NAMI offers recovery educational programs for those affected by mental health conditions

For Hub City Times

CENTRAL WISCONSIN — “Peer-to-Peer” from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a recovery educational program for people experiencing mental health challenges that want to better understand their condition and journey toward recovery. Taught by a trained team of people who have been there, the program includes presentations, discussion, and interactive exercises to help individuals create and maintain a personal path to recovery and living well. The class will be held for 10 consecutive weeks on Tuesdays in Stevens Point starting Sept. 8 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and on Thursdays in Wisconsin Rapids starting Sept. 10 at United Methodist Church.

NAMI “Family-to-Family” is a 12-week program designed for those who have family members or loved ones who have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. The class will be held on Thursdays beginning Sept. 3 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Stevens Point. Taught by trained NAMI family members, the course addresses a wide range of issues that will bring better understanding about mental health conditions, confidence to provide support with compassion, increase coping skills, encourage healing, and promote empowerment.

One in four adults is affected by a mental health condition in a given year, and about one in 17 lives with a serious mental health condition. About 25 percent of prison inmates and youth involved with juvenile justice live with a mental health condition. Those who experience mental health conditions and their family members and loved ones may have to cope with multiple hospitalizations, employment and financial problems, suicide attempts, legal issues, poor housing options, stigma, and insufficient medical insurance.

For decades it was thought that someone with a mental health condition could not work, live independently, or have a family. Stabilization was the best one could hope for, but this is changing. Every year the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sponsors September as National Recovery Month to replace this misinformation by generating community awareness that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover.

Research has shown that the best treatment for mental health conditions involves a combination of medication, therapy, education, and social support. These NAMI educational programs are designed to minimize potentially devastating problems and provide practical information on problem-solving skills, self-care strategies, relapse prevention, and advocacy.

Registration for NAMI Family-to-Family is available by calling Kathy Hartman at 715-341-4483 or emailing kathyahartman@me.com. For NAMI Peer-to-Peer and general information, contact Kay Jewell at 715-254-1864 or email kay@namiportagewoodcounties.org. More information is available at namiportagewoodcounties.com.