Mark Henick

Informed by his direct experience with stigma and the mental health care system, Mark Henick dedicated his life from an early age to opening minds and creating change.

Henick is the principal and CEO of Strategic Mental Health Solutions, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations and individuals move strategically from basic mental health awareness toward meaningful, measurable action.

He has previously served as the youngest president of a provincial Canadian Mental Health Association division in history, the youngest member of the board of directors for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and a national spokesperson for the Faces of Mental Illness campaign. He has worked as a front line mental health counsellor, and the manager of a national workplace mental health training program. Prior to his present role, Henick oversaw the Fund Development and Marketing & Communications portfolios for the Canadian Mental Health Association as National Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Henick holds a Master of Science in child development, a Bachelor of Arts with interdisciplinary honors focusing on psychology and philosophy, and certificates in trauma counseling, suicide intervention, mental health first aid, and knowledge exchange.

Today, Henick is a public speaker and active media commentator on issues related to mental illness and mental health. Henick has appeared in more than a hundred television segments, and countless more radio, print, and online features about mental health. His work has frequently appeared across Canada by media such as CTV National News, Entertainment Tonight, and The Globe and Mail; in the United States by CNN, the Chicago Tribune, and The New York Daily News; and in the UK by The Independent, The Daily Mail, and The Sun. He has also appeared around the world in, AsiaOne (Singapore), Trud (Bulgaria), The Epoch Times (China), Reader’s Digest, Buzzfeed, and The Huffington Post, among many others.

Henick’s TEDx talk, "Why We Choose Suicide," is among the most watched in the world, with over 6 million views. His story of searching for “the man in the light brown jacket” who saved his life from a teenage suicide attempt went viral around world. When Henick learned of products being sold on Amazon that promoted suicide, his successful online petition to have them removed garnered tens of thousands of signatures and again gained global media attention. The worldwide rights to Henick’s first book have been acquired by HarperCollins.

Henick brings a diverse and unique perspective of someone who has been a patient, a professional, and a policy influencer in the mental health system. He lives with his family in Toronto, Canada.