FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2025
BLANTON-PEALE INSTITUTE TO HONOR CHRYSSIE WHITEHEAD, KIRSTEN WRINKLE AT 2025 NORMAN VINCENT PEALE AWARDS FOR POSITIVE THINKING
President & CEO Dr. Shawna Aarons-Cooke will mark her first gala at the organization’s helm celebrating the pair’s work sparking conversations around mental health through the arts.
NEW YORK — The Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center announced its honorees for their 2025 Norman Vincent Peale Awards for Positive Thinking: Chryssie Whitehead and Kirsten Wrinkle of In My Own Little Corner Productions.
The organization chose to honor the pair with this prestigious award for their contributions to opening up conversations around mental health, particularly through In My Own Little Corner, an autobiographical play filmed live in which Broadway and screen actor Chryssie Whitehead confronts her Bipolar II diagnosis and uses her own voice, body and story to unpack decades of family secrets, societal stigma and inherited trauma.
Blanton-Peale President & CEO, Dr. Shawna Aarons-Cooke describes the production as “a thoroughly insightful view into the complexities of living with mental health conditions – how they manifest, evolve, can be masked, impact others, and even serve as a superpower.” A long-term mental health professional, Aarons-Cooke states, “I greatly appreciate how well Cryssie articulates the complexities of Bipolar I and II. By highlighting the signs and symptoms that occurred throughout her life and sharing her path to healing in this way, In My Own Little Corner brilliantly serves as a vehicle to raise awareness about a significantly misunderstood and stigmatized mental health condition.”
The event comes at a time of ever increasing urgent need for quality mental health care in New York City, where nearly 1.6 million people who struggle with mental health issues lack access to professional support and resources. With shifting federal policies leaving Medicaid access in near constant flux, this number only stands to rise in the months and years ahead, making this a critical moment for Blanton-Peale to bolster its resources and expand its reach.
“We are immensely grateful and honored to receive this recognition from the leaders providing the holistic mental health care everyone deserves but can’t always access,” said Chryssie Whitehead, award recipient and author and co-lead producer of In My Own Little Corner. “Blanton-Peale’s mission is personal to me. As I talk about in the show, I lost my mother to unaddressed mental health challenges; I know what’s at stake when people can’t or don’t feel safe to access care. On the other hand, as someone who has Bipolar ll Disorder, I know the life changing impact of getting the care and support I need. An organization working to bring that support to more New Yorkers resonates with our work to open up conversations about mental health. This brings me deep pride and gratitude—for our In My Own Little Corner Productions team, and for the everyday heroes at Blanton-Peale providing this lifeline of care to those in need.”
“Raising awareness of mental health challenges is an essential step in transforming our own lives, and the world around us, into a healthier place,” states Elizabeth Peale Allen, Board Chair and daughter of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. “Through In My Own Little Corner Productions, Chryssie Whitehead and Kirsten Wrinkle are making a significant impact by telling the brave and timeless story of Whitehead's personal struggles and triumphs. At Blanton-Peale, we are proud to recognize this amazing story, helping to fulfill our mission of expanding access to quality holistic mental health care and training."
“To receive this prestigious award for our work means so much to us and our team,” said Kirsten Wrinkle, award recipient and lead producer of In My Own Little Corner. “Just like the Blanton-Peale team comes together every day to expand access to holistic mental health care and train the next generation of providers, the In My Own Little Corner team unites to spark those often difficult conversations about mental health. By using art as a vehicle to connect our minds, hearts and stories, we have received incredible feedback after every show. Theatregoers shared notecards with personal stories, encouragement, gratitude, and the relief of feeling seen. No doubt, the thousands of New Yorkers who receive services through Blanton-Peale take with them that same feeling, plus the invaluable benefit of tangible support they wouldn’t otherwise receive. I am so proud to accept this award and support Blanton-Peale as it continues its lifesaving work.”
The Board and staff of Blanton-Peale will present Whitehead and Wrinkle with the award at their 2025 gala on October 15 at Second in Manhattan. More information on the event can be found on their website. Blanton-Peale aims to raise $275,000 that will enable the continued provision of affordable quality mental health services, training, and community education initiatives.
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About Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center
Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center, a licensed mental-health counseling and training center located in New York City, promotes holistic mental health and wellbeing by nurturing mind, body, and spirit. Provided by a diverse team of trained and licensed therapists, counseling services aim to be culturally-responsive, address challenges to mental health, and unlock strength and resilience. Blanton-Peale amplifies impact through training, offering licensure and professional development, and advocating for equal rights to quality mental health care. Last year, Blanton-Peale provided more than 28,000 sessions of affordable, accessible, holistic and culturally responsive therapy to New Yorkers.
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About In My Own Little Corner Productions
In My Own Little Corner Productions took shape in 2021, when Broadway and screen actor Chryssie Whitehead joined forces with Kirsten Wrinkle to create and produce Whitehead’s autobiographical play confronting her Bipolar II daiagnosis, using her own voice, body and story to unpack decades of family secrets, societal stigma and inherited trauma. In My Own Little Corner had its first staged reading in 2022 and went on to tour in seven cities, culminating in a live captured show, In My Own Little Corner, The Film, in New York City in 2025. Whitehead also directed a documentary, The Stories Behind In My Own Little Corner, to capture the community of artists who created their show centered around mental health.
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About Chryssie Whitehead
Chryssie Whitehead, originally from South Carolina, has worked for 25 years in the entertainment industry on Broadway, film and television. Chryssie began her career as a dancer for the Radio City Rockettes right out of high school and continued her education at AMDA College and Conservatory for the Performing Arts in NYC. She made her Broadway debut in the revival of A Chorus Line as Kristine and is featured landing the role in the hit documentary Every Little Step. Additional Broadway credits include Kitty/Velma US in Chicago and Kathy in Company (Lincoln Center with Neil Patrick Harris). Some of her film and television highlights include West Side Story (Steven Spielberg), Grey's Anatomy, Switched at Birth, Castle, The Mentalist, Warehouse 13, Private Practice, Grimm and the romantic comedy with Raven Simone, Revenge of the Bridesmaids.
Chryssie has joyfully crossed over to the creative side, directing and choreographing professionally, as well as educational productions of Chicago, A Chorus Line, Rent, All Shook Up, Into the Woods, Shrek, Grease and more. Chryssie is the Co-Founder and Co-Director alongside her best friend of 24 years, Alexis Carra, of their performing arts mentoring and coaching company, Broadway Arts Community and its affiliated nonprofit, Broader Than Broadway, bringing performing arts education and life skills to youth and adolescents in under resourced communities. She is currently serving as Guest Instructor and Choreographer at The Conservatory at Stephens College.
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About Kirsten Wrinkle
Kirsten Wrinkle has spent decades in the nonprofit world. She has focused on education and outreach for disabilities rights, HIV/AIDS, substance use disorder, anti-human trafficking, and mental health. Kirsten has been a theater kid all her life and even served on the board for Rosie’s Theater Kids in NYC a few years. She serves as business manager for her 26 year old's art business Alex W Draws. Together, they love travel the country, selling art and talking theater and pop culture. Currently, she loves serving as "Fairy Godmother" for Playing for Others in Charlotte, NC and as a passionate volunteer with PFLAG Charlotte and NAMI Charlotte. She is also the co-lead producer of In My Own Little Corner Productions. Kirsten treasures her time with husband Geoff in Charlotte, NC.