Friends for Mental Health is a non-profit community organization that provides families and friends with the support, information and education they need to help them cope with a loved one's mental illness.
SERVICES - FAMILT-TO-FAMILY EDUCATION PROGRAM
The educational course by NAMI entitled Family-to-Family is given at Friends for Mental Health, West Island. This twelve week course deals with all aspects of mental illness and is designed for caregivers who have a mentally ill loved one. The course is taught by specially trained family members and examines issues such as: the biology of the brain, critical periods and transitions in mental illnesses, how to communicate with the ill person, recovery and the fight against stigmatization, etc. It also encourages individuals to share their family experiences and derive new ways of solving problems in order to deal more effectively with their family circumstances.
Information about illnesses of the brain and their treatment:
Current information about schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder (manic depression), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and co-occurring brain disorders and addictive disorders.
Up-to-date information about medications, side-effects, and strategies for medication adherence.
Current research related to the biology of the brain disorders and the evidence-based, most effective treatments to promote recovery.
Coping skills:
Gaining empathy by understanding the subjective, lived experience of a person with mental illness.
Learning in special workshops for problem solving, listening, and communication techniques.
Acquiring strategies for handling crises and relapse.
Focusing on care for the caregiver: coping with worry, stress, and emotional overload.
The power of advocacy:
Guidance on locating appropriate supports and services within the community.
Information on advocacy initiatives designed to improve and expand services.
Course participants gained a greater understanding of mental illness, coped much better, worried less, and felt newly empowered to advocate for better treatment and services for their relatives. Many family members describe the impact of taking the course as life changing. The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program wants to help you take steps toward these demonstrated goals. This course has educated thousands of families just like yours. You will join other family members and friends with similar experiences. Start making a real difference in your life today!
NAMI Testimonial: Bill Prickett
Yes, at NAMI: we learn how to communicate and understand the trends in our love ones thinking that must be rethought and that we practice together.
Yes, at NAMI: we recognize symptoms that will lead to another psychotic pattern and we face these traumas together and find a balance together.
Yes, at NAMI: we also realize that Love is not just compassion (sympathy), it is empathy and an emphatic necessity to finally, truly know each other.
It works, you will create (with a lot of work - and some ups and downs) one of the most intimate and caring relationships in your life.
My many thanks to NAMI & to Friends for Mental Health.
Bill
Providing support to families to cope with a loved one's mental illness serving primarily the West Island of Montreal: Baie-d'Urfé, Beaconsfield,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Île-Bizard, Kirkland, Pierrefonds, Pointe-Claire, Roxboro, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Ste-Geneviève and Senneville.
