S2 Ep1710: LIVE LIFE BETTER Storytelling To End Mental Health Stigma: "This Is My Brave" @USF Tampa 2/27

In this episode of LIVE LIFE BETTER, host Nanette Wiser talks about an upcoming performance "This Is My Brave" Feb. 27 @USF Tampa with producer Kristin Kosyluk, Ph.D.. Dr. Kosyluk is an Associate Professor and Director of the STigma Action Research (STAR) Lab (Department of Behavioral Health Science & Practice,  College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute) at University of South Florida Tampa. The Is My Brave, the College Edition is an upcoming show is suitable for high school students and older. In this episode, we learn about the research and experience in staging THIS IS MY BRAVE (now in its 4th year at USF Tampa) and the science behind how sharing stories is the most effective way to deal with stigma of mental health and addiction. 
👉This Is My Brave has been fortunate to have partnered with The STAR (Stigma Action Resource) Lab for the past seven years to evaluate their anti-stigma programming, and as a result, This Is My Brave - The Show has now become a public intervention. The STAR Lab evaluation work involves multiple research studies. Several studies evaluate the impact of TIMB programming on stigma among the audience members. Others aim to explore the impact of participation in TIMB performances on the storytellers themselves.
...We envision a world where we don’t have to call it “brave” to talk openly about mental illness. We’ll simply call it talking...
PLAN YOUR VISIT Feb. 27 @7pm Registration is requested; admission is free. https://bit.ly/TIMB2026. Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall located in the USF School of Music  3755 USF Holly Drive, Tampa, FL 33620
More information on STAR Lab This Is My Brave research
Research Studies
Examining the Impact of This Is My Brave on Mental Illness Stigma and Willingness to Seek Help: A Pilot Study
​Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness through Creative Storytelling: A Randomized Controlled Trial of This Is My Brave
​A quantitative study we are calling "the Storyteller Study" evaluating the impact of participating in TIMB performances on the performers with lived experience with mental illness.
THE BACK STORY STAR has been the research arm for "This Is My Brave," a national show started in 2013 by Jennifer Marshall and Ann Marie Ames. It is now performed all over the United States on college campuses and other venues so that adults 18 and over and high school students can share their stories of dealing with mental health issues and addictions.  This Is My Brave, Inc., is the leading platform for individuals to share their stories of living successful lives despite a mental health or substance use disorder diagnosis through artistic expression (spoken word poetry, original music, dance, comedy and essay readings) on stage in front of a live audience. They have opened up the conversation in communities across the country and beyond via our YouTube channel to break down stigma and let others know they are not alone.  "We're ending mental illness stigma, one story at a time." The Show as an evidence-based stigma reduction intervention that is free to the public. This decision is to guarantee accessibility to Brave for all communities across the country.

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