Back to Serious Mental Illness Virtual Training Archive

Series Description:

Families of persons with serious mental illness play an important role in the lives of their loved ones. In addition to being caring siblings, parents or spouses, they often function as caregivers and can be an asset to any mental health team to ensure optimal benefit of treatment. A new workforce is emerging to support these families. Family peer support workers are persons with a lived experience trained to provide support to other family members who are caring for a person with a serious mental illness.

Our Family Peer Support: An Emerging Workforce webinar series expands upon core concepts of peer support, outlines SAMHSA-published competencies in peer support, and explores how persons with lived experience as a family member, friend or other caregiver of a person with a mental illness can support others in a similar situation. Special guests with experience in the field help tell this important story.

Session Archive:

How Families Can Foster Independence: Housing

Thursday, May 20, 2021

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families to support their loved one’s desire to live independently. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn to engage their loved ones in conversations about housing and independent living;
• Learn to support their loved ones with finding housing and housing supports;
• Learn to help their loved ones be successful with independent living.
   

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Aileen Brady

How Families Can Foster Independence: Employment

Thursday, April 15, 2021

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families to support their loved one’s desire to work. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn to engage their loved ones in conversations about employment and help them become motivated to work;
• Learn to support their loved ones with job development and seek referral for vocational rehabilitation and supported employment;
• Learn to help their loved ones thrive and find independence at work.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Cecilia Losee

How Families Can Help the Team Become Oriented Toward Recovery

Thursday, March 18, 2021

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families to support their loved one’s path towards recovery. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn to support their loved one’s autonomy;
• Learn to establish a focus on recovery with other members of the mental health team;
• Learn to prepare the mental health team to engage in recovery-oriented dialogue.
   

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Jon Thomsen; Dr. Mark Thomsen

How to Orient Families and Their Loved One Toward Recovery

Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families to support their loved one’s path towards recovery. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn the definition of recovery;
• Learn to motivate their loved one to engage in recovery and rehabilitation oriented activities;
• Learn develop and implement a recovery plan for their loved one.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; James and Barbara Kirkpatrick; Cecilia Losee; Ed Furay

Family Peer Support: Preventing Crisis and Relapse

Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families in their roles to prevent relapse and intervene during psychiatric crisis. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn early detection of a crisis of their loved one;
• Learn to develop a relapse prevention and crisis management plan; and
• Learn to implement a relapse prevention and crisis management plan.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Rich Kalal

Family Peer Support: Being Part of the Mental Health Team

Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will demonstrate ways in which family peer support empowers families in their roles on the mental health team. In particular, participants will learn how recipients of family peer support:

• Learn self-regulation;
• Learn to partner with the mental health team to develop a crisis plan; and
• Learn to partner with the mental health team to develop a recovery plan.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Rita and Stuart (Last names omitted for privacy)

Family Peer Support: Self-Care

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance will describe how family peer support workers help families adjust their thoughts, feelings and behavior to promote health and well-being. Self-care allows family members to relate better to their loved ones, and providers and practitioners to promote recovery. Participants will understand how a family peer support worker can help families:  

• Adopt productive self-care strategies through teaching and modeling;
• Understand, identify, and accept their own emotional response to the illness of a loved one; and
• Develop a personal self-care plan.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Cecilia Losee; Rich Kalal

Family Peer Support: Outcomes

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020

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In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance review the outcomes and benefits of family peer support. Participants will learn how family peer support can:

• Improve the subjective experiences (well-being) of family members;
• Ease the objective realities (life roles) many family members experience; and
• Help families balance and establish family and caregiver roles.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram, Bill Baerentzen, Ph.D., CRC, LMHP, Jon Thomsen, Joe and Nancy Pawloski

Kick-off webinar: Family Peer Support: An Emerging Workforce

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020

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In this webinar, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance introduce family peer support as a profession, explore peer support roles and functions, and highlight specific training needs.

Speakers: Dr. Lilchandra Jai Sookram; Dr. Bill Baerentzen; Cecilia Losee; Rich Kalal