Katherine Ponte

THIS IS WHAT RECOVERY FROM SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS LOOKS LIKE. My name is Katherine, and I’m in recovery. This year I am celebrating 3 years in recovery from severe bipolar I disorder with psychosis after a 17-year battle; I’m living a full and meaningful life, making valuable contributions to society by helping people like me. I want to celebrate, because I deserve it, because my peers deserve examples of hope that show recovery is possible. People deservedly celebrate hard-earned successes like years in sobriety and years cancer free, and we should celebrate mental illness recovery too, but we don’t. Think about it. Why not? People with mental illness are kind, empathetic, brave and courageous. I hope I live to see the day that people recognize us for all that we are and not merely a disease. I am proud to be living with serious mental illness, and I am proud to be in recovery. And it’s my Birthday! Katherine Ponte, mental health advocate, writer, entrepreneur, Wharton MBA, lawyer. Founder of ForLikeMinds, Faculty Member of the Program for Recovery and Community Health, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Yale University.

HONORED TO BE HONORED. I was deeply humbled to receive NAMI-NYC’s Ending the Silence Award last night. I dedicate this award to those who inspired me when I was living without hope — my peers and the peer specialist community. They showed me that recovery wasn’t just possible, it was probable. They showed me that life was worth fighting for, and that the battle could be won. For me, it all began in the psych ward, during a time when I felt completely hopeless and helpless. Then, unexpectedly, I saw someone living in recovery — a living example that shattered my despair. It took fourteen years to see that example. Until then, all I saw was stigma. I used to cry when I watched the news about violent crimes quietly praying, “Please don’t let them blame it on mental illness.” I still do today. Sadly, many of my peers feel the same way. That’s why I say it loud and proud: I am someone living with serious mental illness — and I am in recovery. I want to inspire others just as I was inspired. I want to be that example, too. To begin my journey of sharing my lived experience, I needed to find a safe place — a place free from stigma, filled with love and compassion. I found that place at NAMI-NYC. I found my voice at NAMI-NYC. I will continue doing my best to pay it forward, because when we do, we save lives. To everyone living with serious mental illness in recovery: share your story. Someone out there desperately needs to hear it. And I’ll be right there with you. <3 <3 Thank you to my NAMI-NYC family, especially, Stacy Helfstein, Maggie Mortali and Nathan Romano. @naminyc_metro

A night out with my brave and courageous, strong and resilient Izzy, the love of my life. He helped make recovery from serious mental illness possible for me and gave me the courage to share my story. We’ve shared a lot about our mental illness journey. Now we’d like to share a little about colorectal cancer. Izzy has been battling stage III colorectal cancer for the last year. I have never been more afraid but also never prouder. Izzy had always been healthy – regular exercise, good diet, restful sleep – but still he got this. Each year there are over 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about 1 in 25. It’s the second most common cause of cancer deaths. Izzy underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and thankfully had a near complete response to treatment which puts him at a reasonably low chance of recurrence. We are blessed. And we want to share what we learned to help others. You can do something now to address this risk – get a colonoscopy. It’s a simple procedure, but it can help save your life. If you’re 45 or older, you need to get one now. Rates of colorectal cancer are increasing and age of onset decreasing. Do it for yourself and all those who love you and need you here. <3 <3 /cancer/types/colon-rectal-cancer.html

Living with bipolar! And thriving. We build loving, long-term relationships, succeed in our careers, and lead in our communities. People living with bipolar can have it all. We want everyone with bipolar to experience recovery: a full, meaningful life as they define it. Our strongest weapon against stigma is lived experience—proof that recovery is possible. Lived experience belongs on the treatment team, alongside psychiatrists and therapists. That’s why I created Bipolar Thriving: Bipolar Recovery Coaching. We help people living with bipolar-and those who love them-live their best lives. We don’t replace clinicians; we complement them. I was inspired by peer specialists. Evidence shows they increase hope, empowerment, and quality of life; strengthen engagement and self-efficacy; improve relationships with providers; and reduce hospitalizations. That’s the power of lived experience. Bipolar Thriving is built on compassion, credible guidance, and fair pay. Together with Recovery Coaches Emily Grossman and Jennifer Marshall, we can help people move toward recovery more quickly and confidently. If you meet someone who is struggling, share this with them. Let them know you’ve seen hope-send them our way. ❤️ ❤️ Lived experience is here. It’s changing lives. It’s saving lives. Learn more: bipolarthriving.com

Free Workbook – Sharing is Caring. The endorsements were strong. Sales were solid. But I still wasn’t reaching as many people as I hoped—especially those who could truly benefit from what I’ve learned on my journey. So I made a decision: I’m making my workbook available for free to reach more people, more widely. My greatest joy is seeing others living with serious mental illness find recovery, just as I have. Helping others do the same isn’t just important to me—it’s my life’s mission. You can access the workbook here: https://bit.ly/4tNhmSe . Please feel free to share it with anyone who might benefit—especially someone who may be struggling. And if you do, send them a hug from me. Xo, Katherine

My thanks…Psych Ward Greeting Cards – I’ve been a busy little elf putting together eight holiday packages (with the invaluable help of my fellow elf, my spouse Izzy) to help unite those of us on the outside with those on the inside who need us more than ever. I also had the pleasure of visiting 4 hospitals this week to meet well over one hundred patients directly. It’s a lot of work, but I honestly can’t think of a better way to spend my time. None of this would be possible without our kind and generous card donors—always inspired by our brave, courageous, strong, and resilient peers—and our wonderful hospital partners… and maybe a little bit of me, too. ❤ ❤ Here is our Christmas / Hanukkah 2025, the biggest ever +25 donors: Amy of NY, Barb of NY, Barbara, Broker of VT, Carol of TX, Donna, Esther of VA, Fiber Design Forum of NY, Janis of WA, Jann of NY, Jennifer of MI, Joanne of WI, Karlie of Rewind of NY, Katherine and Izzy, Kelly of VT, Kendra of NY, Jana, Josh, Linda T, Lindsey Garito - Westchester Human Resources Management Association of NY, Melanie, NY County Supreme Court - Civil Team of NY, Michael of NY, Michelle, Stine and Suria of NY, Tricia of NJ and Watson of NY. 8 hospitals NYC Health + Hospital/Bellevue – NY BryLin – NY Connecticut Valley Hospital – CT Gracie Square Hospital – NY Hackensack Meridian Health – NJ Lenox Hill Hospital – NY NY-P Payne Whitney Clinic – NY NY-P Westchester Behavioral Health Center – NY 4 hospital visits 1,020 donated cards 1,020 coloring postcards 1,020 affirmation postcards 560 mini stockings 4,480 hershey kisses 1,680 peppermint candy pieces Psych Ward Greeting Cards est. 2019. Over 25,000 reached. You can donate to our program too. We are now accepting cards for Valentine’s Day. I need to receive them by Jan. 16th, please. If you like what we do you can support us with a year-end donation: https://bit.ly/4a2nUWh Thank you! ❤ ❤

I’m incredibly proud to share that I’ve been promoted to Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. This moment is much more than a title to me. It’s a symbol of hope—for anyone who has ever struggled with severe mental illness, felt like an outsider, or been told their dreams were out of reach. It’s also a great responsibility, not only to the important work of my department but also to the severe mental illness community that I humbly represent. I am deeply grateful to Drs. Larry Davidson, Chyrell Bellamy, and Annie Harper for their guidance, support, and belief in me. I am also grateful to my brave peer community. Your strength has helped me find my own. Your stories, your resilience, and your hope motivate everything I do. Your example showed me that recovery is possible and started me on that journey. Most importantly, I would like to thank my loving spouse for being on that journey with me every step of the way. I am also the daughter of immigrants who came to Canada with no money, no English, and no high school diplomas. They immigrated without any support so their children could have a chance. That chance became my life. I am proudly an immigrant myself to the U.S. Though my parents immigrated to Canada, I deeply empathize with and stand in solidarity with the children of immigrants to the U.S. Our stories are rooted in similar values—sacrifice, resilience, and the belief in something greater for the next generation. To every immigrant and their children and person living with severe mental illness, you matter, you belong, and you can achieve great things. And you continue to inspire me. <3 <3

And my last psychiatrist told me I would never get better! and here I am writing an Amazon bestselling book, a top five new release for over two months for a leading mental health publisher with the love of my life, Izzy. No matter how hard things got we stayed together. We want to help keep other families together too and make them stronger than ever before because we know mental illness will never be stronger than love. It would be an honor to help you. We share our journey in our just released new book: https://bit.ly/40mdGL1 ❤️❤️ Thank you to my wonderful supporters. You helped me reach and stay in recovery. I owe you a debt of gratitude. Much love ❤️❤️

MY NEW BOOK - Thrilled to support Spanish speakers pursuing recovery! Queridos amigos, estoy emocionado a de compartir mi nuevo libro - "Cuaderno para recuperar tu salud mental: Una ayuda indispensable para tener una vida estable y significativa." Una guía imprescindible para cualquiera que viva con una enfermedad y quiera aprender a aprovechar al máximo la vida. Vivir con una enfermedad mental no es una tarea fácil y las personas pueden sentirse muchas veces limitadas o abrumadas por su condición. Yo creado este cuaderno que te ayudará a no sentirte limitado y aprender a vivir de la manera más plena posible con cualquier diagnóstico de enfermedad metal. Because we need mental health resources in every language, I am thrilled to share my new workbook: “Cuaderno para recuperar tu salud mental”. I know this book can be a great help to the Spanish speaking community. When my parents immigrated to Canada they could not speak English, there were no mental health resources in their native language then and for decades to come. I think my parents would have been better able to identify my mental illness sooner and understand how to address it if there was. Multilingual resources can be of critical importance. We need to meet people where they’re at, including in the language they speak. We need hope in every language. The lack of resources can make mental illness worse and harder to treat. We can’t let language be a barrier to mental health recovery. I hope my book will help many and inspire other books in many languages. Mental health recovery for all! Salud mental para usteds! Disponible para reservar ahora / Available for preorder now: https://bit.ly/4eQpKIG Muchas gracias <3 <3

5th Year Anniversary, 15,000+ Patients Reached Love and support for psych ward patients. The psych ward can feel unbearably lonely. Patients are often left alone with their thoughts, reflecting on relapses, struggles, disappointments, and hopelessness. I know because I’ve been there. For over 20 years, I’ve lived with severe bipolar I disorder with psychosis, landing in the psych ward involuntarily three times. In the psych ward, there are rarely get-well wishes or flowers. . Many of us have no visitors. We feel forgotten, abandoned, and unloved. It was one of the lowest points of my life. Though I’ve since reached recovery, the pain of those hospitalizations lingers. Once in recovery, I created the Psych Ward Greeting Cards program to offer comfort, support, and hope to hospitalized peers. Caring people—often those with mental illness—donate beautiful cards. Our generous giving partners and I add chocolate and small gifts. Our financial contributors help fund these extras. I distribute it all, including in-person hospital visits. This program is my proudest work because I know how difficult psychiatric hospitalizations can be. This year marks our fifth anniversary, having reached over 15,000 patients. We partner with some of the largest hospitals in NYC. I want to thank: - Our brave patients - Our generous card donors, especially Barb (card pictured) and Abigail of NY, Dina of FL, Janis of WA, Joanne of WI, and many more - Our wonderful financial supporters, including employees of Morgan Stanley, Teva Pharmaceutical, John MacPhee, Jake Foley, and Nathan Romano - Our giving partners: Bombas for donating 10,000 pairs of socks, and Tony’s Chocolonely for thousands of delicious treats. - Our invaluable hospital partners: Gracie Square, Lenox Hill, NewYork-Presbyterian Payne Whitney, NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health, NYC Health + Hospital/Bellevue and Chaya, who helped me start my program, Lisa who helped me grow it, Jessica, Jen, Micilia and Kirstin at these hospitals. Lastly, I thank my loving spouse Izzy Goncalves, whose support makes this program possible. Please join our mission: psychwardgreetingcards.org

By me for us. Everybody deserves to live their best life in recovery. I <3 us. #bipolar #bipolardisoder #bipolarawareness #bipolar1 #bipolar2 #mentalillness #mentalillnessawareness #mentalillnessrecovery #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #mentalhealthquotes #mentalhealthquote #mentalhealthadvocate

It’s my birthday today! But more importantly, this year I am celebrating 10 years since my last psychotic manic episode and psychiatric hospitalization. I live with severe bipolar I disorder with psychosis. I am lucky to have reached recovery. I’ve lived with extended periods of suicidal depression. I am lucky to be alive. Up to 19% of people living with bipolar will die by suicide – it’s the highest suicide rate for any serious mental illness. I am lucky that recovery even exists. For too many years, I did not think it was possible. Back then, my previous psychiatrist told me, “Things will only get worse, they’ll never get better. Your manic episodes will become stronger and more frequent.” I believed her, but ultimately, I proved her wrong. I proved myself wrong too. Recovery is possible. If you’re struggling with serious mental illness, you must believe that it is possible. You must believe that no matter how long you’ve been sick (18 years until I reached recovery), the severity of your illness, the relapses, the disappointments, the setbacks and heartaches, it is possible. You must never lose hope. You will never be alone. Over 14 million people live with serious mental illness in the U.S. Many are in recovery. I will not stop advocating until each person living with serious mental illness has the opportunity to pursue recovery. I will advocate for you. I will share my hope. When we hope and work together, it is even more possible. Birthdays are occasions for wishes. My biggest wish – recovery – has already come true. It’s your turn now – so get ready and let’s see where recovery takes us all. <3 <3 #mentalillness #mentalillnessrecovery #mentalillnessawareness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthrecovery❤️ #recoveryisreal #majordeporessivedisorder #depression #bipolar #bipolar2 #bipolar1 #bipolardepression #bipolardisorderawareness #schizophrenia #schizoaffectivebipolardisorder #psychosis