Erika Ball, a certified alcohol and drug counselor, shares the idea that coming out and talking about mental health and addictions should be normalized. Erika Ball is the Founder and Director of “We Are Those People” (WATP) a nonprofit organization, dedicated to changing the narrative of addiction recovery through storytelling and film. She and her husband, Frank Ball, Co-Founder are both in recovery and created WATP as a way to give back to the recovery community and help those who are still suffering as well as their families. Erika is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and received her Bachelor’s in Human Services Management and Leadership from UNT-Dallas. She is an advocate for Mental health care reform and also serves the Spanish speaking community as she is a first generation Paraguayan-American. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx