Learning Objectives:

1. Understanding the genuine nature of mental health vs. mental illness.

2. Learn what makes someone susceptible to developing a mental illness and the importance of self-care when managing high stress.

3. The impacts of stigma, fear, and judgment and how it can keep people from reaching out for help with their mental health.

4. Learn resources and systems to support someone who may be struggling with their mental health.

Ysidra Tellez-Koch

Ysidra Tellez-Koch is the Executive Director of the non-profit Breaking the Silence New Mexico. Ysidra has been a program and operations manager in the Mental Health field for ten years. Ysidra received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health at Adams State University. She is a part-time Licensed Mental Health Therapist at Walsh Counseling. Ysidra believes that proper education and openness around mental health is one of the many steps needed to break the stigma and make more significant changes for the well-being of people’s lives. Through Ysidra’s work with Breaking the Silence New Mexico, she and her team work to provide free mental health education and advocacy to youth, teens, and adults across New Mexico about the importance of mental health and suicide awareness and prevention. Recently, Breaking the Silence has worked to support mental health and the alarming suicide rates within the local Albuquerque construction industry.