Mental Health / Substance Abuse Speakers

Judy Collins

Legendary folk singer, social activist, and best-selling author, Collins continues to chronicle life in her narration and song. But, she has also faced personal tragedy with the loss of her son to suicide. Articulating her story of survival with grace and dignity, she shares a deeply moving journey of renewal and redempti ...

Joe Pantoliano

Emmy-winning actor Pantoliano from The Matrix, is best known as "Ralphie Cifaretto" on The Sopranos. What you don’t know is that he’s a mental health advocate who has dealt with clinical depression and his mother’s bipolar disorder. He stars in the film Canvas, a poignant story about a family's st ...

Christopher Kennedy Lawford

Born into the Kennedy dynasty, Lawford was destined to do great things: he became a successful actor, lawyer, activist, writer, and speaker. But he also battled drug and alcohol addiction, and overcame a Hepatitis C diagnosis. In addition to sharing his extraordinary journey overcoming alcohol and drug abuse, he raises awar ...

Koren Zailckas

Author of The New York Times bestseller Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood, Zailckas chronicles her experiences with alcohol abuse as a teenager and high school student. Her story is one of the most riveting firsthand accounts of addiction. It combines insightful observations into the national culture of a ...

Lou Gossett, Jr.

As one of the most sought after veteran actors, Oscar winner Gossett has reached the heights of success. His unique talent for portraying powerful and charismatic characters has charmed audiences worldwide. As Founder of the Eracism Foundation, he is dedicated to fighting racism, ignorance, and social apathy.

Kathy Cronkite

Cronkite’s personal struggle with depression and her journey from darkness to light inspired her to become a tireless champion for mental health education, healing, and treatment. In her book, On the Edge of Darkness, she offers personal glimpses into mental illness by interviewing celebrities such as Mike Wallace ...

Natalie Cole

An eight-time Grammy winner, Cole has led a remarkable life, relying on the power of friends, family, and faith to become a true survivor. With honesty, grace, and humor, she shares her personal journey and the lessons she learned, advising us to make the right choices for a better life.

Terry Wise

After losing her spouse to Lou Gehrig's disease, and surviving her own suicide attempt, Wise wrote Waking Up: Climbing Through the Darkness, a highly-acclaimed roadmap to restoring emotional health. Through her gripping story of hope and personal triumph, she reveals coping skills, pragmatic tools, and provides insp ...

Jennifer Holliday

Arguably one of the greatest voices of the new millennium, Holliday gives concerts throughout the world and performs with many symphonies across the country. Having lived with depression for over ten years, she found the way to seek help and effectively cope with her disease. She offers the truth about her life, sharing tha ...

William Cope Moyers

William C. Moyers is Vice President of External Affairs for the Hazelden Foundation, based in Minnesota. For the past decade, he has committed himself to helping people, families and communities understand the power of addiction and the promise and possibility of recovery. Moyers uses his own personal experiences to carry t ...

Susan Cheever

A novelist, biographer, and speaker on mental wellness, Cheever has seen many faces of addiction – from growing up with an alcoholic father, to suffering through her own drinking and recovery, to later experiencing a period of sexual addiction filled with one adulterous affair after another. She has chronicled her experi ...

Richard Dreyfuss

Oscar winner Dreyfuss has taught at Oxford, studied a wide range of subjects from history to politics, and is a driving force in the movement to bring civics back into the classrooms as well as creating a knowledgeable and engaged citizenry in America.

Michael Patrick MacDonald

Author of the incendiary New York Times bestselling memoir All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, and the companion bestseller Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion, MacDonald shares his remarkable story of survival and redemption while examining the tangled relationship between poverty and c ...

Alvin Poussaint

A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Poussaint is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who is renowned as an expert and educated crusader for the African American family within our multicultural society. He has worked closely with Bill Cosby, serving as an advisor on The Cosby Show, and has par ...

Jamie Lee Curtis

An award winning actress and best-selling author of seven children's books, Curtis is a woman with many talents. She has demonstrated her versatility as a film actress with starring roles in such acclaimed films as the blockbuster True Lies opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, for which she earned a Golden Globe Award.

Greg Louganis

Greg Louganis began competing in diving at age 10. By 16, he had won his first Olympic medal, a silver medal on the platform in 1976. At 24, he became the first man in 56 years to win two gold medals in diving by winning both the platform and springboard events. In 1988, competing against divers half his age, he became the ...