The NAMI Provider Education Program is a 10-week course that presents a penetrating, subjective view of family and consumer experiences with serious mental illness to line staff at public agencies who work directly with people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

The course helps providers realize the hardships that families and consumers face and appreciate the courage and persistence it takes to live with and recover from mental illness.

How is the Provider Education course unique?

The Provider Course emphasizes the involvement of consumers and family members as faculty in provider-staff training. The teaching team consists of five people:

· Two family members trained as Family-to-Family Education Program teachers;

· Two consumers who are knowledgeable about their own mental illness, have a supportive relationship with their families, and are dedicated to the process of recovery; and

· A mental health professional who is also a family member or consumer.

Few teaching programs employ consumers in this kind of sustained training effort in which they are paid to participate on a teaching team as they present a 10-week course.

The course reflects a new knowledge base — the “lived experiences” of people coping with a mental illness or caring for someone who lives with a mental illness. Including this deeply personal perspective creates an appreciable difference in the program’s content. It adds a means of teaching the emotional aspects and practical consequences of these illnesses to the academic medical information in the course.

Download a copy of the flyer:

ARLINGTON, Va., April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Freshman year. Final exams. Life after graduation. The pressures of college transitions involve many competing demands, including in some cases, mental health concerns.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched StrengthofUs.org, a new online community where young adults, ages 18-25, can provide mutual support in navigating challenges and opportunities before, during and after the college years.

“Young adulthood is an exciting challenge, but also a confusing and stressful time for anyone,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, NAMI executive director. “Life can throw things at you fast.”

Developed by college students and other young adults, StrengthofUs.org is a user-driven social networking community where a person can connect with peers, share personal stories, creativity and helpful resources by writing and responding to blog entries, engaging in discussion groups and sharing videos, photos and other news. It offers resources on:

· Mental health issues
· Healthy relationships
· Family and friends
· Campus life
· Independent living
· Finances
· Employment
· Housing

“StrengthofUs.org is about helping and inspiring each other,” said Alex White, age 23, a member of the advisory group who helped develop the site. “I would not be alive today if it had not been for the love, care and support I received from family, friends and loved ones.”

A Montana State University graduate, White was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 13. He attempted suicide before gaining control of the illness, but now leads a happy, productive life in New York City. He has made an award-winning short film, Une Vignette de Melancolie, about depression that has played internationally.

On April 21, the site will host a “launch party” featuring a remix of the song “Goodmorning” from the upcoming Derivatives album by William Fitzsimmons, who worked helping people with mental illness before turning a passion for music into his profession. He was named an iTunes Best Singer-Songwriter for his album The Sparrow and the Crow and his music has been featured on the television show Grey’s Anatomy.

The launch coincides with the recent deaths of three students from suicides at Cornell University and reports of increasing cases of depression and anxiety on college campuses nationwide.
“I think that depression and suicide are the largest health issues facing college students at this time,” said Alan Glass, director of St. Louis’s Washington University student health services and American College Health Association board member, in an interview with the school’s independent student newspaper.

NAMI created the StrengthofUs community through the support of the Rodwell Dart Memorial Foundation, established by Hailey Dart, in loving memory of her son, Roddy, who lost his life at age 22.

The public service announcement (PSA) campaign-We Can Help Us-was developed out of the acquired insight that, although many teens encounter the same tough times, many also develop positive solutions to help overcome them. The campaign empowers teens by reminding them that there are ways to get through whatever problems they face and directs them to visit reachout.com to hear stories from others who successfully conquered their tough times.

The campaign includes TV, radio, and print advertising, and mall and in-school posters and viral videos. The reachout.com Web site features stories from teens, as well as tips to help cope with tough issues and links to resources, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, for teens who need immediate help. The PSAs will be distributed widely in the national media this week.

We hope your organization can help extend the campaign’s reach to youth who may be at risk and amplify these potentially lifesaving messages. To view the PSAs, the press release, and more details about how your organization can help support the campaign, please view the National Suicide Prevention Campaign for Teens Multimedia News Release. You can also visit SAMHSA’s Web site or the Ad Council Web site to learn more.

The NAMI Provider Education Program is a 10-week course that presents a penetrating, subjective view of family and consumer experiences with serious mental illness to line staff at public agencies who work directly with people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

The course helps providers realize the hardships that families and consumers face and appreciate the courage and persistence it takes to live with and recover from mental illness.

How is the Provider Education course unique?

The Provider Course emphasizes the involvement of consumers and family members as faculty in provider-staff training. The teaching team consists of five people:

· Two family members trained as Family-to-Family Education Program teachers;

· Two consumers who are knowledgeable about their own mental illness, have a supportive relationship with their families, and are dedicated to the process of recovery; and

· A mental health professional who is also a family member or consumer.

Few teaching programs employ consumers in this kind of sustained training effort in which they are paid to participate on a teaching team as they present a 10-week course.

The course reflects a new knowledge base — the “lived experiences” of people coping with a mental illness or caring for someone who lives with a mental illness. Including this deeply personal perspective creates an appreciable difference in the program’s content. It adds a means of teaching the emotional aspects and practical consequences of these illnesses to the academic medical information in the course.

Download a copy of the flyer:

In Time of Severe Budget Crisis, Funding of CSP II is the Wrong Solution at the Wrong Cost

Denver, Colo. — Representatives from a diverse coalition of organizations are urging the Joint Budget Committee to reject $10.8 million in new funding to open Colorado State Prison II (CSP II). The JBC is expected to take up the issue during the Department of Corrections (DOC) budget setting this Friday.
The DOC is requesting a FY 2010-11 Budget Amendment of $10.8 million, with more than $10.7 million from the General Fund, roughly $42,000 from the Cash Fund, and 229 FTE, to open 316 beds at CSP II. This request would open one of the three towers at the prison, beginning in September 2010. CSP II is an administrative segregation prison in which inmates are locked down in a single cell for a minimum of 23 hours a day, 7 days a week.

However, a coalition of groups including the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, Colorado Public Defender, American Civil Liberties Union, and National Alliance on Mental Illness believe that CSP II is the wrong solution at the wrong cost.

“In the midst of an economic crisis, when the state already slashed over $2 billion to address the shortfall in the current year’s budget, and will cut another $1 billion in the upcoming year’s budget, how can the legislature justify funding a $10.8 million prison expansion?” said Christie Donner, executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. “Moreover, why is the DOC prioritizing spending $10.8 million on more prison beds after recently cutting $3 million in DOC vocational programs and $1.8 million in wrap-around services for parolees? Both programs were part of the Governor’s recidivism reduction package and are proven to be effective in reducing recidivism. It is counterintuitive and counterproductive to cut successful, research-based programs that promote productivity and safety both within prison and after release.”

Ann Kochenberger is the award winning author of Out of Focus…Again, a memoir about Ann’s struggle with bipolar disorder and her difficult journey to recovery. It’s a story of hope and healing and the important role her family played in her recovery. Says Professor of Psychology, Frank J. Landry, “The book’s stunning description of the reality of depression is one of the most compelling I have encountered.”

Both Ann and her husband, Gary, will speak about Coping with Bi-Polar disorder and the Important Role of Family.

• National Best Book 2009 Awards, Finalist , Health: Psychology/ Mental Health, October 20, 2009
• National INDIE 2009 Excellence Awards, Finalist, Memoir, May 9, 2009
• EVVY Award, Colorado Independent Publishers Association, Honorable Mention Self-Help, March 28, 2009
• EVVY Award, Colorado Independent Writers Association, 2nd Place, Inspirational, March 28, 2009

By ETHAN WATTERS
Published: January 8, 2010

AMERICANS, particularly if they are of a certain leftward-leaning, college-educated type, worry about our country’s blunders into other cultures. In some circles, it is easy to make friends with a rousing rant about the McDonald’s near Tiananmen Square, the Nike factory in Malaysia or the latest blowback from our political or military interventions abroad. For all our self-recrimination, however, we may have yet to face one of the most remarkable effects of American-led globalization. We have for many years been busily engaged in a grand project of Americanizing the world’s understanding of mental health and illness. We may indeed be far along in homogenizing the way the world goes mad.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html

Get Educated. Become Empowered.

FREE FAMILY-TO-FAMILY EDUCATION PROGRAM offered by NAMI-CS

Classes are for families and friends with mentally ill loved ones and cover the major mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, anxiety disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder); review medications; teach self-care, empathy, problem solving, and communication skills; discuss recovery and advocacy.

Classes begin February 17, 2010

Meeting on Wednesdays for 12 weeks from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

For Information or to Register call:

NAMI-CS at 473-8477

Check it out! Colorado.gov/benefits

This audio podcast-listen from your computer or iPod-on caring for a depressed elderly parent features Gail Hunt, president of the National Alliance of Caregiving and Jane Richardson, who lives with and cares for her 78 year old mother with bipolar disorder.

Click here to listen!

After hearing the podcast, join the online podcast discussion forum to discuss the topic with others.