Friday morning, after I dropped my son off at school, I had a phone meeting with one of my favorite colleagues, mental health advocate Gina Nikkel of the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care. Suddenly, there was a loud crash; I abruptly ended the call. A car had rear-ended me. I was okay, and…
“I am strong, I am bold… my own power, I can hold.” — Bent on Learning Student Mantra In keeping with our series inspired by the Kennedy Forum’s Mental Health State of the Union, this week we focus on prevention. Recently, we attended a gala to benefit Bent on Learning, a nonprofit that brings yoga…
“Forget your perfect offering — there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” It is officially Spring and we’re coming up on the holidays of Easter and Passover — a season of hope, renewal, and light. One thing I find very interesting about the symbolism of both of…
This is the first blog in our newest series as we count down to the darkest day of the year: the winter solstice. Over the next few weeks, we will be featuring some of the brightest lights of hope in our community — the true shooting stars in our field. As we welcome the season…
Tonight, in celebration of the upcoming Halloween holiday, ABC will re-air a Modern Family episode, called “AwesomeLand.” This episode, which was shown for the first time last year, is anything but awesome — as the cast takes part in the creation of an “insane asylum”–themed haunted house filled with horribly offensive depictions of individuals with…
Janine Francolini, Founder/Executive Director, the Flawless Foundation SOURCE: Huffington Post About a month ago, as I was wrapping up a long week in the office, I received a call from Gayathri Ramprasad, the founder of ASHA International, who asked me for an endorsement of her upcoming book . Gayathri’s book is a memoir of her…
It’s that time of year. Back to school — new beginnings, anxiety, stress and excitement all rolled into one. We have a few important lessons to think about this back to school season with our new landscape (post Newtown) of concern around the national discussion about security and safety in our schools. Recently we had…
Janine Francolini, Founder/Executive Director, the Flawless Foundation SOURCE: Huffington Post * This post is being written as an open letter to Brian Williams, Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil about their recent portrayal on their shows of people living with mental illness. Dear Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Mr. Williams, As you read this, you may…
Janine Francolini, Founder/Executive Director, the Flawless Foundation SOURCE: Huffington Post Dear Dr. Phil, I am writing in response to your show the other day that has thankfully become headline news and to express my gratitude to you, our dear colleague Pete Earley and USA Today News for opening up this very important conversation. (For readers…
Janine Francolini, Founder/Executive Director, the Flawless Foundation SOURCE: Reclaiming Futures Last week at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, I attended the Criminalization of Mental Illness Symposium. National experts shared fourteen presentations in an effort to make sense of hundreds of statistics and research studies on such topics as recidivism, gun…
