Speaking

 

TL;DR: I'm a writer and a speaker on writing and mental health. I live with several mental illnesses, like we're bunkmates at the most poorly conceived summer camp.  I use poetry, personal narrative, and film to help people better understand psychosis from a patient's perspective - in order to deliver more impactful, holistic care. Sometimes with puns!

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I once spent two months believing I had been hired by Google to lead a global revolution as "the reincarnation of Joan of Arc"/ Plato's Philosopher Queen. So yeah. That's pretty much my origin story now. 

 

I rearranged the words and phrases in my hospital records as Head War, an award-winning mental health memoir/ performance piece about my “break” and the breakthroughs it subsequently gave me. Now, Head War is a film that I show to a variety of audiences, demolishing mental health stigma as a dynamic speaker opening up the world of mental turmoil - in the first person.

 

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My specialty is in speaking to mental health professionals and graduate students about psychosis and recovery (using the film version of Head War to open up an engrossing dialogue),  but I love delivering virtual talks about mental illness and creative writing in all kinds of group settings. (Due to some mature content, however, the Head War film is not available for presentations to youth under 18.)

Head War - a found poem, a call to action, a psych ward memoir
Sadie, with long brown hair and a blue hospital shirt, sits in a utility closet.
Sadie, agitated, thrashes around. Her hair goes wild.
Sadie enjoys the amorous embrace of her ex-girlfriend.
Sadie, in a blonde wig and hospital scrubs, pretends to be "The Nurse".
Sadie laughs uncontrollably on a hospital guerney.
Sadie preaches about the coming revolution to an empty Access-A-Bus.
A wide shot of Sadie talking on her hospital bed.
Sadie, asleep in her hospital bed.

 

 The film version of Head War explores two months on a locked psychiatric ward.

I scavenged text from my medical records to create a piece in my voice, using the words nurses and doctors originally wrote about me. They are my words, now. They are words of power.

The film was created with collaborator Adam-Michael James; I wrote it and serve as the lead actor. It's about mental illness, but more importantly it's about the grit and grace of minds having that experience.

My speaking events use this film as a jumping-off point.

So come on. Jump with me!

"So what's in it for me?"/ "What's it gonna cost me?"
(service and pricing information)
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The Support Group

Price: $2500 USD

 

Includes:

  • A mental health-themed poetry and prose reading from Sadie
  • An in-depth look at psychosis in the first person
  • A live Zoom screening of Head War
  • A live artist's talk/ Q &A session
Book Sadie!
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The Day Program

Price: $4000 USD

(most popular!)

Includes:

  • Everything in "The Support Group"
  • One week of access to Head War at your leisure (a screening that works around YOUR schedule!) 
  • Your choice of a workshop: "Psychosis from the Inside" or "Intro to Found Text Writing"
  • Digital download of the original Head War manuscript

 

Book Sadie!

So what does "virtual speaking" mean for you? (I solemnly swear to always wear pants!) 

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Why virtual speaking?

Getting good speakers is time-consuming and costly. Sometimes, on top of the fee to finally get someone in to talk, your school or organization also has to foot the bill for hotels - and airfare to your illustrious shindig.

Not so with Sadie McCarney. 

I bring my party to you - you just provide the guest list and pay the speaker's fee. I'll even throw in my personal demons on the house!

But seriously. Don't you and the people around you deserve a better, more honest way to talk about mental wellness? You owe it to yourself, too. Not to mention that weird, wonderful brain of yours.