BRATTLEBORO — Mental health systems throughout the nation are undergoing dramatic changes as they develop recovery-oriented service, support, and outcomes for individuals living with mental illness, their families and their communities.
In the process, significant new roles and expectations have been created for mental health providers, based on greater peer empowerment and wider collaboration with clients and families on the treatment team.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Provider Education Program is a free course designed to help line staff at public agencies who work with individuals with severe and persistent mental illness learn this new approach by attending a 15-hour course held over three consecutive weeks.
The course is presented by a panel of five NAMI trained volunteers: two individuals living with mental illness, two family members, and a mental health professional who is also a family-member or living with mental illness.
The primary knowledge base of the course is the lived experience of individuals living with mental illness and family members relating to critical clinical aspects of serious mental illness.
The purpose of the course is to help providers “see our lives” from the inside so that effective, equitable and compassionate partnerships can guide the treatment process. Participants will attend classes in clinical secondary intervention strategies for family and individuals living with mental illness in their passage from trauma to recovery, plus specific sessions on how to work with clients and families in a collaborative manner.
The course starts March 14 in Brattleboro. Registration is required. Contact NAMI Vermont at 800-639-6480 or info@namivt.org for additional information. This course is partially funded through a grant from the Vermont Agency of Human Services' Division of Mental Health.