Randye Kaye, author of “Ben Behind His Voices: One Family’s Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope,” is the keynote speaker.
The closing activity is “Rhythm Connection” presented by Sheila Riley-Massa, a board certified music therapist at Capital Health Regional Medical Center. The drumming circle requires no musical experience. Drums are provided.
Workshops include “Update on Psychotropic Medications” with David Nathan, MD; “Metabolic Syndrome and Your Meds” with William Hayes, MD, a board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist in private practice at Alexander Road Associates in West Windsor; and “The Art of Healing” with Jean Joslin; “Feeding and Protecting the Brain” with Kate Thomsen, MD.
Also “Wellness Coaching” presented by Louis Blicharz; “The Family: A Relational View of Individual Trauma and Healing” with Norbert Wetzel; “From Wall to Words: A Workshop in Ekphrastic Poetry” with Nancy Scott; “Create a Treasure Box” with Alice Waldeck Kelly; “Move, Groove, and Soothe Yourself” with Joan H. Brame.
Also “A Holistic Approach to Wellness” with Andrew Appello; “Self-care: Happier Made Simple Even When Life Isn’t Perfect” with Randye Kaye; “Of Course You Can Create Music” with Kymberly Tindall; and “LEAP,” a two part workshop presented by David Kensler, Kathleen Hall, and Josie Reyes.
Wellness Conference, NAMI Mercer, Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville. Saturday, October 6, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Harvest of Hope: Pathways to Wellness” for consumers, families, and the general public. $10 includes lunch. Register. 609-799-8994. www.namimercer.org.
