Purpose:

To partner with other organizations in order to provide resources and be a catalyst for building a community for marriages and couples facing mental health or addiction challenges by sharing lived experiences and hope-filled stories.

Objectives:

  • To bring the marriage and mental health community together, two times a year in a conference, by partnering with existing organizations, peer-led support groups, and professionals in order to provide a diverse amount of resources and support.

  • For conference attendees (whether an individual or a couple) to not feel alone and to have hope again.

  • For conference attendees to get connected to a peer-led support group for additional support after each conference.

  • To provide resources on how and where to get help for both the individual and the couple.

Values:

  • Share lived experiences, solutions, and stories across a variety of marriages where there is a mental health or addiction challenge.

  • Support marriages as the primary audience; however, couples who are not married are fully welcomed and supported as part of this community.

  • Honor any individual or couple impacted by mental health or addiction challenge(s) regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or relationship status (e.g., dating, engaged, married, separated or divorced).

  • Offer each conference in as broad of a reach as possible (e.g., different language), diversity and format (e.g., virtual).

  • Provide a safe place for support with no judgement where people feel accepted as both an individual and a couple.

  • Make the conference affordable (by leveraging volunteer time as much as possible) in order to keep the cost of attending reasonable through sponsorships and/or donations where applicable.

  • Support one another through the marriage journey whether in crisis, surviving, growing or thriving as well as through a relapse.

  • Provide wholistic resources that encompass both medical treatment plans as well as emotional, trauma and spiritual support.

  • Ensure each story shared dignifies the individual(s) involved and honors confidentiality (if requested).

  • Share victories in order to de-stigmatize the relationship struggle and support healthy decision-making.

Spring 2022 Conference Recording:

Access with previously purchased ticket: https://mentalhealthstrong.csavlivestream.com/

Key Highlights: Sex and Intimacy, Parenting and Child-Free Solutions, and Daily Resilience Solutions

Note: If you were not able to attend this live conference but would like to access the materials, please email info@mentalhealthstrong.com to make a $30 payment in order to receive the access code.

Testimonials:

  • “I’ve been looking for this information and support for the last 20 years and I am so grateful to have found this.”

  • “This conference helped replenish some hope when I was starting to lose it. It made me feel less alone and gave me additional tools and resources to continue to fight for my marriage.”

  • “I have heard many stories who share with mental illness since 2013 but never couples. It opened my eyes, made those eyes weep and gave me hope in my marriage again.”

  • “The Marriage and Mental Health Conference was the highlight of my year. It was great to see authors I have read, a podcaster that I have listened to faithfully and meet new authors that I would like to read next. I have been waiting for years for a conversation and community about marriage and mental health.”

  • “Thank you so much for this conference. This has been the most helpful resource we have found in our 11+ years of our journey with marriage and bipolar. The conference held a beautiful tension of the reality of our situations and hope and tools to continue pressing on.”