NAMI SC Program Descriptions

For Families

Family-to-Family

The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program is a free, 12-week course for family caregivers of an adult experiencing symptoms of mental illness. The course is taught once a week by a team of trained NAMI family member volunteers who know what it’s like to have a loved one living with one of the brain disorders.

Current information about schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder (manic depression), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and co-occurring brain and addictive disorders is provided. Up-to-date information about medications, current research related to the biology of brain disorders, workshops on problem solving, listening and communication techniques, acquiring strategies for handling crises and relapse, gaining empathy for the person experiencing symptoms of mental illness, care for the family member, and advocacy initiatives are covered.

Registration is required. Contact your local affiliate for upcoming courses or click here.

NAMI Basics

The NAMI Basics Education Program is a free course for parents and other caregivers of children and adolescents experiencing symptoms of mental illness. The course is taught by trained teachers who are the parents or other caregivers of individuals who developed the symptoms of mental illness prior to the age of thirteen.

The course includes current information about Attention Deficit Disorder, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Childhood Schizophrenia, and Substance Abuse Disorders. Current research related to the biology of mental illness and most effective treatment strategies available, including medications used to treat mental illness in children and adolescents, is covered. Specific workshops to learn problem solving, listening and communication skills are taught. Information about the school and mental health system, personal record keeping, planning for crisis management and relapse, locating appropriate supports and services in the community, and advocacy issues are provided.

Registration is required. Contact your local affiliate for upcoming courses.

Family Support Group

The NAMI Family Support Group is for family members of individuals experiencing symptoms of mental illness. The group is led by trained support group facilitators who know what it’s like to have a loved one living with a brain disorder. The NAMI Support Group Model operates differently than other, more traditional ‘share and care’ groups. The model offers a set of key structures and group processes to use in common support group scenarios. They encourage participation by the entire group.

Some affiliates do not have separate support groups for family members and consumers. In this case, the groups may be combined. Contact your local affiliate for support group dates, times, and locations.

For Consumers

Peer-to-Peer

The NAMI Peer-to-Peer program is a unique, experiential learning program for people with any type of serious mental illness who are interested in establishing and maintaining their wellness and recovery. The free course consists of nine two-hour units and is taught by a team of three trained “Mentors” who are personally experienced at living well with mental illness.

Participants come away from the course with a binder of hand-out materials, as well as many other tangible sources. They make an advance directive, and a ‘relapse prevention plan’ to help identify tell-tale feelings, thoughts, behaviors, or events that may warn of impending relapse and to organize for intervention. Mindfulness exercises are practiced to help focus and calm thinking. Survival skills are provided for working with providers and the general public.

Contact your local affiliate for upcoming courses. Registration is required.

In Our Own Voice (IOOV)

In Our Own Voice is a unique public education program in which two trained consumer speakers share compelling personal stories about experiencing symptoms of mental illness and achieving recovery. It is an opportunity for them to gain confidence and to share their individual experiences of recovery and transformation. Audience members are encouraged to offer feedback and ask questions as this brings them closer to understanding what it is like to experience symptoms of mental illness and stay in recovery.

Presentations are offered free of charge to consumer groups, students, educators, professionals, various civic groups, etc..

Organizations interested in seeing a presentation may contact NAMI SC to see if the program is available in your area.

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group

NAMI Connection is a weekly recovery support group lead by consumers in recovery and is for people experiencing symptoms of mental illness. People learn from each others’ experiences, share coping strategies, and offer each other encouragement and understanding.

Some affiliates do not have separate support groups for family members and consumers. In this case, the groups may be combined. Contact your local affiliate for support group dates, times, and locations or click here.

For Schools

Breaking the Silence (BTS)

“Breaking the Silence: Teaching the Next Generation About Mental Illness” is an educational package designed to teach students on three grade levels, upper elementary, middle school, and high school about serious mental illness. This easy to use package uses stories to humanize serious mental illness and teach that these illnesses are no-fault brain disorders. Students also examine the role the media plays in perpetuating stigma.

Posters, included in the package, teach the warning signs of mental illness. In addition, each educational package includes learning activities with cross-cultural ties, annotated bibliographies, web sites, and resource organizations that students can use to delve into the topic at greater depth.

Schools interested in this program may contact NAMI SC to see if the program is available in your area.

Parents and Teachers as Allies

Parents and Teachers as Allies is a two hour in-service mental health education program for school professionals. The program focuses on helping school professionals and families within the school community understand the early warning signs of mental illness in children and adolescents and how best to intervene to link the youth with services. It also covers the lived experience of mental illness and how schools can best communicate with families about mental health related concerns.

The components of the program include Welcome and Introduction, Early Warning Signs of Mental Illnesses, Family Response, Experiencing Symptoms of Mental Illness, and a Group Discussion. The trained teaching team includes an educational professional, who is also a family member and introduces the topics to be covered, a facilitator who walks the school professional through the early warning signs of mental illnesses, a parent or caregiver of a child experiencing symptoms of mental illness covers the predictable stages of emotional reactions among family members who are raising a child experiencing symptoms of mental illness, and a mental health consumer who shares what it’s like to experience the early onset of mental illness.

Schools interested in this program may contact NAMI SC to see if the program is available in your area.

For Professional Providers

Provider Education

NAMI Provider Education is a 10-week course presented to line staff at public agencies who work directly with people with severe and persistent mental illnesses. The course reflects the ‘lived experiences’ of people coping with the symptoms of mental illness or caring for someone who is experiencing symptoms of mental illness. It helps providers realize the hardships that families and consumers face and appreciate the courage and persistence it takes to live with and recover from the symptoms of mental illness.

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

Contact NAMI SC to locate a Provider Education Course in your area or to schedule one.

For Law Enforcement and EMS

Crisis Intervention Training (CIT)

Crisis Intervention Training is a 40 hour training program for law enforcement officers to learn how to respond safely and quickly to people with serious mental illness in crisis. Officers learn to recognize the signs of psychiatric distress and how to de-escalate a crisis, avoiding officer injuries, consumer deaths, and tragedy for the community, as well as linking people with appropriate treatment.

Officers are trained to recognize signs and symptoms of mental illness, appropriate medications and side effects, use of verbal de-escalation, active listening skills, and police tactics for safe restraint and use of force techniques as well as a tour of mental health facilities and role playing.

The course is taught by NAMI SC’s Director of CIT Training, consumers and family members who share their personal experiences, and mental health professionals in the community.

Contact NAMI SC to schedule a training in your area.