9 - Patrice Massicotte, Mental Health Certified Peer Specialist

Born and raised in Quebec City (he's French-Canadian), Patrice worked in pharmaceutical marketing in Boston when he experienced serious mental health challenges that almost took his life. His recovery took him on a new career path and led him to California, where he found a government-funded role I didn't even know existed: Certified Peer Specialist in mental health. Just last week, Gov Gavin Newsom passed a bill to bring this program to CA, which Pat and I discuss in this episode. 

Pat is also a writer, blogger, and speaker, and is building his own platform called Human  Experience: A Peer Perspective On Mental Health. His goal is to humanize healthcare and break the stigma through voicing the Peer Values and the trauma-informed model. He's also got a great sense of humor...which I greatly appreciate!