Behavioral Health

April Wilson Smith, MPH, is a PhD student in Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on harm reduction approaches to people who use substances when they enter the healthcare system.

April's other interest in healthcare is interprofessional education and teamwork. Her work with the Jefferson Center for InterProfessional Education won the 2016 James B. Erdmann PhD award for Excellence in Interprofessional Education. She is currently building a large, multidisciplinary coalition to create an interprofessional education module for healthcare professionals in best practices for the care of people who use drugs when they present in the acute care setting.

April is a Certified SMART Recovery facilitator and founded the first SMART Recovery meeting in the Philadelphia city limits. She is also co-founder of the only Harm Reduction, Abstinence and Moderation Support meeting in Philadelphia.

April recently accepted a position as Harm Reduction Epidemiologist with Families for Sensible Drug Policy, which is a non-profit dedicated to helping families advocate for drug policies that save drug users' lives and keep families together and healthy.  Co-founder and President, Barry Lessin, is also a Pro Talk columnist . 

April graduated from Yale University in 1996. She was a union organizer for healthcare workers for 18 years before going back to school for her Master of Public Health, and spent ten years as Director of Organizing for Pennsylvania's largest nurses' union. She lives in West Philadelphia with her beautiful black cat, Loviefluffy.

Located in Portland, OR, Olivia Pennelle (Liv) is an experienced writer, journalist, and coach. She is the founder of the popular site Liv’s Recovery Kitchen, a site dedicated to helping people flourish in their recovery.

Liv is passionate about challenging limiting mentalities and empowering others to direct their own lives, health, and recovery. You can find her articles across the web on podcasts and addiction recovery websites, including The Fix, Recovery.org, Workit Health, and Ravishly. Liv was recently featured in VICE.

If you're interested in connecting with Liv, you can find her on Instagram. She also created a new Facebook group called Life After 12 Steps, where she proudly sees members thriving, rather than forcing themselves to do something that doesn’t work.

Additionally, Liv offers free resources on her website, including the e-book entitled Nourishing You, which is designed to give you the tools to achieve your health goals in straightforward language.

Rudolph C. Hatfield, Ph.D. is the author of The Everything Guide to the Human Brain and The Everything Guide to Coping with Panic Disorder.

Samantha Skelly is the founder of Hungry for Happiness, a movement to support women around the world who are suffering from disordered eating and body image issues. She is an award-winning, sought out international speaker who delivers inspirational presentations to empower those who struggle with the relationship they have to food and their bodies.

Samantha has appeared on Global TV, Shaw, NBC and CBC to share her mission on an international platform. Hungry for Happiness creates online accessible and affordable recovery resources to those who are suffering in silence. Samantha was awarded ‘Top 24 under 24’ in September 2013. In 2014, she was a finalist as the ‘Best Emerging Entrepreneur’ by Small Business BC.

Samantha Skelly aims to create a disruptive company in the eating disorder recovery space. Her vision is to create the largest and most impactful online resource to support those whose lives are negatively affected by issues with food and their bodies.

Dr. Eric Maisel is the author of more than 40 books in the areas of creativity, meaning and mental health. He is widely regarded as America’s foremost creativity coach and has recently developed natural psychology, the new psychology of meaning. He writes the Coaching the Artist Within column for Professional Artist Magazine, and blogs for sites like the Global Summit on Diagnostic Alternatives and Mad in America. Dr. Maisel’s books for creative and performing artists include Secrets of a Creativity Coach, Making Your Creative Mark, Fearless Creating, Coaching the Artist Within, The Van Gogh Blues, The Creativity Book, Affirmations for Artists, Performance Anxiety, Write Mind, Deep Writing, A Writer’s Space, A Writer’s Paris, A Writer’s San Francisco, Creative Recovery and Creativity for Life. His books on mental health and meaning include Why Smart People Hurt, Rethinking Depression, Brainstorm: Harnessing the Power of Productive Obsessions, Toxic Criticism, and the forthcoming Life Purpose Boot Camp. Dr. Maisel leads workshops nationally and internationally. He presents at workshop centers like Omega, Kripalu, Esalen, Hollyhock, and Rowe, at events like the Paris Writers Workshop, at annual conferences of organizations like Romance Writers of America and the American Psychological Association, and in locations like San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Prague, Rome and Berlin. Dr. Maisel lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he maintains an active creativity coaching practice.

Michele Rosenthal is an award-winning blogger, bestselling and award-nominated author, host of the radio program, Changing Direction, and founder of HealMyPTSD.com. A former faculty member of the Clinical Development Institute for Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, Michele is the author of Before The World Intruded: Conquering the Past and Creating the Future, selected as a finalist for the Books For A Better Life Award, Next Generation Indie Book Award, and the International Book Award. Her most recent book, Your Life After Trauma: Powerful Practices To Reclaim Your Identity, is available from W. W. Norton. Her forthcoming book, Heal Your PTSD: Dynamic Strategies that Work will be released by Conari Press in Fall, 2015.

Michele is a Contributing Editor for RewireMe.com, a top health blogger for the Stress Management Community on Wellsphere.com, and writes a weekly column about trauma and PTSD for HealthyPlace.com. She has been interviewed by and featured in many media outlets, including CBS Radio, The Dennis Miller Show, NBC News, Ladies' Home Journal, The Palm Beach Post, St. Petersburg Times, and then Orlando Sentinel. To connect with Michele visit: HealMyPTSD.com.