Services

Telephone Assistance and Referral

Volunteers usually staff the NAMI NKY office Monday through Thursday, from 11 am—4 pm. There are times when no one can staff the office, even during these stated times. Volunteers may staff the office and answer calls at other times. We have one telephone line. If it is in use, or after regular hours, please leave your name and telephone numbers clearly.

Volunteers try to return calls as soon as possible. Sometimes volunteers will return calls from their home telephones. NAMI NKY policy directs volunteers to block their phone number when making such return calls. If you have left a message for a return call, you may want to accept callers with undisclosed numbers until a NAMI NKY volunteer responds to your call. Please be sure that any message device has space to record messages.

Family members of people with serious and persistent mental illness respond to telephone calls seeking information or referral. They provide empathy and experience with the problems common to families dealing with mental illness.

NAMI NKY volunteers are not behavioral health professionals. Volunteers cannot diagnose or treat mental illness. They do not offer therapy. Volunteer phone responders can listen to your concerns. They can share their own experiences. They can refer you to resources appropriate for your needs. Volunteers cannot recommend particular behavioral health practitioners. They can refer you to resources to identify local professionals.

NAMI NKY stocks most NAMI materials about mental illnesses. It has materials on suicide prevention and post-attempt information. NAMI NKY also stocks materials of generic referral, and limited materials of other organizations that focus on issues common to mental illness. NAMI stocks information packets about supported employment (Individual Placement and Support.)

After a telephone discussion with you about your situation, the answering volunteer will mail you appropriate materials. You can join our newsletter email list during this telephone call. The answering volunteer may also enroll you for an education course if you are interested.

Email Contacts

NAMI NKY welcomes initial contact via email. You may send messages to our general address . NAMI NKY volunteers check this address regularly. Please include telephone contact information in your email message. A volunteer will call you as soon as possible. Please tell us the times we can reach you. Give us the best telephone number to contact you.

Volunteers cannot address individual situations by email. The complication of these illnesses requires conversation to clarify your needs and our responses.

Family-to-Family Education Course

NAMI NKY periodically offers this course. It is the very best education for family members of people with serious and persistent mental illness. The Family-to-Family Education Course is FREE. The teachers for the course are two people who have family members with a serious and persistant mental illness. They understand where you come from.

This course helps families to understand the illness. It teaches them to interact better with their ill relative. Evidence proves that family members who take this course are better able to cope with their ill family member. They can also take better care of themselves. Many family members attest to the life-changing effects of the lessons.

The course covers the medical aspects of the illness. It reveals the brain functions affected by mental illness. It goes over diagnosis & prognosis. It includes medications, their side effects, & the normal range of doses. It covers compliance with medication. It helps us recognize signs of relapse. The course covers new methods of treatment and current research.

The course includes the psychological and emotional aspects of mental illness. It demonstrates what it is like to have mental illness. It normalizes the typical family responses to having an ill member. It teaches coping strategies. Participants practice empathetic listening & responding to the ill person. The course includes typical responses of different family members, and the burdens these roles entail. It encourages self-care by teaching methods of managing anger and feelings of entrapment. It stresses coping with shattered dreams.

The course exposes the social and occupational aspects of having mental illness. It defines recovery. It features testimony from those in recovery. It proposes types of community support. It suggests methods of restoring social ties. The course emphasizes maximizing the ill relative’s personal fulfillment and quality of life. It includes a problem solving process. It teaches communication skills. It raises awareness of the negative stereotypes and stigma surrounding mental illness.

NAMI NKY defines “family” broadly: by blood, marriage, or affinity. Partners, step-relatives, grandparents-- anyone with an interest in the well-being of the ill person—are welcome to enroll for the course. NAMI NKY encourages family members with deceased relatives to participate.

The Family-to-Family course runs for 12 weeks straight. It convenes on the same day and time each week. NAMI NKY asks students to attend all sessions. NAMI NKY most often holds classes in the spring and fall.

Family/Friends Support Groups

Family/Friends support groups allow family members of people with mental illness to vent and discuss their difficulties in a safe, supportive environment. Partners and friends are welcome to participate.

A trained facilitator conducts each group. Facilitators are also family members of a person with serious and persistent mental illness. Everything in a support group remains confidential. The Facilitator reminds support group participants of this rule of confidentiality at the beginning of each session.

Support groups use tools to guide the discussions in a positive and constructive manner. Facilitators encourage self-help among participants. Often, someone else in the group has had a similar problem. Other members may have constructive suggestions. Families new to mental illness usually feel quite alone. Attending a support group can soften that isolation.

We plan topics for discussion in advance of each meeting. Group members often suggest those topics.

For specific information about current NAMI NKY Family/Friends support groups, see the Calendar and the link to our newsletters on the Contact Us page.

Connection Support Group (for Consumers)

A Connection support group supports recovery. Connection groups discuss living and coping with mental illness. Consumers can make new friends by attending regularly. The group encourages participants to help each other.

A trained facilitator conducts each Connection group. Each facilitator has been diagnosed with mental illness.

Everything in a Connection group remains confidential. The Facilitator reminds the group about this rule at the beginning of each meeting. The facilitator will guide the discussion to keep it positive and constructive.

Facilitators have resources to help with recovery. Connection groups can also choose to work on specific activities to support recovery. The group can decide to develop Wellness Recovery Action Plans (WRAP), or prepare mental health advance directives. We plan topics for discussion in advance of each meeting. Group members often suggest those topics.

For specific information about current NAMI NKY Connection support groups, see the Calendar and the link to our newsletters on the contact us page.

Social Events

Why does NAMI NKY sponsor social events? Isn’t this a distraction from our mission?

When people interact at social events, it normalizes the circumstances of having mental illness. It gives members an opportunity to connect with other consumers and families in a relaxed atmosphere. It is a break from the “work” of support groups and classes. Such occasions support the hope of recovery. Social events provide a rare social outlet for consumers with few such opportunities.

Family Picnic

The Picnic is a social gathering of members, consumers and their families. NAMI NKY also invites special guests from local residential and day treatment programs for consumers.

The NAMI NKY Board of Directors plans and conducts the picnic at a local county or city park. If possible, the park location will be accessible by a TANK bus line. Generally, NAMI NKY schedules the picnic for the evening of the second Tuesday in August.

Members bring potluck picnic side dishes. There are plenty of grilled sausages and fixings for everyone. NAMI NKY plans for games like water balloon tosses. There are generally a number of Corn Hole sets. Sometimes there is a scavenger hunt. NAMI NKY has small prizes for game winners and a few door prizes. Everyone has a good time at the picnic!

Holiday Party

This holiday gathering brings together members, consumers and their families. NAMI NKY also invites special guests from local residential and day treatment programs for consumers.

NAMI NKY generally plans this event for the second Tuesday evening in December. The party includes games, small gifts, and a dinner buffet. NAMI NKY members bring potluck dishes to share. Often Santa or Mrs. Claus makes an appearance. This is a NAMI NKY event where children are welcome.

Steps Against Stigma

Steps Against Stigma will be our first fundraising walk/run for NAMI NKY to be held in Northern Kentucky and exclusively benefiting NAMI NKY. We plan to hold this event annually in the fall, beginning in 2011.

At first look, NAMIWalks is just a fundraiser. But there are many social aspects as well. The camaraderie of hundreds of consumers and family members walking to support NAMI and its goals is very inspiring. Pets and baby strollers are out in significant numbers. It is very heartening to see so many people acknowledging the reality of mental illness. Teams form in honor of the living and in memory of the dead. Everyone who raises money raises consciousness of the plight of mental illness and the promise that NAMI advocates. Hope for recovery is in the air! Don’t miss this uplifting annual event.

As we plan each year’s event, specific information about the event will be available here. NAMI NKY’s newsletter will also report details and instructions for signing up.

See the link to our newsletter on the contact us page.