Galina Nicoll

Mental health and wellbeing are not just buzzwords to me; these are my work. An educator, a mother, and an advocate of equitable change in accessibility of mental health, I actively nurture it. As a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Trained Teacher and a Contemplative Neuroscience educator, I work to expand mental health programs in our educational institutions, social support organizations and law-enforcement. I support recent legislation put forth by Rep. Singer to expand services for persons with behavioral, mental health and substance disorders. I host weekly open meditation hours at Global Residential Academic Program at CU-Boulder. I publish and educate on the subject. I serve on CU’s Innovation Incubator, where we design mental health & wellbeing protocols for institutional solutions to de-stigmatize mental health and increase accessibility of support services to our students, faculty, staff and community beyond. I investigate current suicide epidemic among our youth, and young women in particular. Supporting my colleagues – accomplished clinical Neuroscientists at CU, Faculty of Naropa University and CU-campus-wide mental health leaders – I hope to stop the epidemic of depressed and anxious youth. In my service with local nonprofits, I helped design original resiliency protocols and have written a finalist-selection grant proposal for the Department of Defense to help Veterans and persons with PTSD recover and reintegrate. As your State Senator, I vow to support initiatives such as those championed by Rep. Singer to make mental health – a  healthcare service for all; a necessary first step in intervention practices, including those by police.