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The Spring 2008 Family to
Family course will begin on March
25th.
Register today before the class fills. E-mail NAMI or
call Anne Walker at 740-593-3757.
These are twelve week series of free evening classes covering
information about schizophrenia, the mood disorders (bipolar
disorder
/manic depression and major depression), panic disorder and
obsessive compulsive disorder; coping skills such as handling
crisis and
relapse; medications; listening and communication techniques;
problem-solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; and self
care around worry and stress.
- Free for family members, partners and friends of individuals
with Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression), Schizophrenia and
Schizoaffective Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Panic
Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Co-occurring brain
disorders and Addictive Disorders.
- A series of 12 weekly classes structured to help caregivers
understand and support individuals with serious mental illness
while maintaining their own well being. the course is taught
by a team of trained NAMI family member volunteers who know
what it is like to have a loved one struggling with one of these
brain disorders.
- The course is free.
- Over 80,000 people in the U.S. and Canada have completed the
course. We think you will be pleased by how much assistance
the program offers.
You attend with other family members like you in a confidential
setting. You learn about what your relative is actually experiencing.
You learn how families unite together against this disability.
You learn about the biology of the brain disorders known as mental
illness. And, you take a fascinating look inside some of today's
current research on brain disorders.
- learning about feelings, learning about facts
- schizophrenia, major depression and manic: diagnosis and
dealing with critical periods
- subtypes of depression and bipolar disorder, panic disorder
and OCD: diagnosis and causes; sharing your story
- the biology of the brain: new research
- problem solving workshop
- medication review
- empathy workshop--what it's like to have a brain disorder
- communication skills workshop
- self-care and relative groups
- rehabilitation services available
- advocacy: fight stigma
- review and certification
- Classes are held at Appalachian Behavioral Health Center,
Athens.
A program about Family to Family was aired
on WOUB AM in September 2006. Click
here to download the program.
To sign up or to receive further information, contact us
at 593-7424.
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"Today I came out
of a long, dark, endless tunnel into a room filled with
light. the light was the NAMI Family-to-Family Education
Program. This was surely created just for me. Yet, how could
anyone know exactly what I was craving and hopeless searching
for? How could anyone give me this wealth of clear concise
information and wonderful insights and know the gamut of
emotions I was feeling? How could anyone know the utter
despair a family member feels when a loved one is stricken
with such a monstrous illness as schizophrenia? How could
anyone know and help me with my confusion and anguish? Certainly
the professional mental health community could not -- it
had left me to flounder in its inadequate system.
"But the NAMI Family-to-Family
Education Program did know. It did understand. It did answer
my questions and oh, so much more. thank you from the bottom
of my heart. Thank you for allowing me the honor of passing
along this important program to other family members who
languish, seemingly alone, as I did. Thank you."
Pauline Charton, a new
teacher from Perryville, Arkansas
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