Educational Programs
NAMI Connecticut offers educational programs and services for family members, people living with mental illness, professionals, and the community at large.
Learning about mental illness benefits those that have been diagnosed because demystifying your illness may calm any fears you have about it, as well as giving you the tools to manage it. Those with friends or family that have been diagnosed with mental illnesses benefit because it helps them understand suitable ways of helping them. Improving your understanding of psychiatric disorders also helps in the battle of defeating prejudice and discrimination towards mental illness.
The educational programs listed below are for those who have an adult in their life with a diagnosis of mental illness, parents and caregivers with children or adolescents with any behavioral health disorder, and the general public.
These programs include Family-to-Family, NAMI-Basics, and Community Mental Health Workers or Promotores de Salud Mental (Spanish Program).
Family-to-Family:
A nationally recognized FREE twelve-week program that provides education on the neurobiological basis of serious mental illnesses, information, resources and support for family members of individuals with serious mental illness based on the lived experiences of other family members. Program is delivered by trained volunteer family facilitators and is available throughout the state on a regular basis.
F2F Classes Winter-Spring 2013
F2F – DANIELSON
Date: Begins, Wednesday, January 16th 2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 09:00 PM
Location: Quinebaug Valley Community College
742 Upper Maple Street, Danielson, CT 06239
Contact & Registration: Bill and Terri at (860)928-5947/ billterri39@att.net
F2F – NORTH GROSVENORDALE
Date: Begins, Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 09:00 PM
Location: Thompson Public Library
934 Riverside Drive, North Grosvenordale CT
Contact & Registration: Sonya at 860-923-9344 /stebo2956@sbcglobal.net
or Paula at 508-434-0650 / pgatseaside@charter.net
F2F – GUILFORD
Date: Begins, Monday, February 04th 2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 09:00 PM
Location: Guilford Community Center – Guilford, CT
Contact & Registration: Jeanne & Dan at (203)453-2530 / huntonting@gmail.com
F2F – NAUGATUCK
Date: Begins, Thursday, February 07th 2013
Time: 7:00 PM – 09:30 PM
Location: Naugatuck – CT
Contact & Registration: Terrilynn at (203) 881-2707
F2F – FAIRFIELD
Date: Begins Monday, February 11th 2013
Time: 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Location: First Church Congregational
148 Beach Road. Eliot Room/Library. Fairfield, CT 06824
Contact & Registration: Barbara at 203-984-8251
F2F – GREENWICH
Date: Begins, Monday, February 18th 2013
Time: 6:45 PM – 09:30 PM
Location: Greenwich Town Hall – Hayton Conference Room, 3rd Floor.
101 Field Point Road, Greenwich CT 06830
Contact & Registration: Claudia at (203) 869-1018 or
Peter at 203-322-3383 / pcase@optonline.net
F2F – BRANFORD
Date: Begins, Saturday, March 2nd 2013
Time: 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Location: Harbor Health Services
14 Sycamore Way Branford, CT 06405
Contact & Registration: Pamela at 860-416-1205 or pgreen148@gmail.com
F2F – NEWTOWN
Date: Begins, Monday, March 11th, 2013
Time: 7:00 PM – 09:30 PM
Location: Newtown Christian Church
210 Sugar Street, Newtown, CT
Contact & Registration: Judy at 203-650-3463 / naminewsffd@earthlink.net
Or Carole at 203-240-0936 / HartAnti@aol.com
F2F – WEST HARTFORD
Date: Begins, Tuesday, March 12th 2013
Time: 6:15 PM – 08:45 PM
Location: Elmwood Community Center. 1106 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford.
(you must gain entrance via South Quaker Lane and then to Burgoyne Street.
There is no entrance access from New Britain Avenue)
Contact & Registration: Janet at 860-620-7717 or janetb1954@comcast.net
NAMI-Basics:
It is a FREE six-week program that allows families to connect to another while learning about mental illness, its impact on children and adolescents, strategies to deal with schools and providers and tool to empower parents/caregivers to overcome new challenges. This program is for parents and other caregivers of children and adolescents with a diagnosis of mental illness or in the process to get an evaluation with diverse and complex needs.
NAMI-Basics Classes Winter/Spring – 2013
NAMI-Basics – AVON
Date: Begins, Thursday, April 25th, 2013
Time: 06:30 – 09:00 PM
Location: Valley Community Baptist Church.
590 West Avon Rd, Avon, CT 06001
Contact & Registration: Anne at 860-232-4282 / apmcauliffe@yahoo.com or Marisa at 860.299.5705 / marisawalls@sbcglobal.net
NAMI-Basics – STAMFORD
Date: Begins, Monday, March 4th, 2013
Time: 07:00 – 09:30 PM
Location: ST. John’s Lutheran Church. 884 Newfield AV. Stamford, CT.
Contact & Registration: Dawn at 203-249-5935 /dawnschneider@optonline.net
Community Mental Health Workers (CHMW) or Promotores de Salud Mental:
NAMI-Connecticut’s Community Mental Health Workers (CMHW) Program is a peer-based project that offers community – based education and tools to parents and caregivers of children or adolescents with behavioral health disorders regarding mental health, children’s mental illnesses, and mental health services available to the Hispanic / Latino community. CMHW services are delivered, for the most part, through an educational program — “Learning Together: Changing Minds” which is a FREE six-week program for Spanish speaking or bilingual parents and caregivers of children and adolescents who have a mental illness.
In Our Own Voice:
A FREE consumer-run program offering personal testimonials from individuals living with mental health who are in recovery. They share their lived journey with mental illness and recovery. The program is a prime vehicle for NAMI-Connecticut’s initiative to lessen the stigma associated with mental illness. Consumer presenters receive a small stipend for each presentation they deliver. Presentations usually run an hour and fifteen minutes in length.
Sharing Hope (in the African American Faith Community)
Across the nation, congregations of all denominations bring African American families together and provide emotional support to their members. Researchers have found evidence that African Americans seek help from the clergy more frequently than from other professionals. Mental health issues are no exception. When dealing with mental illness, African American families might look for guidance, support, and understanding from their faith community.It is for these reasons that NAMI has developed Sharing Hope: Understanding Mental Health. The hallmark of this initiative is an interactive educational presentation that aims to decrease mental health stigma in this community, increase awareness of mental health recovery, and to introduce NAMI education and support programs. Contact our Sharing Hope Coordinator for more information: sharinghope@namict.org
Support Groups:
NAMI-CT offers FREE training and statewide support to a diverse network of self-help groups that provide education and support for:
- Families of adults with mental illness
- Parents and caregivers of children and adolescents (NAMI-CAN)
- People living with mental illness
Please visit our Professional/Community Education and For Consumers pages for additional educational programs and services offered by NAMI Connecticut.
