Chairperson BALANCE NZ Bipolar & Depression Network PO Box 7210, Wanganui NEW ZEALAND Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Leo McIntyre was born in Nelson, New Zealand, and raised in Upper Hutt, near Wellington, attending St. Joseph’s primary school and St Patrick's College Silverstream. Leo worked as an apprentice painter and decorator for the NZPO and Telecom before a back injury ended his career shortly after qualifying. Depression followed, but Leo then retrained to work at the Police National Video Unit in Porirua, where he developed PTSD as result of overexposure to extremely explicit forensic video material, forcing him to resign. He returned to the paint industry, working for Resene Paints, and began studying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), after which he decided to pursue a career in mental health. Leo completed his undergraduate degree in 2002, and since December 2003, has worked as the manager of Temporary Solutions; a Wellington-based employment agency that specialises in placing people with experience of mental illness in short-term employment, while studying part-time for a BA (Hons) Psyc at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in May 2006. Leo is currently the Chairperson of Balance NZ Bipolar and Depression Network, and Balance Wellington.

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Frank Bristol

Frank is the current Business Manager for Balance NZ.

Frank was hospitalised in an asylum after a severe nervous breakdown whilst still at school and often relapsed and was a regular user of mental hospital services for ten years. Frank recovered and has not used Government run Mental Health services for twenty seven years. He is happily married and has two adult daughters and lives in Wanganui. Frank has more than eight years leadership/management experience within a consumer governed and run National mental health Non Government Organisation: Balance NZ Bipolar & Depression Network (www.balance.org.nz). He has been involved in a leadership/facilitation role for sixteen years in a local consumer run mental health support group.

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Carolyn is the current National Coordinator of Balance NZ. She is employed part-time by the network and her primary role is to strategically develop and coordinate the day to day activities of the network.

She is trained in research methods and psychology (PhD in Psychological Medicine) and also works as a researcher for the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is currently engaged in further training at the University of Canterbury in the field of clinical psychology.

She is married with four children and lives in Christchurch. In her spare time she enjoys reading, walking, biking, gardening, cooking and art.

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