The CWRU Health and Wellness Council, National Alliance on Mental Illness and Undergraduate Student Government will host mental health advocate and educator Jeff Fink for a talk Saturday, April 10, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Fink will talk about his story of struggling with mental health during his time in college and will also educate students on how they can monitor their mental health and use mental health resources.
This event will focus on how CWRU students can support each other with their mental health; all CWRU students are welcome to attend.
About Jeff Fink
Fink’s personal struggle with severe anxiety and depression began in college and has persisted since then. When traditional medical approaches failed him, Fink looked to a more integrative approach and he trained a golden retriever named Earl to work with him as a psychiatric service dog. Fink discovered how dogs can connect people with each other and he used this opportunity to open up about his mental illness. In 2012, Fink founded “Go Fetch Wellness,” an organization dedicated to addressing mental health with the help of the human-animal connection.
With Earl by his side, Fink has shared his story across the country to a variety of audiences, including universities, corporations, hospitals and communities. Fink enables his audience to learn about the crippling nature of mental illness while giving them the tools to understand how they can support each other. Most importantly, he encourages people to reach out for help. His talks combine humor, compassion and kindness while leaving his audience with a great appreciation for the reality that so many are forced to battle mental illness alone. Fink has also been featured in Beyond Silence, a documentary on mental health executive produced by Demi Lovato.