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The Second Annual Piecing It All Together
Conference
 At the Fountains Sheraton in Fairview Heights, the Southern Illinois area
was host to the second annual Piecing It All Together, Children's Mental
Health Conference. Over 200 people made up of parents, educators and mental
health professionals attended this two day event, November 11 & 12, 2004. On
Friday, the keynote speaker was Dr. Ethan Everett from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
He highlighted accenting the positive for children especially those with
mental illness and downplaying the negative. He blended humor with a serious
topic making it enjoyable for all. On Saturday, the highlight of the
conference was hearing Janice Papolos, who co-authored The Bipolar Child and
is very involved with bipolar research. She had the audience in stitches
with her irreverent keynote address. Parents were encouraged hearing about
the latest research from the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation. Educators
were encouraged as Mrs. Papolos gave resources and ideas they could use in
the classroom.
NAMI played a significant role in this year's conference as quite a number
of presenters in breakout sessions were from NAMI affiliates. Stephanie
Griffin, a NAMI member from Champaign County, gave an overview of Mental
Illness in Children. Peter Paetsch from NAMI Racine, Wisconsin presented a
NAMI Queens (New York) program on
Breaking the Silence, bringing mental
illness education to the classroom. This is a mental health curriculum
written by our New York affiliate that can be used in grades 4 through 12 to
help bring awareness and understanding. Rob and Jane Roennigke from our
affiliate presented "Parents and Teachers As Allies" with the help of their
son, Brad.
Next year's conference is already in the planning stages. It will once again
be held at the Fountains Conference Center in Fairview Heights on October 28
& 29, 2005.
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Dr. Ethan Everett, Clinical Psychologist
 Ethan Everett is a clinical psychologist whose
career has focused on working with children. While working on his BA at the
University of Utah, Dr. Everett worked as a therapist/teacher at The
Children's Behavior Therapy Unit (a school for kids with severe behavioral
and emotional disorders). He also worked at Primary Children's Medical
Center, and a private psychiatric hospital.
After relocating to Terre Haute Indiana, Dr. Everett began work on his
doctorate while working as the Mental Health Consultant to the local Head
Start program. He completed his internship/residency in Wichita, Kansas at
the Wichita Child Guidance Center.
Dr. Everett has also lead an AD/HD clinic, supervised an outpatient
department at a community mental health center, directed a mental health
center in South Dakota. He is currently affiliated with Affinity Health
Systems in Central Wisconsin and enjoys spending time with his four
children.
Janice Papolos, co-author of the
Bipolar Child and Overcoming Depression
Janice Papolos is co-author of the book, The Bipolar Child,
which won the NAMI Ken Award as an “outstanding book that has substantially
contributed to the public’s awareness and better understanding of mental
illness as a neurobiological brain disease.” It has had 17 printings in
hardcover to date, and a revised hardcover edition was published in
September 2002. It is currently being translated into Japanese.
Ms Papolos is the author of three other books, all considered definitive in
their fields. Her second book, Overcoming Depression, 3rd Edition (also
co-authored with her husband, Demitri Papolos, M.D.) was ranked as “One of
the Top Ten Books of the Decade” by the National Alliance for the Mentally
Ill and has returned to press over 35 times. It has been translated into
Polish and Italian.
Janice Papolos was a co-founder of the Child and Adolescent Bipolar
Foundation. In addition to serving on the board of the Juvenile Bipolar
Research Foundation, she publishes The Bipolar Child Newsletter which is
subscribed to by over 20,000 parents and professionals throughout this
country and abroad. She is a powerful advocate for families of children with
bipolar disorder and has appeared on Oprah, 20/20, The Infinite Mind and on
television and radio shows throughout the country in order to bring
attention to this disorder of childhood.
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