Parry Sound’s first annual mental health symposium will feature information sessions from more than a dozen mental health professionals.
The event, hosted by Sound Youth Counselling and the Doc Rob Fund, will take place at the Parry Sound High School on May 4.
Colleen McLean, owner of Sound Youth Counselling, said the symposium came together after seeing and hearing about the growing mental health needs in the community.
“I do a lot of work with families and teachers in the community, and I was hearing people wanting support on what to do about mental health. We all know more and more people are struggling with their mental health. It grew from that,” she said.
The symposium will kick off with a keynote address by Michael Ungar, a family therapist and professor of social work at Dalhousie University, at 9 a.m. Breakout sessions will follow from 10:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and feature a wide variety of topics including addictive behaviors, understanding eating disorders, thriving with mental illness, and protecting yourself against parental burnout.
“It is a day of learning, connecting and bringing people together to build community,” said McLean. “I used to attend a lot of conferences and always got so much out of them. Hearing different perspectives and hearing new things that were going on in different fields. I really wanted to bring that here, because so many of those opportunities are outside of our community.”
More information on the event, including how to register, can be found at soundyouthcouncselling.ca.