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About the 2025 MHAM Theme: Shine a Light on Mental Health
Isolated. Hopeless. Surrounded by darkness.
Oftentimes clients in our mental illness recovery programs share this is how they felt before finding Peace River Center. Thankfully there is a way to shine a light into the darkness of mental health challenges, untreated mental illness, and stigma. During Mental Health Awareness Month, you can be that light!
Mental health discussions are much more common than before, and many people feel more comfortable talking and sharing about their mental health challenges. However, it can still be overwhelming to know where to start or how to help yourself or a friend while you wait on professional mental health services. During Mental Health Awareness Month, Peace River Center is joining other organizations to Shine a Light on Mental Health. If you’re unsure where to start, join us on May 21 for our Community Symposium.
Learn how to navigate anxiety associated with the unknown and gain coping skills.
Educate ourselves and others on how trauma impacts our lives and how trauma-informed interactions can help us better understand loved ones, friends, and coworkers.
Advance community mental health organizations like Peace River Center by learning about our mental illness recovery services and supporting our efforts to extend care to all who need it.
Awareness and Education
Mental Health Awareness Month is an excellent time to increase your awareness and understanding of mental health challenges, mental illness diagnosis, stigma and how to reduce it, local resources that help, and more. Peace River Center is offering a few opportunities throughout May to help you learn more and increase awareness.
Wednesday, May 15| All Day
Wear Green Day
Show your support and share resources like our 24-hour Emotional Support and Crisis Line, 863.519.3744, on your social media channels. Upload a photo wearing green, plus the crisis line and use hashtag #PRCwearGreenDay. Let’s shine a light on mental health by wearing green on May 15. Be sure to let your friends know and invite others by sharing our Facebook event.
Wednesday, May 21| 8:30 am to 11:30 am | Black Swan Venue, Lakeland
Mental Health Community Symposium
Peace River Center is once again shining a light on mental health by hosting a Community Symposium during Mental Health Awareness Month. The event will take place on Wednesday, May 21 at Black Swan Venue. Check-in will begin at 8:30 am followed by networking and light refreshments. At 9 am we will begin our program featuring Peace River Center’s mental health experts presenting on a variety of topics, including:
- Thresholds of the Mind: Identifying Your Limits – Alexandra Taylor, MSW, Community Mobile Support Team Supervisor
This presentation will explore how many adults feel self-aware, yet struggle to escape emotional patterns like anger, depression, or burnout. If we can recognize our thresholds, we can potentially mitigate long-term damage to mental health, relationships, and work. - Finding the Calm in the Chaos – Sarah Smith, LMHC, Intake Specialist Therapist
Dig into how to understand stress and worry, plus identify when anxiety is becoming more “out of control.” We will explore how anxiety manifests in the brain and nervous system and gain strategies for increasing regulation and reducing anxiety. These tips can be useful for yourself or those around you. Finally, we will help attendees identify and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs that contribute to anxiety, and figure out a framework for setting boundaries. Consider this a quality check-up for your mental health and walk away with practical tips you and your loved ones can use!
Please register today. If you have any questions or to submit questions in advance of the Community Summit, please email CommunityRelations@PeaceRiverCenter.org.
Thursday, May 22 | Club Success Haines City | 10 am – 12 pm
Club Success Open House
Club Success Haines City is hosting an Open House on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Swing by any time between 10 am – 12 pm to learn more about the Clubhouse, mental health recovery and meet club members! Drop-ins are welcome, RSVPs are encouraged. Please RSVP to: Christine.Foley@PeaceRivercenter.org. To learn more email CommunityRelations@PeaceRiverCenter.org.
Share Resources
Peace River Center has more than 25 behavioral health and victim services programs. Be aware of what's available and share with those in need: PeaceRiverCenter.org.
Help Others Access Care
Not everyone who needs behavioral health services can afford them. Help support these individuals by donating to Peace River Center.
Initiate Meaningful Conversations
Use person-first language (he has bipolar disorder NOT he is bipolar) and reduce stigma by sharing facts like how mental illness is common and treatable.
Need Help?
Peace River Center's Crisis Line is available 24-hours a day by calling 863.519.3744. Our appointment line is 863.248.3311. Share these resources too!
Encourage Others
You have the power to help others learn, reduce the stigma, and support community behavioral health.
Individuals like Leah are shining a light on mental health
For years, Leah felt like she had to hide her mental health struggles.
She had survived “horrifying experiences.” She lived with painful symptoms she couldn’t explain. And she carried the weight of silence—afraid of being judged, misunderstood, or seen as something less than human.
“My entire life, I felt like I had to hide what I was going through. People see those with mental illness as broken, violent, or incapable. But that’s not who we are. We’re not monsters. We’re human.,” said Leah.
At just 21, Leah was struggling to hold on to hope. She had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Leah had moved out of her parents’ home but was overwhelmed, alone, and unsure where to turn.
That’s when she found Peace River Center.
Leah’s healing journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s been transformative. Today, Leah shares her story to help others know that they don’t have to suffer in silence—that healing is possible and hope is real.
Will you help shine a light into the darkness today?
Community Symposium Resources
Unable to attend our Community Symposium? Learn some key takeaways from our experts!
When handling stress or anxiety, identifying your limits can help prevent you from burning out. One of the best methods to preserving your mental health is through self-awareness. Self-awareness is a powerful, ongoing process that helps us evaluate our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in relation to the world around us. According to researchers Ashley and Reiter-Palmon, “Self-awareness is an inwardly focused evaluative process in which individuals make self to social standard comparisons with the goal of better self-knowledge and improvement.”
Many people think self-awareness is a one-time realization, but it is actually a skill we can develop—just like learning a new language or playing an instrument. Through regular self-reflection, welcoming feedback even when it is hard, and staying mindful of our internal cues, we become more emotionally intelligent and resilient. When we take time to understand ourselves, we improve not just our mental health, but also our relationships, decisions, and ability to navigate life with purpose.
Additional Resources
Annual Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM) Themes
Every May Peace River Center selects a different theme to focus on during Mental Health Awareness Month. Sometimes we come alongside other well known mental health organizations like Mental Health America or NAMI and amplify the message by using their theme. Click below to explore the previous MHAM campaigns (coming soon!)
Previous Themes
- 2023 and 2024: Shining a Light on Mental Health
- 2022: Together for Mental Health
- 2021: Make It OK
- 2020: Mental Health During COVID
- 2019: Let’s Talk Mental Health
- 2018: Fitness #4mind4body