NAMI Kane County Offers Free 12-Week Course To Help Families Coping With Mental Illness
Do you live with or love someone with mental illness?
You can find professional help and education — for free — in a 12-week course sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness Kane County North.
The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program is designed specifically for families, caregivers and friends of persons diagnosed with serious mental illness. The first of 12 sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, and the final session will take place form 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 9. The classes will be held at Ecker Mental Health Center, 1845 Grandstand Place, Elgin.
The free course will cover information about schizophrenia, the mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression,) panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder; coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse, basic information about medications; listening and communication techniques; problem-solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; and self-care around worry and stress.
The course will be taught by NAMI Kane County North family member volunteers who have taken intensive training as course instructors.
Family-to Family is an evidenced-based course, and while it is offered at no cost, class size is limited to 20, so registration is required.
Contact NAMI at www.namikcn.org or 847-410-9719 to register or for more information.
History of NAMI Kane County
The NAMI affiliate named NAMI of Fox Valley was founded in 1987 by four mothers who were concerned about the welfare of people with mental illness. Its first meetings were held in the basement of Sherman Hospital where participants met primarily to support each other and to better understand mental illness.
As membership grew and the organization became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit entity (1989), NAMI moved its meeting location to the Dundee Library and then to Elgin Community College in 1993. In 1994, NAMI relocated to Ecker Center’s third floor for business/support meetings, and voted to change the name to NAMI Kane County.
