Training Classes, Caregiver Training available at National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Massachusetts Office

FAMILY-TO-FAMILY EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Family-To-Family (“F2F”) Education Program is the flagship education program of NAMI-USA. It is a12-week course for family caregivers of individuals affected with a serious brain disorder, i.e. mental illness. F2F is taught by trained family member volunteers. It meets in weekly sessions of 2 ½ hours (usually on a week night) for twelve consecutive weeks. Class size is limited to about 20 people who must be pre-interviewed by the co-teachers prior to the course. All instruction and course materials are free for class participants.

Family-to-Family classes are offered in hundreds of communities in 46 states as well as in two Canadian provinces, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The course is also available in Spanish. Nationwide over 100,000 family members have taken the course since its inception. In Massachusetts there is currently a network of 97 trained F2F volunteer teachers. The program is funded by the Mass. Department of Mental Health.

The Family-to-Family curriculum utilizes a variety of teaching techniques and includes a broad range of topics:

· Information about Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression, Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Panic Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

· Coping skills, handling crisis and relapse

· Listening and communication techniques

· Problem solving and limit setting; rehabilitation

· Understanding the actual experience of people suffering from mental illness

· Self-care; learning how to recognize normal emotional reactions among families

· Basic information about medications and their side effects

· Information about connecting with appropriate community services and community supports

· Advocacy; getting better services, fighting discrimination and stigma

For more information about the Family-to-Family Education Program in Massachusetts, please contact Karen McGravey-Gajera, Famity-to-Family Education & Support Programs Coordinator, at 781-938-4048 or kgajera@namimass.org

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