SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
“Students connected to Renée through her story & wanted to talk to her one-on-one afterwards. One student connected so powerfully to Renée’s story, she attended class twice, bringing a friend with her to hear the message. Renée speaks about the importance of making good choices and listening to one’s intuition. She talks about the horrors of withdrawal, and focuses on moving past setbacks & rebuilding after trauma. I’m so glad my students were able to hear her speak.”
• Katie Santelli, Teacher, Greece Athena High School
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People are always surprised to learn about the horrifying withdrawal I experienced when coming off prescription medication.
Unfortunately, I am not the only one who has been harmed.
Thousands of individuals just like me have been injured by psychiatric drugs & it can happen to anyone.
Because the withdrawal symptoms are severe, debilitating and long lasting, most people find they cannot take care of themselves the way they way once did. In pain and often without emotional or financial support, many people choose to commit suicide, which impacts those who are left behind.
Prescribing doctors are perplexed and often offer bad advice, insisting patients’ symptoms are proof that of a “chemical imbalance” and telling them to reinstate the very drugs that have caused the damage in the first place. Patients often feel hopeless and worry that their brains will never heal.
But with the right support, the human brain can and will heal.
These days, in addition to making art and teaching art classes, part of my mission involves educating parents, students, teachers & health care professionals about the dangers associated with the long-term use of psychotropic drugs – all of which impact brain chemistry. When I share my experience, I talk about how anti-anxiety drugs stole four years of my life — but I also talk about how I live now.
I talk about the importance of making one’s own decisions rather than looking to others for validation; about handling trials, tribulations and trauma; about making mistakes and starting over; about triumphing over the past & becoming the best one can be.
I teach people to connect to their higher power and talk about a vast array of coping mechanisms that are available in lieu of drugs.
Drop me a line HERE if you’d like to discuss having me come to a future event.