Big Island volunteers will offer a National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of people diagnosed with serious mental illness.
The series of weekly classes are from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. March 9 through April 13 in the St. Joseph’s Church meeting room, located at 43 Kapiolani St., in Hilo.
The curriculum was written by an experienced mental health professional. The course will be taught by NAMI-Hawaii-Big Island family member volunteers who took intensive training as course instructors.
The co-teachers for the Hilo area will be Carolyn Oki, Carol Denis and Kathy Hammes.
“This course is a wonderful experience,” Oki said. “It balances basic psycho-education and skills training with emotional support, self-care and empowerment. We hope families with relatives who have a serious mental illness will take advantage of this unique opportunity.”
The course is designed specifically for parents, siblings, spouses, teenage and adult daughters and sons, partners and significant others who are caregivers of people with serious mental illness.
“The course is not appropriate for individuals who themselves have a major mental illness,” Oki said.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. The organization advocates for access to services and treatment, provides support and promotes research for those in need.
The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Course is free. For more information, or to register, call Oki at 935-3518, Denis at 935-0615, or Hammes at 959-2426.
The program will cover:
• Information about mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder.
• Coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse.
• Basic information about medications.
• Listening and communication techniques.
• Problem-solving skills.
• Recovery and rehabilitation.
• Self-care around worry and stress.