We are more than numbers.

Why we created the Diabetes + Mental Health Conference

Before the pandemic started, I was traveling around the country speaking at various diabetes events on the topic of mental health. And after awhile, I noticed something. I was the only session focused on the psychosocial aspects of diabetes. (What is psychosocial? That’s what we call the intersection between relational factors and individual thoughts and behaviors). There was so much to talk about inside one tiny 45 minute session, and I knew there was so much I needed leave out because of time.

I thought, “There really needs to be a whole conference about this!”

And that’s essentially how the Diabetes + Mental Health Conference was born.

I got together with a colleague (Sara Adams), we got together a few more colleagues (our 2022 faculty) and some sponsors and we launched our first event.

Now it’s 2023 and we are coming back for more!

We just announced this week our full line-up for the 2023 Diabetes + Mental Health Conference, a virtual two-day conference focused solely on the intersection of diabetes and mental health. This year our main keynote is The Diabetes Psychologist himself, Dr. Mark Heyman, and featuring a welcome keynote with Hangry Woman Mila Clarke, and Adam Brown, author of Bright Spots and Landmines and now a therapist in his own right.

And our sessions? If there was such a thing as a keynote panel, we would have it. Our panel this year is The Emotional Toll of Stigma and Shame, featuring Dr. Susan Guzman (Director of Clinical Education at the Behavioral Diabetes Institute), Jane K. Dickinson, PhD, RN, CDCES, Renza Scibilia, T’ara Smith and Phylissa DeRoze.

One of the things that makes our conference so unique is that the speakers are primarily mental health providers with diabetes. If they aren’t mental health providers, they have diabetes. And if they don’t have diabetes, they are mental health providers. It is a core value of our conference to have as many people “like us” speaking to us about the mental health aspect of diabetes.

If you have ever felt like your life with diabetes has been reduced to a series of numbers (A1C, time in range, blood sugars…) and you know that it encompasses so much more, I hope you’ll join us at the DMH conference. Click on the link to the learn more and to register. Early bird registration ends at the end of the month, but tickets are on sale until the conference starts on May 5.

We can’t wait to see you there!