If you missed this weeks show on “About Health” you can listen to Dr. Will Courtenay and Niiobli Armah. They discussed the mental health disparities for men and boys, especially men of color, and current strategies that are being implemented to reduce suffering and strengthen wellbeing.
So much to think about regarding this complex and important topic!
Niiobli Armah, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, works on the Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing team. He is the former Director of Health Programs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he was responsible for managing the NAACP’s national policy and advocacy work, including HIV/AIDS, healthcare reform, and health equity portfolios. He also has worked at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, coordinating the daily operations of a childhood health collaborative focused on policy and environmental change. He is a graduate of the Southern University Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/about-us/our-staff.html
Dr. Will Courtenay, is an internationally recognized expert in men’s health and in helping men, boys, and fathers. The American Psychological Association calls him, “a leading psychologist in the field of masculinity.” He provides psychotherapy and counseling to individuals in the S.F. Bay Area, and phone consultation to those outside of the area. You can reach him at 415-346-6719 or check out his website at http://www.themensdoc.com. He is also the author of Dying To Be Men: http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Men-Environmental-Biobehavioral-Psychotherapy/dp/0415878764
I was honored to have in studio two of the authors of “Shivering in a Paper Gown, Breast Cancer and Its Aftermath: An Anthology,” Laurie Hessen Pomeranz and Meaghan Calcari Campbell.“Through its thirty contributing authors, this anthology reveals the realities of life, through and with cancer, as the authors learn how to survive and in the process, how to live.”
Laurie Hessen Pomeranz is a San Francisco-based Marriage, Family and Child Therapist who works with teenaged boys and their parents. She has a teenaged boy of her own, with her wonderful husband of 17 years. Laurie was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 41, and has found writing as a part of her healing process. Her work has been published on Salon.com, The Mother Company, and in 3 Anthologies: The Day My Nipple Fell Off, I am With You, and Shivering in a Paper Gown. Laurie is a singer in the local tot-rock band, Charity and the JAMband.
Meaghan Calcari Campbell works in philanthropy and ocean conservation with local communities and non-profits. Diagnosed with breast cancer at thirty-two without a family history of the disease, her initial treatments lasted sixteen months and will continue for many years. She discovered blogging and its power in her healing from day one of her diagnosis. Meaghan’s work has been published in two Anthologies: The Day My Nipple Fell Off and Shivering in a Paper Gown. Meaghan finds great joy in serving as President of the Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS). To see more of Meaghan’s writing, visit http://keepingabreast.me/.
Children and teens often get confusing messages about healthy sexuality from their parents, friends, the media, and their school sex education program (if there is one).
If we want teens to grow up with a healthy attitude, and practice safe sex, then parents and teachers need to feel comfortable talking about this complex and emotionally charged topic.
What does quality sexual health education in the schools look like? And what do parents need to give their kids accurate information to help them when they are young, and when they become sexually active?
The California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329), by Assembly member Shirley Weber, has passed!
Guests:
Anya Manes, a former high school science teacher for 11years. Her biology class also became a sex-ed class where she came to understand what kids knew and what they didn’t, and what kinds of social skills they lacked. Anya did her master’s coursework in education and completed the Interchange Counseling Institute’s training program. Anya has a coaching practice, teaching parents to talk to their kids about sex and relationships. You can find out more about her work at http://talkingaboutsex.com/
Phyllida Burlingame, the ACLU’s Reproductive Justice Policy Director. She sets the strategic direction for this work and engages in policy advocacy, research, and community organizing to secure passage of legislation and ensure its implementation.
A nationally recognized expert on sex education advocacy, she has led the ACLU-NC’s work on this issue since 2001. Her proudest moments at the ACLU include working with a broad coalition in 2013 to pass legislation expanding abortion access in California, galvanizing parents and students to win quality sex education from their local schools, and tackling the education barriers facing pregnant and parenting students inCalifornia’s Central Valley. She is also the steering committee chair of Bay Area Communities for Health Education and a member of California’s Adolescent Sexual Health Working Group and the Fresno Regional Foundation’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention committee. https://www.aclunc.org/staff/phyllida-burlingame
On Monday September 21st, I participated in KPFA’s Fund Drive, on 94.1 FM or online at KPFA.org.
On “About Health” I played excerpts from the Four CD set “Taking The Power Struggle Out of Parenting: The Art of Powerful, Non-Defensive Communication,” Written and narrated by Sharon Strand Ellison.
I hope to continue to host “About Health” on a regular basis, so please let the station know that you appreciate this show. I am grateful for your support.
Dr. Amelia Barili joined me on KPFA 94.1FM on “About Health” to discuss Yoga and Qigong. These two time-tested techniques and practices foster self-healing, resilience, and creativity. The combination of Yoga and Qigong can help you focus your attention, deepen your intentions, overcome pain, and increase well being. You can listen to the entire show at https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=214507
Dr. Amelia Barili graduated in 1972 from Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute in India, with a Diploma on Comparative Philosophy of Religions and Classical Yoga and has taught yoga philosophy for many years. She is a disciple of Grandmaster Yang Mei Jun, the 27th generation inheritor of the Taoist Medical Qigong system, and has also studied other forms of Qigong. Dr. Barili, a faculty member of UC Berkeley and the Dharma Realm Buddhist University, has brought these ancient contemplative practices into the academic environment and teaches meditative techniques as tools to overcome stress and foster deep learning. She has co-lead retreats with physicist Fritjof Capra on “The Emerging Consciousness” and with abbot Ajahn Amaro on “Entering the Now.”
At UC Berkeley, in her course “Borges, Buddhism, and Cognitive Science,” she begins each class with brief meditations to foster the students’ ability to focus and observe their minds. She also teaches “Borges on Buddhism and Buddhism in Borges” and “Borges, Buddhism and Dreams” at OLLI (Osher Life-Long Learning Institute) for the Berkeley adult community. At the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery she teaces a semester-long session “Integrating Classical Yoga and Taoist Qigong” on Monday nights. For more information go to: http://www.berkeleymonastery.org/home/qigong-and-classical-yoga
Niiobli Armah, Program Manager at Prevention Institute, works on the Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing team. He is the former Director of Health Programs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he was responsible for managing the NAACP’s national policy and advocacy work, including HIV/AIDS, healthcare reform, and health equity portfolios. He also has worked at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, coordinating the daily operations of a childhood health collaborative focused on policy and environmental change. He is a graduate of the Southern University Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/about-us/our-staff.html
Dr. Will Courtenay, is an internationally recognized expert in men’s health and in helping men, boys, and fathers. The American Psychological Association calls him, “a leading psychologist in the field of masculinity.” He provides psychotherapy and counseling to individuals in the S.F. Bay Area, and phone consultation to those outside of the area. You can reach him at 415-346-6719 or check out his website at http://www.themensdoc.com. He is also the author of Dying To Be Men: http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Men-Environmental-Biobehavioral-Psychotherapy/dp/0415878764
Meaghan Calcari Campbell works in philanthropy and ocean conservation with local communities and non-profits. Diagnosed with breast cancer at thirty-two without a family history of the disease, her initial treatments lasted sixteen months and will continue for many years. She discovered blogging and its power in her healing from day one of her diagnosis. Meaghan’s work has been published in two Anthologies: The Day My Nipple Fell Off and Shivering in a Paper Gown. Meaghan finds great joy in serving as President of the Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS). To see more of Meaghan’s writing, visit 
