Telephone Assistance
Our telephone assistance allows relatives to share their concerns and difficulties, to have rapid access to support without the need to come to our office.
Training for families
This 10 week psychoeducational program on schizophrenia is specially adapted for families and responds to their current needs. This program allows for families to develop their adaptive skills so they can cope with the chronicity of the disease and possible crises caused by the acute phases of illness.
This 10 week psychoeducational program on Bipolar Disorder has been designed to help family members with a loved one suffering from Bipolar Disorder. Each class includes theory, exercises and participation.
This training helps families better understand their loved one who suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) - loving them and helping them while being in control of their own life. The training develops families' knowledge so that they are more effective in their interactions and in the help they offer.
NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program
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.
Workshops
This 4 session workshop focuses on defining your boundaries and exploring the blocks to limit setting.
This workshop on suicide prevention will help you to understand suicidal and self harming tendencies and give you concrete tools to intervene appropriately when necessary.
This workshop is to help family members learn new sets of communication and problem-solving skills that are geared ultimately to improving their loved one's adherence to medical treatment.
This workshop will help you gain a better understanding of stress and how to reduce its effects and will investigate how to increase resiliency and happiness.
Support Groups
Support Group for families who have a loved one with a Borderline Personality Disorder. This support group is only for families who have taken the Borderline Personality Disorder Training.
We offer an open support group for family members, partners, or friends who have a loved one living with psychosis. The group will provide education, information and, most importantly a safe space for sharing about the impact of psychosis on relationships and family life. Registration required.
These support groups are for youth who have a parent, sibling or friend with a mental illness and would like to meet and talk with a group their peers who share similar difficulties.
Friends for Mental Health offers various support groups based on different themes.
Respite
Caregivers will explore the difficulties related to mental illness as well as their thoughts and feelings and how to better cope by using their inner strengths. Sharing with others and being in a supportive environment will allow them to find new strategies and to break their isolation. Participants are invited to experiment with a variety of art materials within an offered theme of the workshop. In a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere of sharing, you will have the opportunity to take part in art activities such as drawing, painting, collage and print making as well as to learn simple relaxation and breathing techniques. The workshop will enable participants to learn new ways of self expression and self-understanding. Creative expression will act as a method of stimulating dialogue. The experiential part is followed with a discussion between the members. Participants do not require any artistic skills or experience.
Respite
When a family member suffers from mental illness, that family faces unique daily problems and responsibilities. These can at times seem insurmountable and be a source of ongoing stress. Families can thus find themselves not only overwhelmed but also isolated because they are unable to confide their problems for fear of being stigmatized by prejudice. Our respite program's objectives focus on helping families cope with these special problems by providing relief from physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Our aim is to reduce the sense of isolation they feel.
Children and Youth Programs
Friends for Mental Health offers workshops for children (7-12 years old) who have a parent or family member with a mental illness entitled, "Les Ateliers Anna". The objectives of these workshops are to bring together children that are living similar experiences while encouraging sharing and self-help, imparting information regarding mental illness and related issues. Also it will equip the children so that they will be better able to deal with their unique situation and become more resilient while increasing each child's self-esteem through the discovery and expression of their own strengths and interests.
Navigators
Social club for children who have completed the Anna Workshops.
Support Groups for Youth
These support groups are for youth who have a parent, sibling or friend with a mental illness and would like to meet and talk with a group their peers who share similar difficulties.
informational activities
Conferences and presentations
We offer 2 conferences and 2 presentations a year on different subjects.
Our newsletter remains our best communication between our members and partners and is produced 4 times a year.
Documentation Centre
Our library holds over 500 books, in English and French, as well as videos and DVDs on mental illness and related issues. Members can borrow two items at a time for two weeks.List of new books avaliable in our documentation center public awareness
Liaison Representative
A volunteer Liaison Representative is available on the premises of the Lakeshore General Hospital to provide support for families who have a mentally ill family member either waiting evaluation in emergency or residing on the 4-East psychiatric ward.
Tailored Presentations
We offer customized presentations in different settings (school, workplace, police force, community, etc.) to increase the general awareness of mental illness and to decrease the stigma surrounding it in order to facilitate access to mental health services.
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