Joy Pavelich, Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Operations at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, believes in the importance of sharing stories as a tool to move past the damaging impact of trauma. The loss of her 20-year-old son, Eric, to suicide in August 2013, inspired Joy to transfer her communication skills into supporting mental health awareness, advocacy, and action.
In this webinar, Joy discusses her personal experiences with devastating loss and how such loss can transform one’s ability to locate hope in making meaning and finding purpose when these challenging times appear in our lives.
Joy Pavelich holds a Master of Arts degree in Professional Communications from Royal Roads University. A passionate advocate for raising awareness about the challenges those living with mental health and substance-related issues, some of her work includes serving on the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s National Advisory Council for the Mental Health of Emerging Adults and the advisory panel of MoBros (a Movember funded research project to develop a national men’s depression screening tool).
She is also a member of the Province of Alberta’s Mental Health Review Panel roster. Joy has been featured in Canadian Living magazine and was also profiled in the Calgary-based Home of the Brave initiative for her work in mental health awareness. Her book “Chasing My Son Across Heaven” was released in August of 2020 and offers a first-hand account of the journey through emerging mental health challenges with her son Eric, the search for answers, coping with his suicide, learning to live a meaningful life by finding purpose in the tragedy.