Sean Campbell’s Mental Health Advocacy Work
Sean Campbell is a dedicated mental health advocate who goes about his work through speaking. Sean promotes mental health awareness, reduces stigma, and stresses the importance of positive mental hygiene. His speaking is primarily targeted toward younger audiences and college students, though his presentations have been well received by audience members of all age groups, since mental health is something that affects everyone.
Sean’s advocacy work has manifested itself and grown in a distinct pattern, beginning from within and expanding globally.
THE PERSONAL LEVEL
Before Sean can effectively help others, it is essential that he maintain positive mental hygiene for himself. Sean believes that a mental health advocate should practice what he or she preaches! Sean commits himself to maintaining positive mental hygiene by consistently monitoring his feelings, thoughts and emotions throughout the day, by dealing with stress directly and never procrastinating stressors, by staying organized and setting clear goals each day, by visualizing the events he wants to bring into his life, by trusting his instincts and listening to himself, by speaking to a therapist when he feels matters getting out of hand, by taking a break when he needs one, by evaluating his day each night before he falls asleep, by regularly exercising, eating properly, and obtaining appropriate amounts of sleep.
COMMUNITY-WIDE – SEAN’S HOME COUNTY, BERGEN COUNTY, NJ
Sean Campbell, a lifetime Bergen County, NJ resident, began his mental health work in his community, and today, is an active proponent in the county’s mental health initiatives. He is a member of the Bergen County Mental Health Task Force, who sponsors him to speak at middle schools, high schools and colleges in Bergen County. In his presentations, Sean discusses growing up in a Bergen County household, living with a father who suffered from bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and coping with personal depression, anxiety and trauma. He sends a positive message how he successfully and productively recast this adversity to publish a book in high school, earn a full scholarship to college, and launch a career professionally speaking at schools across the country – all before turning twenty years old.
Since beginning to speak in 2008, Sean has spoken at over a dozen schools in Bergen County – elementary schools, middle schools, alternative schools, high schools and colleges. Additionally, Sean’s program has been incorporated into staff training sessions at Bergen Regional Medical Center, as well as parent meetings throughout the county. Sean spoke at Ramapo College’s freshmen orientation in August 2009, and the following month, was a keynote speaker at Bergen Community College’s “Coping 101: The Wisdom Is In Your Choices” community mental health event. There, he and Celina Gray, Executive Director of the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma, teamed up to give a presentation to hundreds of students, faculty, social workers and citizens from throughout the community.
Sean has been recognized for his mental health work in Bergen County. In October 2009, Sean received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Community Health Improvement Partnership of Bergen County. In 2010, the Bergen County Mental Health Task Force nominated him for two awards: The Golden Bell Leadership Award and the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma Ambassador Award.
STATEWIDE – SEAN’S HOME STATE, NEW JERSEY
Following his work in his home community of Bergen County, Sean developed a close relationship with the New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma. Sean was a recipient of the NJ Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma Ambassador Award in the category of Individual and Families. This collaboration with the Council has put Sean in touch with opportunities throughout the state of New Jersey. In January 2010, Sean was the keynote speaker at the Passaic County Teen Summit in Paterson, NJ, an annual event that brings students together from 18 schools in Passaic County. In February 2010, Sean spoke at Rutgers University’s Suicide Prevention in Higher Education Conference, which brought together student affairs teams from dozens of colleges throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, working together to find strategies to prevent suicides on college campuses.
NATIONWIDE – SEAN’S COUNTRY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Since 2009, Sean has committed himself to promoting mental health awareness on a nationwide scale, traveling to middle schools, high schools and colleges through the United States. He has spoken at schools in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, and looks forward to further expansion, as well as return visits to the schools where he has already spoken.
WORLDWIDE
In April 2010, Sean took an inspiring trip to Europe and embraced the vastness of the world beyond the United States of America. Sean looks forward to expanding his mental health advocacy work on an international and global scale.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Sean is participating in a documentary titled “How to Touch a Hot Stove”, which “will document the initiation of a social movement whose purpose is to change human consciousness about mental illness.” For more information, please visit http://changingourconsciousness.org/hotstove.html