I'm honored to return to my alma mater this July as a presenter at Arizona State University's 27th Annual Summer Institute, hosted by the ASU School of Social Work. My session, "Caring Through the Chaos," speaks directly to social workers, clinicians, and family caregivers navigating the unpredictability of caring for an adult loved one with serious mental illness.

Chaos is the word caregivers rarely say out loud — the constant recalibration between crisis and calm, the plans that change the moment a loved one's symptoms shift, the exhaustion of staying ready for anything. In this session, I'll share the practical framework I've built over seventeen-plus years of caregiving and through my work as an MSW: how to create structure and boundaries even when the situation itself refuses to stay structured, and how professionals can better support the family caregivers sitting across from them.

ASU's Summer Institute brings together social work professionals from across the state for continuing education on the field's most pressing topics — and caregiver support for serious mental illness deserves to be one of them. I'm grateful to bring both my clinical training and my lived experience back to the program that helped shape my career.

Caring Through the Chaos | Presented by Sharon Bell, MSW
Wednesday, July 15, 2026, 3:00–4:30 PM
ASU School of Social Work, 27th Annual Summer Institute | July 14–16, 2026