How Families Can Support Men’s Mental Wellbeing
Airing Wednesday, November, 12, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm ET | 6:00 to 7:00 pm CT
Watch live on Facebook or YouTube
Every day, countless men silently battle mental health challenges alone, held back by deep-rooted societal pressures and expectations that tell them to “stay strong” and “keep it together.” Yet behind these walls of silence, they need our support more than ever.
In this powerful panel discussion, we’ll bring together experts who understand the delicate balance of helping without pushing too hard. They’ll guide you through real-world strategies for connecting with the men in your life, showing you how to recognize when someone is struggling, and create safe spaces where vulnerability isn’t seen as weakness, but as a step toward healing.
Whether you’re concerned about a partner, father, brother, friend, or son, this candid discussion will equip you with practical strategies to help the men you care about find their path to mental wellness.
This program is supported by
Lundbeck
Corporate Members
Lundbeck
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Neurocrine Biosciences
Sage Therapeutics and Biogen
Presenters
Joseph Conrad, panelist
Joe Conrad is a creative entrepreneur and a digital health pioneer and he believes that the power of innovation and technology can solve any problem. Since 1990, Joe has led the charge at Cactus, a purpose- driven branding and creative agency with the mission of growing brands that help people thrive. Cactus has developed a reputation of one of the nation’s leading social marketing agencies by leveraging power of branding, creative and technology to create meaningful work that makes a huge impact.
He is also the Founder and CEO at Grit Digital Health –– a team of specialists in behavioral health, wellness, technology and marketing committed to transcending barriers like stigma and access to help people get the support they need, when and how they need it.
Joe and his team are the creators of Man Therapy, an innovative and award-winning campaign that uses humor to engage working-age men and an immersive, entertaining, digital experience where therapy actually happens. In 2016 Grit Digital Health, in a partnership with Colorado State University launched YOU at College, a personal and customized well-being portal that helps students navigate life and campus. Today, the YOU platform is on 55 campuses across the U.S.
Jodi Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP, panelist
Dr. Jodi J. Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP is a full Professor and Associate Dean for Research at University of Maryland, School of Social Work. She is the Founder and Faculty Executive Director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Well-Being Research (BHWell). For almost 20 years, Dr. Frey’s research focuses on adult and emerging adult behavioral health and well-being with an emphasis on suicide prevention, mental health, substance use, the workplace, and social determinants of health. She has published over 100 articles, books and book chapters, in addition to presenting research at international conferences and receiving numerous awards for her research and teaching. Dr. Frey co-chairs the Workplace Suicide Prevention and Postvention Committee where she is working with the committee to disseminate the National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention.
Erik Robinson, panelist
Co-Founder of Building A Refuge, Erik, faced life changing events that have fed his desire to help men who are hurting. After a suicide attempt in 2010, Erik was left searching for Hope and he found it in community. This community developed into Building A Refuge in 2018. Currently residing in Fort Collins, CO, Erik’s purpose is to assist men through their dark times and introduce them to Hope.
Lisa Mecham, MSW, Moderator
Lisa Mecham, MSW, is a writer and freelance editor based in California. Her work has been featured in The New York Times: Tiny Modern Love and Roxane Gay’s bestselling anthology Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture. Lisa’s writing about redefining her family and staying legally married to her husband, despite their separation, has been published in The On Being Project and HuffPost. Lisa’s interests center around resiliency, agency, and hope, with a particular focus on empowering women. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.