About

Brian Garcia is a registered mental health nurse, PhD student, and Hillman Scholar in Nursing Innovation from San Jose, CA. His broader area of work intersects with queer identity, art, and mental health. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2016 with a BFA in InterArts-Performance, where his autoethnographic project, My Suicide Notes, examined the effects of suicide bereavement, coming out, and intergenerational trauma through performance. Brian has engaged in participatory theatre internationally, studying Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre in Brazil and England. With a background in public health, Brian coordinated HIV/STD outreach for Mecklenburg County Public Health and is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor. In 2023, he completed an ABSN at UNC and currently works on UNC’s psychosis unit. Brian’s doctoral work examines how men talk about living after a suicide attempt in rural communities to activate social support. He hopes to develop culturally specific interventions led by participatory methods that elevate the role of communities in mental health care.