Free family education course offered

LIHUE — NAMI Kauai, with a grant from the Crawford-Idema Family Foundation, will sponsor the NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of loved ones diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

The 12 sessions start in Lihue on Jan. 5 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The class will meet for six weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The course will cover a wide range of information on topics such as schizophrenia, mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder and recovery and rehabilitation.

The curriculum has been written by an experienced family member mental health professional, and the course will be taught by two family member volunteers who have taken intensive training as certified course instructors. The co-teachers for the class will be Kathy Sheffield and Karin Medigovich.

“This course is a wonderful experience,” Sheffield said. “It balances basic education and skill-training with emotional support, coping strategies and empowerment. We hope families with relatives who have a serious mental illness will take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

The course is designed for parents, siblings, spouses, adult sons and daughters, partners and significant others who are caregivers of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. The course is not appropriate for individuals who themselves have a major mental illness, unless they demonstrate sufficient recovery to take the class, and have a family member with a mental illness.

The NAMI Family-to-Family Education program is free.

For more information, location and to register, call Sheffield at 635-3239, or send contact information via email at NAMI.Kauai@yahoo.com. Books must be ordered, so registration is necessary.

The NAMI Kauai support group meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month in Lihue from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

“We invite you to see how we support each other and learn empathy for those family members with a mental illness,” Sheffield said.