The 9th annual Hope Award Gala will take place on Friday, June 1st, 2018. This is the must attend event of the year in the Niagara region, with impressive sold-out crowds. In fact, more than 4,000 guests have attended the Hope Award over the past eight years. Pathstone Foundation is pleased to announce this year’s Hope Award Gala Signature guest speaker is Steven Page. As one of Canada’s most recognized artists, Page enjoyed over two decades of success as the co-founder and lead singer of The Barenaked Ladies. This popular Canadian band toured the globe, sold upwards of 14 million albums, received two Billboard Awards and six Junos along the way. Page will join The Barenaked Ladies this March as they will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In 2011, while serving as a guest host on CBC’s “The Current,” Page acknowledged his own struggles with depression and other forms of mental illness. His intelligent, honest and candid approach to the subject has been overwhelmingly positive. Since then, Page has been in demand as a speaker on the topic. He’s addressed countless audiences, including college and university students about living well, feeling better and healing through music. Page is utterly at home onstage. Expect his keynote speech to be filled with personal stories intertwined with performances of some of his original music. The Hope Award Gala committee is also pleased to present this year’s Hope Award to the late Dianne Sheppard. Sheppard was instrumental in addressing children’s...

This 1.5-hour webinar is part of a 4-part webinar series that will explore how 21st century technology is transforming the ways people are exposed to stress and trauma, and the ways it is used to treat people who develop trauma-related disorders. Learning objectives: Identify how technological mediums can be a source of trauma Become familiar with techniques for assessing the effects of different types of tech-cyber-activities and effects on mental health Apply the use of Trauma Treatment strategies to deal with tech-related effects This webinar is hosted by the Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario.

Part II: Anything but Social: Primary Care Strategies for Technology Overuse in Children and Youth At what point does children and youth’s use of social media become a problem? In Part II of this Clinical Pearls Special Interest Session on Technology Overuse and social media, Dr. Michael Cheng will be discussing what children and youth require for mental wellness and how social media impairs this by tricking our brain’s need for social connection. Primary care providers will learn about strategies to identify, prevent and manage social media overuse. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Describe problematic social media use. List two prevention strategies for problematic social media use. List two strategies on managing problematic social media use. Describe the experience of a TeleECHO clinic session. This session is hosted by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

With the approaching legalization and regulation of non-medical cannabis, Ontario colleges and universities are in need of relevant information related to cannabis legalization and regulation, mental health, harm reduction, and best-practices in engaging with students regarding substance use. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health, Canadian Mental Health Association and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development have partnered to develop a tool-kit for campus professionals to support the implementation of health-based interventions which aim to reduce risks and harms associated with cannabis use. This presentation will provide participants with an overview of the tool-kit, information related to cannabis use, developing and implementing campus cannabis use frameworks, and best-practices in promoting Canada’s Lower Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines among students. This webinar is hosted by the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health.

The final webinar in Umind’s “The Power of …” webinar series focusing on complimentary approaches to youth mental health. In this webinar, the power of music and its effects on children and youth mental health will be explored with concrete examples from the Music Therapy Program at Lutherwood. Brian, Lutherwood’s music therapist will identify and give examples of primary treatment interventions including: song-writing; improvisation; lyric analysis; singing; and modified/adapted instrument instruction. Examples of treatment goals facilitated using the described interventions will also be provided. Brian will explain the efficacy of music therapy as a form of treatment and why youth connect so strongly to music. Brian will recount specific success stories in music therapy with this population as well as provide youth testimonials from their participation in treatment. This webinar is hosted by Umind.

Be a part of something bigger – join Ride Don’t Hide on June 24th, 2018. When we hide, mental health stays hidden. When we ride, we create change. Ride or walk in plain sight this year and help us raise funds to support immediate mental health services offered by Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Niagara. This year’s event will support the Safe Beds program, a voluntary, non-medical facility that offers 24/7 crisis counselling and a safe therapeutic environment for individuals to stay on a short-term basis in order to work through their crisis. This event is designed for participants of all ages, with a 5km low-intensity route located on Brock University’s campus, and more challenging 15km and 25km routes extending down Cataract Rd towards Howell’s Family Pumpkin Farm. This event is hosted by CMHA Niagara.