Monday, March 17, 2025

Mental Health Awareness Event to be Held at Northwest Missouri State

The Behavioral Science Association at Northwest Missouri State University will again host “I Will Listen” this month to help reduce stigmas surrounding mental illness through educational activities, support and advocacy.

I Will Listen is an annual Northwest event supporting a movement developed by the National Alliance of Mental Illnesses (NAMI) to reduce stigmas surrounding mental illness and promote mental health well-being. The event will include multiple breakout rooms with an art exhibit, exercise activities and guest speakers with a paint-and-sip activity.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is 1 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27, on the third floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union.

“It’s a place where our humanness is materialized and we're able to see and meet each other right where we’re at,” said Sada Irving, the president of Northwest’s Behavioral Science Association and a senior psychology major from Elsberry, Missouri. “With people sharing their stories and experiences through words, music and all kinds of artwork – from young kids to the elderly community – I Will Listen represents community, unity and the humanization of one another, a place where we can all acknowledge that we struggle but there is hope, help and healing.”

Musicians will perform a variety of musical pieces for guitar, voice, piano and trumpet. Speakers will address topics such as financial wellness and financial literacy; art healing; leisure and recreation; working in the mental health field, spiritual care and companioning; the brain’s influence on perception; and the psychology of healthy sexual relationships.

In addition to an exercise room with yoga and circuit training sessions, the event will feature artwork created by community members of all ages to share experiences and thoughts about mental health.

“Not only does the event exemplify breaking the stigma of mental illness, but we’re actually doing it at the event,” Irving said. “By engaging in actively listening to the stories and expertise of our speakers, doing physical activity and opening conversations with our art exhibit, our whole community is contributing to the embrace of help-seeking behaviors.”

All proceeds raised during the event will be donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

A complete schedule of sessions is provided below. For more information about I Will Listen, contact Irving at S543952@nwmissouri.edu.

I Will Listen session schedule

Art Exhibit, 1 to 7 p.m., Student Union Ballroom

Musical sessions

Dr. Travis Dimmitt, 1 to 2 p.m., guitar and vocals

Ben Plavoski, 2:15 to 3:30 p.m., piano

Enzo Hobbs, 3:30 to 4:15 p.m., piano

Dr. William Richardson, 4:15 to 4:35 p.m., trumpet

Dr. Jacob Tengelsen, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., guitar and vocals

Exercise sessions

Cris Jacobson, 1:20 to 1:40 p.m., meditation

Becky Byland, 2 to 2:20 p.m., Pilates-yoga

Katie Byrd, 2:40 to 3 p.m., circuit training

Aura Lynch, 3:30 to 4 p.m., yoga

Nick Bolton, 4:40 to 5:30 p.m., bodyweight circuit training

Baily Schmidt, 5:30 to 6 p.m., dance

Wendy Deering-Poynter, 6 to 6:30 p.m., chair yoga

Speaker sessions

Niki Richardson, 1 to 1:30 p.m., Financial Wellness vs. Financial Literacy

Leslie Ackman, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., Art Healing

Dr. Tina Pulley, 2:30 to 3 p.m., Exercise is Medicine

Dr. Tyler Tapps, 3:30 to 4 p.m., Leisure and Recreation

Holly McMillen, 4 to 5 p.m., Career Journey and Working in the Mental Health Field

Wendy Deering-Poynter, 5 to 5:30 p.m., Spiritual Care and Companioning

Dr. Amy Hillard, 5:30 to 6 p.m., Causes and Consequences of Concussion

Dr. Jacob Tengelsen, 6 to 6:30 p.m. Psychology of Healthy Sexual Relationships

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