Strengthening mental health services -
When a loved one suffers from a mental illness, family members suffer too - now there's a made-in-PEI program that offers hope through education, support, and skills.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Family Program: Finding Hope and Building Strength is a resource for those who have a loved one with a mental illness. The program - along with other CMHA PEI support and education programs, is funded by an annual grant from the Government of Prince Edward Island.
"Family members come into the program because they want to learn how to help a loved one and give support within healthy boundaries without burning themselves out or enabling destructive behaviours," said Tayte Willows, community development officer and coordinator of the Family Program. "Participants also want to know how to better take care of themselves."
Trained peer facilitators, who have been through many of the same challenges, not only helped to co-create the program but also volunteer as leaders of the eight-session course. These volunteers help to normalize many experiences, from being an advocate for a loved one to navigating the health care system to communicating and problem solving in a crisis.
Family members may be overwhelmed and experiencing a range of emotions from anger, blame, grief, fear, to shame and guilt.
"They can be dealing with many challenges from the stigma of mental illness in the family and the challenge of asking for help," Willows said.
One of the early messages to family members is simple and short - known as the four Cs.
- You did not cause the mental illness.
- You cannot control it.
- You cannot cure the mental illness.
- You can cope with the mental illness.
At the end of the eight-week course, participants self-report a 20 to 50 percent increase in comfort and understanding. They have provided feedback like "I'm starting to put ME back in the equation", "I know that I'm not alone," and "This course saved my sanity".
CMHA's Family Program - Finding Hope and Building Strength will be offered twice in Charlottetown this spring. One program is starting April 11 and running Wednesday nights. The other is starting April 12 on Thursday nights.
You can also register for upcoming courses in Summerside and Kings County by calling Tayte at (902) 628-1648.