Strengthening Families Together - 10 session group for family and friends - Do you have a relative or friend with a serious mental illness? Strengthening Families Together is a 10-session group for families and friends, which provides information, skill-building, and support. Offered throughout BC in spring and fall. Contact your local branch for details.... More →
Schizophrenia / Psychosis Early Warning Signs - This list of warning signs was developed by people whose relatives have schizophrenia or other serious mental illness. Many behaviours are within the range of normal responses to situations. Yet family members sense—even when symptoms are mild—that behaviour is “unusual”; that the person is “not the same”.... More →
Kids in Control Support Group Program - The Kids in Control Support Group Program, created by the BC Schizophrenia Society, gives information, education and support to children eight to thirteen years of age who have a parent with a serious mental illness. The Teens in Control program is now available for Teens. For more information visit: www.bcss.org/kidsincontrol... More →
Spouses Handbook - This booklet was published due to requests from family members who have a spouse ill with schizophrenia, for information specific to their needs.... More →
Schizophrenia Information in Other Languages - Fact sheets on schizophrenia are available in Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Spanish, translated with a grant from the World Assembly for Mental Health. Click on the above link for more.... More →
B.R.I.D.G.E.S. Education and Support Program - BRIDGES is a course taught by consumers for consumers. BRIDGES helps people learn things that will help them in their journey to recovery. People who have taken the course find it helps them to be part of their own treatment. In the course, students learn about psychiatric diagnoses. They also learn about what mental health treatments work best. More information: www.bcss.org/bridges... More →
Ulysses Agreement – planning for support - A Ulysses Agreement is a voluntary plan that allows a parent to plan how their children will be cared for should they relapse and be temporally unable to care for their children. Help to create these plans is available in Boston Bar, Hope, Agassiz, Mission, Abbotsford, Langley, White Rock & Surrey from Mark Littlefield at (604) 832-0705. Outside the Fraser region, please call Mark for more information or click on the link for written information and templates.... More →
BCSS North East – St. John, Taylor, Hudson’s Hope, Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd & Area
Regional Manager Northeast and Fort St. John Coordinator: Julie Kornelsen, 250-261-9189 or 1-888-266-6660. e-mail: kornelsen@bcss.org FSJ office mailing address: 11204-107 Street, Fort St. John, B.C. Available weekdays 9-4.
Note: Dawson Creek office: Colette Bourque is the Regional Coordinator, NE-south in Dawson Creek. Collette can be reached at 250-219-4192, 1-888-484-4282, and e-mail is cbourque@bcss.org
Communities Served:
Fort St. John, Taylor, Hudson's Hope, Fort Nelson & surrounding communities north of the Peace River are served by the Fort St. John office
Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd & surrounding communities south of the Peace River are served by the Dawson Creek office
Services Provided:
Free support and information for individuals (family & friends) who support someone who may have or has been diagnosed with a mental illness
Free handouts, books and videos to borrow on a variety of mental illnesses
Free education for family members & friends through the Strengthening Families Together Program (contact number above for local details)
Free support groups for family & friends
Free education for community groups through our Partnership Education Program or talks on specific subjects related to mental illness (contact number above for local details)
To Donate: Click here to donate online, send a cheque payable to the BC Schizophrenia Society to 201 - 6011 Westminster Hwy, Richmond , BC V7C 4V4 or click here or the link above for more options.
Do you have a family member with a mental illness? Are you wondering what services are available for serious mental illness in your community and how to access them? Need help figuring out what to do? BCSS can help. We have staff and volunteers in locations near you who can talk to you about your options and help you get connected. For contact info, please visit the link above for a list of locations or contact BCSS at 1-888-888-0029 to be referred to the person nearest you.
In the 2009-10 fiscal year alone, BCSS provincial coordinators responded to 5,684 calls and over 35,000 emails for support and information, attended 1,700 meetings, organized 390 support group sessions, and presented to over 34,000 members of the public
The Family Toolkit is designed to assist families in caring for a family member with a mental illness by providing information and practical resources.
This resource may be useful to people who would like to understand the rules and procedures in place in BC around mental illness, police involvement, involuntary treatment, etc
Partnership Education is based on a personal storytelling model. It is a unique and powerful presentation that helps people in the community to understand the nature and prevalence of chronic and severe mental illness. A Partnership presentation is a panel of three guest speakers - a person with a psychiatric diagnosis, a family member, and a mental health professional. The three guests are presented as a team and each describes their own personal experience with mental illness. For information about volunteering for or arranging for a partnership presentation in your area, please contact the BCSS staff person or volunteer near you.
Do you have a relative or friend with a serious mental illness? Strengthening Families Together is a 10-session group for families and friends, which provides information, skill-building, and support. Offered throughout BC in spring and fall. Contact your local branch for details.
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