6th Annual Conference on
Mental Health Recovery & Spirituality
May 14th, 2008
Bayfront Convention Center
1 Sassafras Pier
Erie, PA 16507
Directions from South: Follow I-79N to the Bayfront Highway. Left into the Convention Center.
Directions from East: Follow I-90W to exit 32. Go right and follow the Bayfront Connector past State Street. Right into the Convention Center.
Bill MacPhee is Schizophrenia Digest CEO and Founder. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 24. After years of struggling with the positive and negative symptoms associated with the disease, and with medication and the support of his family and other therapies, Bill regained control of his life.
Recognizing the need for an informative publication for others who share the condition, Bill launched Schizophrenia Digest in March 1994, and today has grown the magazine to eight quarterly publications - four in Canada and four in the US.
Bill's ability to describe schizophrenia from his firsthand experiences has also made him a sought-after speaker and is often called upon to speak to mental health and other consumer groups. He now tours Canada and the United States, giving inspirational talks about the disease and explaining its symptoms at meetings often organized by the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, psychiatric hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Bill has received numerous accolades from his peers and has been recognized with several awards, including the 2005 New York State Distinguished Media Award and the 2004 Lionel Aldridge Award, both from NAMI.
Joann Calabrese is a Mental Health Program Specialist at the Erie County Department of Human Services, where she facilitates the Erie County Recovery Initiatives. She is a part of the Spirituality and Recovery conference planning committee and has observed first hand the importance of spirituality in recovery. She has an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Gannon University and a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership from Mercyhurst College. She is a Certified Leader for the Dances of Universal Peace, a type of movement meditation with chanting, based on the works of Samuel Lewis, an American Suti and Buddhist. She is experienced with a variety of meditative/contemplative practices, and is a student of Tai Chi and Chi Kunq.
Charles Joy, MD is a community child and adolescent psychiatrist, Medical Director of Outpatient at the Achievement Center as well as Medical Director of the Erie County Department of Human Services. He is a "working poet", Features Editor of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry News, and facilitator of the weekly poetry open mic feature, Poetry Scene, at the Erie Book Store.
Mary Dwyer directs the Children's Outpatient Mental Health program at the Achievement Center. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Mary has been involved with Centering Prayer and the Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. since the late 1980's. She lived and trained at the Chrysalis House in Warwick, New York. She is the former Chairperson of the Contemplative Outreach Faculty and is actively involved on the Welcoming Prayer Service Team. Mary has given workshops and retreats on contemplative prayer practices in the United States and Canada.
Kate Bender is a Printmaker living in Edinboro, PA. Kate received her MFA in Printmaking from Edinboro University in 1998. She has taught Printmaking at various colleges and universities and currently teaches Printmaking at Stairways Behavioral Health. She creates and shows her etchings and has given talks on the significance of her art in the recovery process. Her talks show a ten-year personal journey toward recovery from mental illness with its spiritual ebb and flow. Her ongoing recovery has been aided by her adherence to the healing power of self-expression as it reflects the condition of the soul.
Rev. Charles McClung is founding co-director (with his wife, Joan) of Healing Heart Ministries, Inc., a Christian healing community and ministry for people recovering from deep emotional wounding, abuse, addiction, and co-dependence. His ministry comes out of a gifting in prayer for emotional healing and having "been there" in a healing process that has included 12-Step recovery and more than 4 years of therapy. Contemplative spirituality has also become an important foundation. At present Healing Heart encompasses a support fellowship, individual prayer and spiritual formation, and a group assisting recovery from sexual brokenness in Albion state prison (Nehemiah Fellowship). He has been an ordained Presbyterian (USA) minister since 1980, having received his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also serves as pastor of Lake City Presbyterian Church and as one of the chaplains for AseraCare Hospice.