Education

EDUCATION

NAMI Metro offers a number of education and training opportunities for family members, consumers, providers and the general public. These programs utilize the experience and insights of family members and individuals who have been impacted with mental illness. These individuals have learned to live or are still learning to live with mental illness in their lives and are dedicated volunteers anxious to help others.

  • Families in Action is a 10 Week interactive Education course for family members of persons who have  mental illness. The course consists of 10 classes once a week, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  The course is facilitated by individuals who are volunteers and also have a family member with serious mental illness. They have been specially trained to teach the course. The course covers the information, concepts, skills and issues needed to understand, support, manage and cope with a family member or friend with serious mental illness. The following provides an outline of the topics covered in each week of the course.
    1. Families Wants and Needs
    2. Recovery – Process of Hope
    3. Community Resources
    4. Signs and Symptoms
    5. Medications
    6. Stress Management
    7. Communication Skills
    8. Dual Diagnosis
    9. Dealing with Difficult Symptoms
    10. Supporting Recovery (including a panel of persons in recovery)
  • NAMI Ending the Silence is a NAMI National signature program for Middle and High School age students.   Helping middle and high school students understand mental illness makes a big difference. We can teach them about the warning signs for themselves and their friends. NAMI Ending the Silence helps raise awareness and change perceptions around mental health conditions. Through this free classroom presentation, students get to see the reality of living with a mental health condition.  To see a full description of this program follow this link: https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/NAMI-Programs/NAMI-Ending-the-Silence
  • NAMI Basics Education Program – The fundamentals of caring for you, your family and your child with mental illness.  This program is for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illnesses.  It covers the fundamentals of caring for yourself, family and for your child.  What You Should Expect in NAMI Basics Program:  This program is now offered on line with NAMI National. Full description:  . https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/NAMI-Programs/NAMI-Basics
  • General Meetings  are free, open to the general public and are held the first Tuesday of each month (except December – March). These educational meetings are held at two separate locations:  Every other month at Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN) Headquarters, 5505 Corporate Drive, Troy, 48096 and Trinity Health (St. Mary’s) 36475 Five Mile Rd. Livonia, MI 48154.  Follow signs for Emergency Entrance and South Entrance on Levan Rd. South of Five Mile Rd.  Enter South Entrance and follow signs to Elevator “D” to lower level auditorium .   In addition to information on upcoming events for the tri-county area, items of concern to families of persons with mental illness are presented. The educational speakers include psychiatrists, professionals, individuals in recovery and service organizations. The meetings begin at 7:00 pm.
  • In Our Own Voice (IOOV) is a NAMI National signature program. It is a free recovery education presentation given by trained consumer presenters for other consumers, family members, friends, professionals, and lay audiences. This is a brief, yet comprehensive interactive presentation about mental illness – including video, personal testimony, and discussion – enriches the audience’s understanding of how people with these serious disorders cope with the reality of their illnesses while recovering and reclaiming productive lives.  In Our Own Voice (IOOV):  Living with Mental Illnesses is a practical tool to educate and increase awareness about the true nature of brain disorders, commonly known as mental illnesses.  The presentation covers issues frequently faced by those dealing with severe mental illnesses:
  1. What Happened
  2. What Helped
  3. What Next
  • A few of the benefits of this program is that it:
  1. Raises awareness in communities about recovery from mental illness
  2. Empowers consumers by providing a path to recovery
  3. Presents the real face of mental illness
  4. Combats stigma by opening dialogue

For more information or to schedule speakers for your organization, group, school, etc. contact NAMI Metro at (248) 348-7197.

  • Educational Outreach/Speakers Bureau Our volunteer speakers come with a tremendous amount of experience and insight. We do free presentations to civic, religious, education, community and professional groups and are available on request. Please contact NAMI Metro at (248) 348-7197  for information. These may include talks on the nature of mental illness, family experiences, public policy, stigma, the mental health system, etc. We will tailor the presentation to the specific interest, forum or conference.
  • Quarterly Printed Newsletter – Our volunteer communications committee produces four printed newsletters a year for our members, winter, spring, summer and fall. These newsletters provide current events, upcoming events and general membership information. It also provides educational information through articles on mental health research, treatment, legislative issues, caregiver tips, etc.
  • Electronic newsletters – news/issues get mailed to members and friends of NAMI Metro. These are educational with the most recent information and mental health news getting in the hands of members.
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