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LEWISTON — NAMI Maine (the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Maine) will hold a free family-to-family education program specifically for families of people living with mental health conditions.
The 12-week series of classes will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and begin Thursday, Sept. 6.
The course is an evaluated, national, best-practice program and will cover information about schizophrenia, the mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and other major mental health challenges. In addition, coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse; basic information about medications; listening and communication techniques; problem-solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; and self-care around worry and stress will be included.
The course is designed specifically for parents, siblings, spouses, teenage and adult children and significant others of persons with these types of mental health challenges. The curriculum has been written by an experienced family member mental health professional, and the course will be taught by NAMI family member volunteers who have taken intensive training as course instructors. The co-teachers for the course are from the local area.
“This course is a wonderful experience,” said Tonya Bailey-Curry, director of peer and family programs at NAMI Maine. “It balances basic psycho-education and skill-training with emotional support, self-care, empowerment and hope. We encourage families with relatives who have mental health challenges to take advantage of this unique opportunity.”
For more information or to register, contact Tonya at the NAMI Maine office at 1-800-464-5767, ext. 2305 or email tonya@namimaine.org.
