Meet Our Contributors

Promo shot of the road to mental wellness with QR code
Buy The Road To Mental Wellness

Sound like a journey you’d like to take?

Author Jonathan Arenburg did just that. His journey through the minefields and marshes of mental illness, anxiety, depression, and PTSD is a riveting read.

The more we understand these conditions, the more we can help make a difference – for ourselves, family, friends, colleagues, and health professionals. Jonathan’s book is unique, having value for both consumers and experts.

Come with Jonathan Arenburg on The Road to Mental Wellness to understand:

* Childhood struggles with undiagnosed mental illness
* Struggling as a young adult being “different”
* The challenge of working in a first-responder/long-term care profession
* Trying to have a family life when affected with mental illness
* Dealing with thoughts of suicide
* How to find the help that can help you transform your life
* Learn the difference good counselling can make – and how John became a counsellor, helping people with PTSD, depression, substance addictions, etc.
* The powerful benefits of technology, social media, and society
* Creating a motivational wellness plan, with personalized goals
* Reaping the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and alternatives to medication

The Road to Mental Wellness may take you through some dark, difficult places but will inspire you with guidance and hope for a bright future.

Jonathan Arenburg is a mental health blogger, speaker, writer, and published author; He is also the host of the mental wellness podcast, #thewellnesstalks

Explore/Buy the book

Read My Latest Blog Posts

Stephen Schneider, Ph.D.

Meet our first-ever contributor to land on the Our Writers page,

Stephen Schneider is a professor in the Department of Criminology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. His areas of interest include crime prevention, organized crime, policing and law enforcement, and community development. In 2006, Dr. Schneider received a $380,000 grant from the federal government for a three-year project to research, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive developmental program for disadvantaged children, based on the principles of crime prevention through social development. He is currently implementing a virtual rendition of this program in the Glooscap First Nation in the Annapolis Valley. Dr. Schneider is the author of five books addressing such topics as community crime prevention, money laundering, and organized crime in Canada.  His latest publication is a textbook on Canadian organized crime published in 2018 by Canadian Scholars Press.  

Stephen's article can be found below

A man with his arm around a boy who has his feet on a soccer ball as they sit on the curb - Hang in there

Friends For Life

Friends for Life: A Cognitive Behavioural Program to Prevent the Onset of Mental Health Disorders. A program about early intervention.

Profile picture of Josh our writers

Most recent publication

The book, Lemonade-III-Front cover. Yellow with pitchers of lemonade

Lemonade Stand Vol. III

20 authors from the Military and emergency service tell their story of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

 

 

Order today!

Josh's Articles

Josh's Article

Storytelling will save the world… yes, even yours.

Captain’s log, Stardate January 2011. Where unfortunately many have gone before. I’m twenty-six years old and thinking about dying… actually I’m not being entirely truthful. I’m dangling halfway out the fourth floor window of my bedroom in New York City.

 

Josh Rivedal

Joshua Rivedal is the creator and founder of Changing Minds: A Mental Health Based Curriculum and The i’Mpossible Project. He is trained in human capital management with an emphasis in coaching from NYU, and is also trained in QPR, ASIST, and the teacher’s edition of emotional intelligence at Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence.

 

He has spoken about suicide prevention, mental health, diversity, and storytelling across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. He currently serves on the advisory board of Docz, a startup peer-to-peer mental health app. He wrote and developed the one-man play, Kicking My Blue Genes in The Butt (KMBB), which paired with suicide prevention education, has toured extensively throughout the world. His memoir 

 

The Gospel According to Josh: A 28-Year Gentile Bar Mitzvah, based on KMBB, is on The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s recommended reading list.

His second book, The i’Mpossible Project: Volume 1—Reengaging with Life, creating a New You, debuted #1 in its category on Amazon in January 2016. A second volume of The i’Mpossible Project--Changing Minds, Breaking Stigma, Achieving the Impossible is set for release in November 2017. His Changing Minds curriculum was developed at The College of New Jersey, The University of Texas at Arlington, and Forest Hills High School in Queens, NY. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, children, a cat, a hamster, two bunnies, and a guinea pig named Harriet. 

 

Joyce Wanjiru

Joyce Wanjiru is a passionate mental health advocate and the Founder of Impart a Generation, which is a Mentorship program that seeks to address mental health issues in children and adolescence.

 

Her passion in mental health advocacy and Mentorship programs is drawn from her growing up in Kibra which is the largest slum in Kenya. Joyce watched her mother struggle with depression and at some point almost taking her life and that of her children using rat poison. This would later affect Joyce and she struggled with anxiety and panic attacks through high school.

 

She believes that traumatic childhood plays a big role in affecting a lot of mental health problems that we experience in adulthood. This is what Impart A Generation seeks to address and prevent through the mentorship programs.

 

She is a graduate from University of Nairobi, having pursued a Bachelors in Psychology, Sociology and Communication. She aspires to pursue a Masters in Family Therapy to better help families raise mentally healthy children.

 

Joyce is also a peace ambassador with Universal peace federation and was nominated by Christian women entrepreneurs network of Africa as Outstanding Africa Social entrepreneur in 2020.

This year, she is working towards training over 2000 teachers in Psychological First Aid and Social Emotional Learning, in aid to support children navigate post corvid settling down in school after the long pandemic break.

 

Parika Bhatli headshot

Parika Bhatli 

Parika is a depression survivor who is on the mission to end the stigma around depression and normalize it in the best way possible. She writes blogs by writing about her depression journey, how she overcame it, and all lessons she learned in her journey with time. She believes writing is the best asset to educate people about mental health. And let them know that they are not alone.

In addition, she advocates for mental health by writing blogs on Medium. Her blogs have been published on different mental health sites, and she has done some notable collaborations with some amazing individuals/organisations


Parika is also a Researcher, and Sociologist.


Find her On:

Twitter @parikabhatli

Medium - Parika Bhatli

A black and wight headshot of contributing writer - Dawn Jewll

Dawn Jewll

Dawn Jewell was raised in Nova Scotia. She is a writer, and advocate for health. She worked as a Policy Researcher for Physicians Services and many community health boards. A life long Epileptic, she is well versed in the ups and downs of mental health and what it takes to get the message across.

Contributing writer Mike Butler sitting on the floor wearing a black shirt and a rainbow coloured tie.

Mike Butler

 

Mike Butler wears many hats but never actually wears hats! Mike works full-time at the constituency office of MP Kody Blois, guides on the Magic Winery Bus and in Fall 2020, was elected to Wolfville Town Council. He also writes for the Grapevine (and other local publications) and in his spare time (HA!) Mike's true passion and love is the theatre. Since December 2009, Mike has been a part of 75 productions in the capacity of acting, directing, producing, marketing and stage managing. His involvement with theatre has given him the chance to work with CentreStage Theatre, Valley Ghost Walks, Edalene Theatre, Quick as a Wink, some local schools, The Fezziwig Society and Mike was owner and operator of the Wolfville Theatre Collective for 5 years. Mike brings knowledge and experience to each production and task he's a part of and although acting is what he prefers, he's never shy to direct a project that is passionate to him. With boundless energy, organization and an endless appreciation for community, Mike is excited to tackle just about anything!
 
Mike has always had a passion for reading and writing and is never shy to let his creative side be expressed. He is a positive advocate for the 2SLGBTQA+ community and it's all about people, friends, family, love and community!

 

Follow Mike on Instagram

Thanduxolo Love-Ann Mtsweni

Thanduxolo Love-Ann Mtsweni is a former Management Consulting Analyst for Accenture in South Africa and a mental health advocate. In 2021, she battled major depressive disorder and anxiety. Her career goals and business experience changed. Today, she writes about her journey with her mental health illness. She advocates for young professionals in corporate to speak up and seek help for their mental health conditions. She has written articles on the Tom Spencer website, offering career advice and resume tips for the consulting industry.

She is a two-time graduate, currently pursuing her third degree. She holds a Bachelor of Administration in International Relations from the University of Pretoria. As well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Wits Business School. She is a creative who is adaptive, resilient, and open-minded. She has a passion for storytelling and relishes challenging situations that call for the use of my analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.

Contributing writer - Thanduxolo Love-Ann Mtsweni

Follow US

All Rights Reserved.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any electronic
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopy, recording, or otherwise without written permission from the author.