It's been quite a journey from Melissa Helm's hometown of Glens Falls, to working in the non-profit world on Wall Street (of all places) and then to the Berkshires - which she is very happy to call her home. Drawn by work in corporate wellness, Melissa would later work at Kripalu and its signature stress resilience program. This all aligned with Melissa who has grown throughout her own mental health journey, struggling during her college years with stress and anxiety. She later realized that many of her peers were facing similar challenges, and she wondered at the time why there was so little conversation about mental health issues. As the executive director of NAMI Berkshire County, she continues the work in bringing mental health and suicide prevention out of the shadows - and is at the forefront of broadening the base of support in the community. Leading support groups, including peer and family support, trainings for community members and educational programs, Melissa is guiding the organization to fulfill its vision. Also in this episode we cover: Where NAMI fits into the mental health support community, the organization's youth retreat at Kripalu, mindfulness, the effectiveness of peer support, the inability to meet the mental health demands of the community and several months' wait for mental health appointments, staffing, wages, clinician burnout, insurance reimbursements, the NAMI 5K in Lenox June 17th, fundraising, the pace of the Berkshires vs. NYC, positive psychology, meditation and being present, and Melissa's part-time gig bartending at Mo's Tavern.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Melissa Helm.