NAMI Smarts Advocacy

• 2017:  NAMI National Trainer
• December 13, 2016:  NAMI – Missoula, MT
• May 13, 2016:  Great Falls Advocacy Program – Great Falls, MT
• April 23, 2016:  NAMI – Casper, WY
• April 3, 2016:  NAMI Smarts for Advocacy…Psychiatric Service Dog Partners Convention – Solvang, CA
• April 2, 2016:  Psychiatric Service Dog Partners – Solvang, CA
• November 1, 2015:  NAMI State Trainers – Arlington, VA
  

  NAMI State Trainers, Arlington, VA November 1, 2015

• August 21, 2015:  NAMI Smarts for Advocacy – NAMI Washington State Conference, Richland, WA
• August 9, 2015:  NAMI Smarts for Advocacy – Methodist Church, Board for Lucock Church Camp, Livingston, MT
• May 2015:  In Our Own Voice – Hope Lutheran, Bozeman, MT
• May 5, 2015:  NAMI Smarts for Advocacy – Center4Mental Health, Helena, MT
• May 5, 2015:  NAMI Smarts for Advocacy – Center4Mental Health, Great Falls, MT
• December 12, 2014:  Bozeman, MT
• December 8, 2014:  Gallatin LAC, Bozeman, MT
• November 7, 2014: NAMI Montana State Conference, Great Falls, MT
• October 10, 2014: Gallatin County LAC, Bozeman, MT
• August 27, 2014:  Candidates Forum, Bozeman, MT
• August 6, 2014:  The ARC, Bozeman, MT
• May 9, 2014:  Helena, MT
• March 11, 2014:  Helena, MT
• October 2, 2013:  Parent Support Group, Helena, MT
  

  NAMI Advocacy Icebreaker November 1, 2015

• September 12, 2013:  System of Care (SOC) for Children with Mental Illness, Board Meeting, Helena, MT
• September 10, 2013:  Parents of Children with Mental Illness, Support Group, Helena, MT
• May 8, 2013:  Spring Meadows Volunteer Training, Bozeman, MT
• February 26, 2013:  NAMI Helena, Helena, MT
• January 23, 2013:  Open Arms Drop in Center, Bozeman, MT
• January 6, 2013:  Bozeman United Methodist Church, Bozeman, MT
• December 19, 2012:  Western Service Area Authority (WSAA) Board, Missoula, MT
• November 12, 2012:  2012 Montana State Conference on Mental Illness, Helena, MT
  

  Alicia & Hunka meet with Senators Tester and Walsh in Washington, DC June 2014

• November 2, 2012:  2012 NAMI Montana State Conference on Mental Illness
  
• October 24, 2012:  Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC), Butte Drop in Center, Butte, MT
• July 31, 2012:  Western Montana Mental Health Center (WMMHC), Livingston Drop in Center, Livingston, MT
• July 27, 2012:  Central Service Area Authority (CSAA) Board, Helena, MT
• June 11, 2011:  Central Service Area Authority Congress, Helena, MT
• May 20, 2011:  Children’s Mental Health conference sponsored by Mental Health America of Montana

Candidates Forum Bozeman, MT August 27, 2014

Candidates Forum Bozeman, MT August 27, 2014

Candidates Forum Bozeman, MT August 27, 2014

• “Excellent! Alicia is gifted, courageous, and funny.”

NAMI Smarts for Advocacy – NAMI Washington State Conference, Richland, WA  8-21-15

• “Alicia was congenial and compelling.  It was very instructive and informative.”
• “Listening to other people’s stories I felt that recovery is possible.”
• “Really enjoyed the story format!”
• “The form and outline made writing & telling my story very helpful.”
• “Keep my story to 2 minutes and capture their attention right off!”

Luccock Methodist Church Camp, Livingston, MT 8-9-15

• “This training helped provide direction for me.”
• “This training was very good, concise, and hands-on.”
• “I enjoyed learning about the seven steps and found this training helpful in organization. I plan to use this information at churches. The information was well presented.” ~ Dave
• “I enjoyed learning about the power of words. This training was very good and concise.” ~ Josh

Center for Mental Health, Great Falls, MT 5-6-2015

• “I learned to be more concise and plan to use my story to help people who are dealing with long-term disease. It was a good training.”
• “I found it helpful to have a platform to tell my story.” ~ Chase
• “This training had an excellent format and information. Alicia is very good at what she does!” ~ Amy
• “The most meaningful thing I learned today is that everyone has a voice. As a result of this training I will be more intentional in advocating for my clients. I learned a lot from this training, Thank you!” ~ Becca
• “Excellent training! I really enjoyed it!” ~ Dana

Center 4 Mental Health, Helena MT 5-6-15

• “Loved your dogs!! Thanks for coming.”
• “It was very moving to sit down and assist my clients in telling their story. I think that this would be beneficial for many clients.” ~ Christian
• “I found it helpful to learn how to target and edit information to tell a powerful and meaningful story. It helped tear down some barriers between staff and consumers.  I learned how to make my story heard so that more help can be provided for people with mental illness. It was very enlightening!” ~ Rebecca
• “Great training in empowering people.” ~ Martha
• “I found it helpful to learn about putting a face to mental illness, making a difference for people for people who are struggling with mental illness, our voice matters, mental health services need support, a strong mental health system helps people get the help they need and mental health treatment saves lives. I would love to be able to speak to the legislature to support mental health services and I would love to advocate for individuals with mental illness. Thank you for this training. It was very helpful and something I am passionate about supporting”. ~ Janel
• “This training helped me put my story in a certain order, childhood and then adulthood; otherwise I’d just have my story based on my adult life.” ~ Gregory
• “This was a good hands-on training and I feel comfortable sharing my story.” ~ Shelby
• “Great training. Very Beneficial!” ~ Kennar
• “I found it is a really good idea to get clients involved with their own recovery.” ~ Kathy
• “I found it very meaningful learning others struggles and recovery for their mental illness. It was very heartfelt to hear others stories. It’s what makes them special.” ~ Kristine
• “I realized that people can make a difference. It was an informative and stimulating presentation.”~ Leslie
• “Excellent presentation! I also enjoyed the dogs.” ~ Sandy
• “It was good to see the actual steps for writing my personal story. Very good review.” ~ Jeffrey
• “I learned how to tell my story. It was helpful because I hadn’t before.” ~ Metta

Gallatin County LAC, Bozeman, MT 12-18-14

• “Make an impact, keep it to two minutes, make an ask, and say thank you. Well, well worth my time and effort. The presentation was complete and excellent. Alicia did a fantastic, professional delivery.” ~ JoAnne
• “Make it personal, keep hopeful, and ask. Very helpful, I enjoyed sharing in groups and feedback portion.” ~ Chelsey
• “I enjoyed learning about NAMI Smarts 7 steps. It was very informative.” ~Rich
• “I found the example stories and role-plays with feedback very helpful. I want to be confident and effective to change mental health in Montana. Thank you for providing training!” ~Renee
• “I enjoyed the simple, yet effective organizational structure. I want to use my story in email and maybe in personal testimony.” ~Ryan
• “I found it helpful to learn an appropriate guide for telling my story. This was a great training and really helped my confidence.” ~Glenda
• “I learned about the importance of sharing the course information to give people the confidence to talk to the legislatures.” ~Kenny

Previous Presentations

• “Alicia was congenial and compelling.  It was very Instructive and informative.”
• “Listening to other people’s stories I felt  that recovery is possible.”
• “Really enjoyed the story format!”
• “The form and outline made writing & telling my story very helpful.”
• “Keep my story to 2 minutes and capture their attention right off!”
• “I’m very grateful for this training.  Thank you!”
• “Loved the format for concisely telling my story.  Thank you.”
• “The entire presentation brought more awareness of the importance of making our voices heard with respect to mental illness.”

Alicia & Hunka in Washington, DC for NAMI’s National Convention

• “I was able to successfully organize my thoughts and shorten my story to make it more impactful.”
• “Through telling my story I can help others to step forward, and not be ashamed to get treatment and they support they need.”
• “Excellent and timely.  Great speaker!”
• “Using these 7 simple steps and practice, I will be able to deliver a concise, effective story.”
• “I appreciate all that NAMI strives to do and accomplishes.”
• “The format is great.  Good job Alicia!”
• “Educating people about mental illness helps us eliminate stigma.”
• “Be brief, positive, personal and end with an “ask”.”
• “Excellent hands on, interactive training. Thank you!”
• “How important it is to get my personal story out there in order to help others, which in turn helps me.”
• “Empowering,”
• “I heard other people’s stories & began to appreciate the need for mental health care.  This was a very touching experience for me.”
• “Down-to-earth, hands on training.”
• “Thanks Alicia!  This is a great training.”
• “Learning how to tell an important story quickly was very helpful.  Keep up the good work.”
• “Good comprehensive information.”
• “How easy it is to write a concise yet impactful story.”
• “Excellent, well organized, easily understandable and simplifies an often scary process.”
• “The template is a very effective structure for telling a story.  The presenter was fabulous; clear, concise and inspiring.”
• “Stigma busting starts with me.”
• “Excellent tool.  Comprehensive & easy to understand.”
• “That through my story I can make a lasting impression.”
• “My story is important and worth hearing.  Very enlightening.”
• “My story helps me advocate for my patients in a short, to the point, manner.”
• “Excellent, positive learning experience.”
• “I learned how simple it is to get my voice heard.”
• “Very cool.  Knocked the cobwebs loose.”
• “Excellent training to keep funding for mental illness.”
• “Knowing that when I add examples it evokes emotions.”
• “These ladies are wonderful.  I relate to almost everything they are going through.  Thank you.” ~Paige Prine
• “Truly appreciated the guests candor. The honesty is tough to face or swallow but necessary.” ~unknown
• “Good presentation.  Dog was a nice touch.” ~unknown
• “Informative, Interesting to hear your problems and how you deal with day-to-day life.” ~unknown
• “See that Bipolar is livable, not guaranteed a destroyed life.”  ~unknown
• “Presentation and presenter was great.  Very informative & impactful since our presenter shared her story so freely.” ~unknown
• “I really enjoyed the personalization.  It’s powerful to hear about mental illness from a person who has one, rather than reading it in a textbook.” ~Kassy Gahagan
• “Video was helpful but your story was very impactful.  Thank you for sharing.”~Amy Foote
• “I appreciate the honesty and openness of the presenter.  Also, it is clear that the presenter knows her stuff and is a wonderful model of a self and public advocate.” ~Cristen Wathen
• “I learned a lot about NAMI but also Mental Illness in general.  A quarter (1 in 4) of the people is a large ratio and it is nice to know that there is a group like NAMI advocating for their rights.” ~Hanna Johnson
• “This presenter was talented and expressive.  I liked her.” ~Andrew Matney
• “I really appreciated the honesty and vulnerability of the video participants and presenter.  The presentation as a whole was very informative and thought provoking.  Also inspiring to see how far Montana has come with advocacy for mental illness.” ~Melody Brucks
• “The presentation was extremely information and educational.  I enjoyed the presentation format and the personal aspect (vignettes presenter’s story, opportunity to self disclose).” ~Alexa Hueser
• “Enjoyed hearing people’s stories, views and how they are able to accept and live meaningful lives.” ~Brayden Sloan
• “Hearing the story of a real person brings mental illness to life. As a student it takes what we are learning beyond the text book and lists of symptoms. Thank you so much for sharing. I am inspired by what you do as an advocate.” ~unknown
• “I like to hear and understand the symptoms and how/why they got where they were when in need of help.”  ~Law Enforcement
• “Hearing about success gives me more hope for folks who are currently in crisis. It is really beneficial to see people in recovery, because in Law Enforcement we often do not, or virtually never, see people in recovery.” ~Law Enforcement
• “It seems that often, anything less than becoming “healthy” is considered a failure.  IT’S NOT!!  The spectrum of “success” when having mental illness is unlimited.” ~Ania Barthould
• “The personal insight through out the presentation is always most helpful for what I do and it is also the most eye opening.  Thank you so very much.” ~Ashlee Peery
• “How to keep my story short enough to avoid losing the attention of those I’m speaking to.  Also, how to pick the most important parts of my story to include.  I hope to help Legislators to understand the needs of families like mine, both on the State and the Federal levels.” ~unknown
• “Loved the support/understanding during stories and the easily written instructions.  This was AWESOME!  Thank You!” ~unknown
• “Thank you for the wonderful outline and the chance to practice.” ~unknown
• “Excellent.  Very useful information, which can be an extremely valuable tool to promote change.”  ~ Maryanne Silve
• “Great class, Alicia.  Gave me a little more perspective on approaching Legislators.”  ~ Chris Glines (Hartzmann)
• “I liked using the format; it made it easy.” ~unknown
• “Very useful.  Although I have written to, and visited many legislators, I think this will make me more effective and allow me to encourage others to be advocates.” ~unknown
• “Very good exercise, and easier than I thought! Alicia made it a comfortable experience.” ~unknown
• “Simple & easy to understand.  Wrote my own story, including my “ask:!  Alicia is a wonderful instructor – very easy to relate to.”  ~unknown
• “This session has given me the confidence to contact Legislators about mental health issues.” ~unknown
• “Continue on!  The best concurrent sessions are the ones the group gets to share.  It’s a bonus to have something written and ready to go to take action.” ~unknown
• “Good class.  Now I have a script!” ~unknown
• “The simple, yet effective, organizational structure was very helpful.” ~unknown
• “Great training.  It really helped my confidence having an appropriate 7-step guide for telling my story.” ~unknown
• “Enjoyed sharing in groups and the feedback was very helpful.  I learned to make it personal, keep hopeful and ASK!” ~unknown
• “Make an impact, keep it to 2 minutes, make an ask and say thank you!” ~unknown
• “Well worth my time and effort. The presentation was complete and excellent. Alicia did a fantastic, professional, delivery.” ~unknown
• “Importance of sharing the course information, to give people confidence to talk to Legislators.  A real important point of education that other’s need.” ~unknown
• “Make an impact, keep it to two minutes, make an “ask” and say thank you.  Well worth my time and effort.  The presentation was complete and excellent.  Alicia did a fantastic, professional delivery. ~JoAnne
• “Make it personal. keep hopeful and ask!  Enjoyed sharing in groups and getting feedback, very helpful.” ~Chelsey
• “Learning about NAMI Smarts 7-steps and I will use this throughout southeast Montana as an advocate.  Very informative!” ~Rich
• “Example stories and role plays with feedback were very helpful. I know now to be confident and effective so I can help change mental health in Montana for the better.” ~Renee
• “How to keep my story short enough to avoid losing the attention of those I’m speaking to and how to pick the most important parts of my story to include.  I hope to help Legislators to understand the needs of families like mine, both on a State and Federal Level.” ~Shelly