Welcome to the October issue of family and supporter resources, produced by the BC Schizophrenia Society, in partnership with the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information.
Ongoing Family Resources
If this e-resource has been forwarded to you by a friend, you can sign up for your own copy
Featured Resources:
- Mental Illness Awareness Week
- Strengthening Families Together Course
Mental Illness Awareness Week Oct 5-11th, 2008
Watch out for lots of events for the week of Oct 5-11th, for Mental Illness Awareness Week, which is a Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is an annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. For more information see: www.miaw.ca For more local events please see the events list on the right side of this page or visit http://www.familyevents.bcss.org
Strengthening Families Together Courses Start
Do you have a relative or friend with a serious mental illness? Strengthening Families Together is a 10-session group offered free of charge in locations throughout BC for families and friends, which provides information, skill-building, and support.
You will learn:
- The different types of mental illnesses
- The medications and treatments for mental illness
- How to cope with and support your loved one living with a mental illness
Strengthening Families Together grew out of the strong belief that Canadian families have a right to reliable educational information on serious mental illnesses, regardless of where they reside.
This 10-session national education program for family members and friends of individuals with serious and persistent mental illnesses aims to increase accessibility to Canadian-based information on the topics associated with living daily with a mental illness.
Strengthening Families Together is about more than education: it is about strengthening family members and friends of individuals with a serious mental illness by providing support, awareness, and tools.
Support - Families have an opportunity to discuss the daily challenges they face and learn how to connect with others through membership in their local provincial society and chapter/branch.
Awareness - Families get reliable and consistent information about mental illness, treatment options, causes, research, and available mental health services, in the hopes of diminishing the stigma attached to diagnosis.
Tools - Families are equipped with problem solving, coping, and advocacy and communication skills, and the know-how to develop their own local support group.
Click here for a program Outline
Find a SFT course near you.
Below are some upcoming or ongoing courses in the calendar at time of writing. However, many regions keep a waiting list for this course and offer it when enough people are registered. To indicate your interest, please contact your local BC Schizophrenia Society region Courses are typically offered in Spring and Fall.
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