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NAMI offers free class for families of people with mental illness

Moultrie Observer - 2/14/2017

Feb. 13--MOULTRIE, Ga. -- Has mental illness touched your family? Are you confused and looking for ways to help?

NAMI Moultrie, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in cooperation with NAMI Georgia will offer the Family-to-Family Education Program in Moultrie again this spring. This 12-week course is designed to help families face the challenges of brain disorders and find support, resources, and coping strategies, according to a press release from NAMI Moultrie.

The program is free of charge for families and caregivers of individuals with serious mental illnesses, which include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorder, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and co-occurring brain disorders and addictive disorders.

Randye Kaye, the author of "Ben Behind His Voices," testifies that Family-to-Family "is the course that saved my family by teaching me what I needed to know to cope with my son's mental illness. NAMI helped me, and then I had the tools and the support to help my family -- including, eventually, my son."

The Family-to-Family course (F2F) was developed for NAMI by Joyce Burland, Ph.D., the press release said. Burland is a clinical psychologist whose background includes years of experience coping with schizophrenia in two generations of her own family. Now over 20 years old, F2F is offered throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, and Italy. Course materials are updated annually to include recent research. More than 200,000 family members have completed the course. Based on research findings, F2F has been certified by SAMHSA as effective practice.

Course leaders are trained members of NAMI Moultrie who have a family member living with a serious mental illness, NAMI said. The course will meet weekly on Monday evenings for 12 consecutive weeks. Each session is 2 1/2 hours. Between classes there are additional readings that are related to previous class topics.

In addition to F2F there are ongoing NAMI support and education programs. The first and third Tuesday evenings of every month support groups meet: Two separate support groups, one for families and one for adults in recovery. The first Tuesday meeting also includes an educational program which is open to the public. Both Tuesday evening events begin at 6 p.m. at First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.

All of NAMI Moultrie's courses, trainings, and meetings are offered at no cost to participants, NAMI Moultrie said. Funds to support these offerings are generated through NAMIWalk Southwest Georgia.

For more information on the Family-to-Family course and NAMI Moultrie, contact Shannon Bell at shann.mbell@gmail, or Lynn Wilson at lynnbw45@gmail.com.

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