NAMI Sauk Area will sponsor the NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of adults diagnosed with a serious mental disorder. The 12-week series of classes will meet weekly on Thursdays, March 5, through May 21, 2015, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Classes will meet at KSB Hospital, 403 E. 1st Street, Dixon, IL, in the private dining room, near the cafeteria.
The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Course is free. For more information and to register, call Mary Brokaw at 815-284-6417 or Tara Wagenknecht at 815-303-9386. Class size is limited to 20 participants who commit to attending all 12 classes. Pre-registration is required.
This course is designed specifically for parents, siblings, spouses, teen-aged and adult sons and daughters, partners, and significant others who have a personal relationship with an adult living with a severe and persistent mental illness. This course is not appropriate for individuals who themselves have a major mental illness or for family members of children living with a mental illness.
The course will cover information about
- schizophrenia
- mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression)
- panic disorder
- post traumatic stress syndrome
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- coping skills for handling a crisis or relapse
- basic information about medications
- listening and communication techniques
- problem-solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; dealing with worry and stress of the care-givers.
The curriculum has been written by an experienced family member Mental Health professional. This course will be taught by NAMI Sauk Area family member volunteers who have taken intensive training as course instructors. The co-teachers for the class will be Mary Brokaw and Tara Wagenknecht.
“This class continues to help me….The classroom teachings and others’ experiences help me understand why our loved ones do some of the things they do…it helps me live in my world instead of theirs,” said a former course participant.
Other comments include, “This course has shown me that I’m not alone in this struggle. It has helped me see things from my son’s perspective, as well as taught me better ways to respond to him.’
Another class member wrote, “This course has been a huge blessing to me and my family. It was imperative that I understand how a person with mental illness feels….I was taking things personally. Now I have the knowledge I needed to cope.”