Mindbridge

Each month, a member of the Mindbridge team highlights a piece of media that connects to our central mission and values 📖☕️📚

This month’s recommendation is The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide for Making the Impossible Possible by Steven Duncombe and Steve Lambert. Written by the co-founders of the Center for Artistic Activism, this guide offers real-life examples and fifty creative exercises to combine the power of art and activism. This book aims to bridge elements of pop culture, marketing, cognitive science, and more to activism and advocacy.

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Registration for Mindbridge's Gender Based Violence Learning Coalitions is OPEN!

We’ll also be hosting a free introductory webinar on June 11th from 1 - 2 PM (EST) for those who want to learn more about the coalition, explore core concepts, and preview the applied brain and behavioral science that will shape the six-week experience. We'd love to see you there!

The Gender-Based Violence Coalition is built for practitioners, advocates, researchers, and human rights defenders working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in an increasingly complex landscape. As anti-gender rhetoric rises and online targeting intensifies, this coalition applies brain and behavioral science to help participants understand how trauma shapes decision-making, how people engage with difficult narratives, and how to design safer, more effective strategies. Participants deepen practice, strengthen organizational approaches, and build durable cross-sector relationships in a structured peer environment.

There are limited seats available - don't wait to secure your spot!

🔗LEARN MORE
https://www.mindbridgecenter.org/learning-coalitions

📅 REGISTER
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/59pa0mjbS7OP5TlLkMI3aQ #/registration

🌈 Identity and Self-Expression are Human Rights. 🧠💖

This , we honor the beautiful spectrum of self-expression and the science that tells us: the right to live freely and authentically is vital. Mindbridge stands with LGBTQIA+ communities across Maine and beyond.

Join us in celebrating courage, love, and liberation.

When adolescents become informed consumers of online media and are educated on image editing, influencer culture, harmful beauty ideals, algorithm-driven content, and even the role of AI, they are more likely to feel good in their own skin and less likely to experience the harmful effects of social media on their body image.

In our most recent Substack post, Dr. Jessica F. Saunders unpacks the impact of adolescent social media use on body image development and eating disorder risk. She further discusses potential long-term solutions for social change and policy.

🔗 https://mindbridgecenter.substack.com/p/the-filtered-self-identity-body-image

Sexual well-being is not a matter of meeting an aesthetic standard. It is a matter of being able to inhabit one's body, notice what it feels, trust what it signals, and communicate from that place. Psychological science suggests that when people are helped to move from “looked-at” to “lived-in”, body image and sexual health both improve.

Learn more by reading our newest article featured in Psychology Today

🔗 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/human-rights-defenders/202605/from-looked-at-to-lived-in-reclaiming-embodied-sexuality

The United Nations acknowledges May 29th as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Since 1948, over two million personnel have helped countries transition from war to peace. This vital work includes civilian and military collaboration in order to protect human rights amidst various global conflicts.

Image: Flickr/United Nations: Nigerian female peacekeeper in the battalion of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, 2008

Mission-driven leaders are navigating complex public narratives, polarized environments, and rapid-response programming demands — often without the trusted peer space needed to think strategically, test ideas, and strengthen their practice.

That’s why we’re launching two new Mindbridge Learning Coalitions: six-week, peer-based training programs designed to help leaders apply insights from brain and behavioral science to the real-world challenges they are facing in their fields.

🔗 Learn More: https://www.mindbridgecenter.org/learning-coalitions

📅 June 11th Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/59pa0mjbS7OP5TlLkMI3aQ #/registration

📅 July 14th Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DkcIYPmrS0WnJX4MTr1kqg #/registration

Registration for Mindbridge's Learning Coalitions is NOW OPEN!

Built for practitioners, advocates, researchers, and human rights defenders working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. As anti-gender rhetoric rises and online targeting intensifies, this coalition applies brain and behavioral science to help participants understand how trauma shapes decision-making, how people engage with difficult narratives, and how to design safer, more effective strategies.

There are limited seats available - don't wait to secure your spot!

LEARN MORE
https://www.mindbridgecenter.org/learning-coalitions

REGISTER
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/59pa0mjbS7OP5TlLkMI3aQ #/registration

Decades of research show that voter turnout is the joint product of motivation, ability, and the practical difficulty of casting a ballot.

Understanding voting through a psychological lens reframes the conversation. Rather than asking why people are disengaged, the better question is: What does the evidence say about making democratic participation accessible, motivating, and habitual for everyone?

Learn more by reading our newest article featured in Psychology Today

🔗 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/human-rights-defenders/202604/how-to-build-a-more-participatory-democracy-with-psychology