What is Family-to-Family?

Family-to-Family is free 12-week educational course designed specifically to parents, siblings, spouses, teen-age and adult children and significant others of persons dealing with mental illness…taught by trained family members with the lived experience. Over 115,00 family members have graduated from this national program.

The 2 – 1/2 hour class meets for 12 consecutive weeks, and each week’s topic builds on the previous topics covered. Therefore, it is important that participants try to attend each class.

If family members are in crisis and feel the need for support, we would encourage them to attend one of our Family Support Groups before taking the Family-to-Family educational course.

We usually offer this course in February in Evantson, March in Northfield, June in Skokie, and September in both Park Ridge and Northfield.

This Winter-Spring we offer classes on

• Saturday mornings from Feb 11 – Apr 28 (or May 5), 9:00 – 11:30 am, at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave, Evanston.
• Wednesday evenings from March 7 – May 30 (off Mar 28), 7:00-9:30 pm, at New Trier Northfield High School, 7 Happ Rd, Northfield.

MayoClinic.com reprints

Tips to prevent holiday stress and depression

When stress is at its peak, it’s hard to stop and regroup. Try to prevent stress and depression in the first place, especially if the holidays have taken an emotional toll on you in the past.

1. Acknowledge your feelings. If someone close to you has recently died or you can’t be with loved ones, realize that it’s normal to feel sadness and grief. It’s OK to take time to cry or express your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy just because it’s the holiday season.
2. Reach out. If you feel lonely or isolated, seek out community, religious or other social events. They can offer support and companionship. Volunteering your time to help others also is a good way to lift your spirits and broaden your friendships.
3. Be realistic. The holidays don’t have to be perfect or just like last year. As families change and grow, traditions and rituals often change as well. Choose a few to hold on to, and be open to creating new ones. For example, if your adult children can’t come to your house, find new ways to celebrate together, such as sharing pictures, emails or videos.
4. Set aside differences. Try to accept family members and friends as they are, even if they don’t live up to all of your expectations. Set aside grievances until a more appropriate time for discussion. And be understanding if others get upset or distressed when something goes awry. Chances are they’re feeling the effects of holiday stress and depression, too.
5. Stick to a budget. Before you go gift and food shopping, decide how much money you can afford to spend. Then stick to your budget. Don’t try to buy happiness with an avalanche of gifts. Try these alternatives: Donate to a charity in someone’s name, give homemade gifts or start a family gift exchange.
6. Plan ahead. Set aside specific days for shopping, baking, visiting friends and other activities. Plan your menus and then make your shopping list. That’ll help prevent last-minute scrambling to buy forgotten ingredients. And make sure to line up help for party prep and cleanup.
7. Learn to say no. Saying yes when you should say no can leave you feeling resentful and overwhelmed. Friends and colleagues will understand if you can’t participate in every project or activity. If it’s not possible to say no when your boss asks you to work overtime, try to remove something else from your agenda to make up for the lost time.
8. Don’t abandon healthy habits. Don’t let the holidays become a free-for-all. Overindulgence only adds to your stress and guilt. Have a healthy snack before holiday parties so that you don’t go overboard on sweets, cheese or drinks. Continue to get plenty of sleep and physical activity.
9. Take a breather. Make some time for yourself. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Take a walk at night and stargaze. Listen to soothing music. Find something that reduces stress by clearing your mind, slowing your breathing and restoring inner calm.
10. Seek professional help if you need it. Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself feeling persistently sad or anxious, plagued by physical complaints, unable to sleep, irritable and hopeless, and unable to face routine chores. If these feelings last for a while, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional.

Take control of the holidays

Don’t let the holidays become something you dread. Instead, take steps to prevent the stress and depression that can descend during the holidays. Learn to recognize your holiday triggers, such as financial pressures or personal demands, so you can combat them before they lead to a meltdown. With a little planning and some positive thinking, you can find peace and joy during the holidays.

Dr. Ross Greene has had an unbelievable impact in the way so many have learned to communicate with their children in difficult circumstances.

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NEW! COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

Kids Do Well If They Can: Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS)

Thursday, March 1 2012, 7:00-9:00 PM
Glenbard West High School Auditorium
670 Crescent Blvd., Glen Ellyn, 60137.

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the originator of Collaborative ProblemSolving (CPS), an approach for helping children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.

The model was first described in Dr. Greene’s book The Explosive Child. The CPS approach is best understood as behavioral issues being the by-product of lagging cognitive skills rather than as the result of passive, permissive, or inconsistent parenting. An explosive child’s behavior is characterized by noncompliance, temper outbursts and verbal or physical aggression — which often leaves parents feeling frustrated, guilt-ridden, and overwhelmed.

Dr. Greene will help parents gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to handle these situations effectively and humanely. Workshop participants will learn about the factors that contribute to a child’s explosions, to intervene proactively by anticipating situations, to reduce explosions by replacing rewards and punishments with CPS, to help your student develop the skills to be more flexible, and to reduce hostility between you and your teen.

With Dr. Greene’s practical, expert advice parents and adolescents will forge a new relationship based on communication and mutual respect.

All GPS programs are presented by the Cebrin Goodman Center, an affiliate of the Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundation and CASE. All are welcome and no registration is required.

For more information contact Gilda Ross, Glenbard Student and Community Projects Coordinator at

630 942-7573 or at gilda_ross@glenbard.org

CLICK HERE for a link to the Booklet

The next meeting is NOV 20th at Northbrook Court – 1:00 pm. See below for details….

Contact CHRIS for more information and to let the gang know you’ll be there:  847-220-0199 OR cjj312@comcast.net

The first annual NAMI CCNS 5K walk on Sunday October 23 was a great success! More than 100 people came with their children and dogs, and we raised more than $23,000 (well in excess of our goal)! It’s great that the community is recognizing the importance of the work we do!

Kudos to Patricia Caine and the other members of her Walk Coordination team, Mary Rose Cavanaugh, Nancy Carstedt, Helene Rhodes, John Schladweiler, Adele McCarty, and Brian Rootberg. Despite the little time that they were given, they arranged for everything needed and made sure that the walk went smoothly.

The walk started at Blue Star Memorial Woods on the corner of Harms and Lake in Glenview. It was brisk at starting time, but Dunkin Donuts provided much needed coffee. Sue Roberts, President of the New Foundation Center, treated walkers with donuts.

Co-presidents Pat Rodbro and Sandra Shovers welcomed the walkers and explained what NAMI CCNS does and hopes to do. Hugh Brady, President of the Board of Directors of NAMI Illinois, was nice enough to visit and tell us about important new legislative developments affecting mental health care in Illinois

Junior and Senior Peer Leaders from Regina High School led walkers through warm-up exercises and then used their very positive energy to lead the other walkers on a path extending through Blue Star Memorial Woods, Glenview Woods, Harms Woods, and back.

The walkers, wearing free T-shirts promoting NAMI CCNS, were of all ages, from toddlers to grandparents, and even some dogs sported NAMI CCNS T-shirts. Everyone was in great spirits and had a wonderful time seeing old friends and making new ones.

After the walk, there was Grecian chicken from Johnny’s Kitchen and Tap and bruschetta from Gusto Italiano Ristorants to eat on paper plates provided by Foodstuffs. Music provided by 101.9fm THE MIX heightened the festive atmosphere.

All in all, the walk lived up to its name: Raising Awareness About Mental Illness With Every Step.

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To see ALL THE PICTURES – CLICK HERE

Our fearless leader and friends start the walk!

NAMI Basics: New Study on the Importance of Education and Support for Families of Children and Adolescents Living with Mental Illness

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 19, 2011 — A study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies (August 2011) has found that a family education program offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illness produces “significant improvement” for families in communication and coping skills.

Currently offered in 36 states, “NAMI Basics” consists of six classes that meet either weekly or twice weekly for two and half hours per class. They are led by two teachers or facilitators who themselves have had the experience of having a young child or adolescent live with mental illness.

“Parents play a critical role in treatment and recovery of the children they love,” said NAMI Executive Director Michael J. Fitzpatrick. “Doctors and other mental health care workers are often unable to provide the level of education and support they need.”

“NAMI Basics bridges the gap. It provides help that can’t be found in a doctor’s office.”

The study found:

• Parents and caregivers who participated in the study reported improvements in self-care and empowerment, based on information and about resources, parenting strategies and self-advocacy.
• Participants “also experienced a reduction in inflammatory communications,” through control of anger, preemption of problems, and being highly specific about expectations.
• Participants did not report changes in “affirmational communications” within the family. However, this may simply reflect the emphasis of the curriculum.

The study is based on “before” and “after” questionnaires completed by 36 caregivers in Mississippi and Tennessee in 2008-2009. The small sample and geographic scope should cause the study to be interpreted cautiously, while suggesting directions for broader research.

Please read on:

Legislative Update:

Action Needed – ASAP

By Hugh Brady

The Illinois General Assembly will meet for its Fall veto session during the last week of October and the second week of November.  Our legislators must address two important mental health items during these final meetings of 2011:

·        Governor Quinn’s plans to close and restructure state mental hospitals, and

·        The missing $30 million.

We urge every NAMI member will contact their state legislators about these two issues, if possible, before the veto session begins and certainly before it ends.

If you don’t know who your State Legislators are, you can find out through this link:

http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByZip.aspx

Once you’re there, type in your Zip Code, or you can also do a search using your home address by clicking on the address tab at the top of the Zip Code page.

Either way, the search program will take you to a page that lists your legislators.  Once you’re there, click on a legislator’s name and you will be taken to a page with their contact information, including the phone number of their local office.

If you write, send copies of your letter to your legislators’ local and Springfield offices.  And if call, remember you probably won’t talk to the legislator him/herself, but will talk with a secretary.  Go ahead and leave a message.

Message for State Representatives:

Governor Quinn has proposed closing 3 state mental hospitals and reducing services at most others.  This will result in a net reduction in acute care beds for non-criminal patients from the current 550 down to 220.  There is no plan to provide services for the people who will be displaced.  There is no additional funding for community mental health service providers to care for the people who will be displaced.  The legislature should insure that there are no closures or reorganization until there is a plan and funding for services for the people who will be displaced.

If you want a snappy conclusion, you might say, “No plan?  No funding?  No closures!”

Message for State Senators:

When you contact your State Senator give him/her the same message you gave your State Representative.  But add:

The Senate must also pass SB (Senate Bill) 2407, including amendments 1 & 2 that the House passed last May.  This bill will transfer $30 million dollars to community mental health services.  That money was inadvertently put on the wrong line in the budget and so appropriated to the wrong department.  SB 2407 and its amendments 1 & 2 simply put the money back where it belongs.  The bill passed the House last May by a vote of 109 to 7.  The Senate should do the same, ASAP!

Once again, please call as soon as you can.  Once the veto session ends on November 10^th it will be too late!  Don’t let these problems go unaddressed because you didn’t talk to your legislators.