LEADERSHIP
Program Director
Patrick Corrigan is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Corrigan is a licensed clinical psychologist setting up and providing services for people with serious mental illnesses and their families for more than 30 years. Corrigan is the Director of the National Consortium on Stigma and Empowerment (NCSE), a research Center supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Central to NCSE is the Center on Adherence and Self-Determination (CASD) supported as a developing center in services research by NIMH. Corrigan’s recent work has focused on developing and evaluating interventions meant to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness. With support from CASD, Corrigan and his team have developed a program meant to eliminate the self-stigma of mental illness, the Honest, Open, Proud Program. Corrigan is a prolific researcher having authored or edited twelve books and more than 300 papers.
Senior Consultant
Dr. Jonathon E. Larson, L.C.P.C., C.R.C. is an assistant professor of psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He coordinates and provides training of the Honest, Open, Proud Program (HOPp) facilitators and he provides HOPp sessions within his mental health practice. He utilizes and shares his lived experiences with PTSD throughout facilitation of HOPp. He has 18 years of experience providing mental health services and teaching therapy skills to practitioners and students. He was awarded and currently directs research activities as Co-PI for a transformation grant on Trauma Informed Care for Veterans and Family Members funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He is a funded co-investigator within the Center on Adherence and Self-Determination funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. He also is funded by Patient Centered Outcomes Research as a co-investigator for a Peer Navigators for Latinos with Mental Illness research project. He is a PI for Testing Effectiveness of NeuroField: A Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (pEMF) System for Electroencephalogram (EEG) Regulation. This award from Neurofield, Inc supports EEG research testing the impact of pEMF on anxiety, sleep disorders, quality of life, and employment. Previously, he was a PI for Rehabilitation Long Term Training: Advanced Psychiatric Rehabilitation for Rehabilitation Counseling funded by Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education. He was also a Co-PI for two Rehabilitation Long Term Training Grants funded by Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education. He has 40 peer reviewed publications, 6 book chapters, and 15 published training chapters.
Facilitator for College and University Programs
Kristin Kosyluk, MS, CRC is a PhD candidate in the Rehabilitation Counseling Education program at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). She is also Program Coordinator of the Center on Adherence and Self-Determination, a NIMH-funded research center at IIT examining issues surrounding self-determination and service engagement among individuals with serious mental illness (Patrick Corrigan, Principal Investigator). Kristin currently resides in El Paso, Texas where she is lecturer in the Rehabilitation Counseling Masters program at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Kristin’s research interests include examining how mental illness stigma interferes with service engagement, social inclusion, and achievement of life goals. In particular, her research explores how these factors influence life outcomes among college students. Kristin’s dissertation investigates the impact of contact and education-based stigma reduction programs, relative to a control group, among college students.
Kristin has co-authored 13 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and has three manuscripts in review. One manuscript, entitled Reducing Self-Stigma by Coming Out Proud, published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2013, describes the theoretical foundation for the Honest, Open, Proud Program. This paper reviews the impact of a concealed stigmatized identity and potential benefits of disclosure of one’s identity, culminating in recommendations and considerations for mental health disclosure. Kristin coordinated a recent survey examining college students’ perceptions about the usefulness of the Honest, Open, Proud Program among this population.
As a recipient of the 2010 Active Minds Emerging Scholars Fellowship, supported by the Scattergood Foundation, Kristin has led the development of a campaign to promote solidarity and support on college campuses for students with mental illnesses. The Mental Health Unity (MHU) campaign, was developed through qualitative and quantitative research and represents three fundamental principles:
- The stigma surrounding mental illness and college students is wrong and must be eliminated.
- College students with mental illness are capable individuals who are valued members of our campus community and should be treated accordingly.
- The campaign asks supporters to speak out against stigma and discrimination towards college students with mental illness.
Most importantly, MHU supporters stand in solidarity with college students with mental illness. A launch of the campaign in partnership with Active Minds is currently underway.
Facilitator and Training Coordinator
Patrick Michaels is Assistant Research Director for Resource Development for the Center for Dignity, Recovery, and Empowerment. The Center provides technical assistance and program evaluation services to existing and developing California-based stigma and discrimination reduction programs. In this role, Mr. Michaels coordinates a research study evaluating the Honest, Open, Proud program’s impact on self-stigma and mental health disclosure. Mr. Michaels has presented at seven conferences and published 16 peer reviewed journal articles including a meta-analysis of public stigma interventions. In 2012, Mr. Michaels received an Active Minds Emerging Scholars Fellowship to qualitatively evaluate the impact of the Active Minds Speakers Bureau. In 2014, he received an American Psychological Association Student Travel Award. Mr. Michaels plans to complete his clinical psychology Ph.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2015 after completion of a 1-year internship at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Program Champions & Master Trainers
Sue McKenzie, Wisconsin
Malia Fontecchio, California
Keith Mahar, Australia
Michelle Andra, South Carolina VA
PROGRAM COLLABORATORS
California
The housed at the Mental health Association of San Francisco is currently conducting the Honest, Open, Proud program throughout California. Click the 'Get Involved' button to learn more about current opportunities.
is apeer-run agency based out of Los Angeles. PRPSN holds Honest, Open, Proud groups and trainings throughout California.
Illinois
, a local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is now offering Honest, Open, Proud Programs in the Chicago land area.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Initiative for Stigma Elimination (WISE) and Rogers inHealth currently deliver Honest Open Proud (HOPp). for more information.