Mental Minute: Syllabus for Overcoming Stigma with Hannah Becker

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Mental Minute returns with an episode featuring Hannah Becker, a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Michigan. Hannah is the recipient of the 2021 Naveed Arif Iqball Award for Mental Health Advocacy and Stigma Reduction, an annual grant awarded to students or organizations who show commitment to reducing mental health stigma in their communities. 

Will Heiniger and special co-host Taylor Pahl, MSW, discuss Hannah’s work as an aspiring clinician who dedicates much of her time to stigma reduction, especially for young adults. As part of her efforts, Hannah is a graduate student instructor for Dr. Gearhardt, a professor of Psychology at U-M. Most recently, Hannah launched her very own community-based podcast project called the Syllabus for Overcoming Stigma, funded in-part by the Iqball Award. 

Hannah hopes that this podcast will help ease young adults into the conversation of mental health by sharing stories from peers who have struggled and sought our support in a variety of ways. She hopes that the personal stories shared on her podcast will help inspire young adults to promote health habits in their mental health journeys. 

Though cognizant of the many barriers present in mental health treatment, Hannah is hopeful for the future and recognizes teletherapy as a huge step forward in increasing access to care. One common theme she sees in mental health treatment is that “They have tried lots of different treatments, but never has it been linear.” She uses this idea to prevent patients from becoming discouraged when it comes to finding the right treatment for them.

Be sure to listen to Hannah’s podcast available on Spotify and Apple podcasts. If you are interested in being a guest on her podcast, fill out the form here.

To listen to the full episode and learn more about The Mental Minute with Michigan Medicine, visit the main Mental Minute page.