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SALT LAKE CITY When Wendy Fayles’ daughter, Kelsey, was in 7th grade, she experienced what doctors later determined was a psychotic break. Overnight, Kelsey went from the student every teacher wanted to clone to someone who had trouble at school, spent a lot of time alone, and refused to talk to her family members.
“It was such a confusing time for us and for Kelsey. We felt so alone, and so did she,” Wendy Fayles said.
Helping a loved one manage their mental health can come with a learning curve. That’s why NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, offers a course to educate and empower parents and caregivers.
“It wasn’t until a few years later that we discovered courses that would have helped us all a lot during this time,” Wendy explained.
NAMI Basics and Progression are free courses offered by NAMI Utah.
NAMI Basics is a six-week course designed for parents and other family caregivers of children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with mental illness or who are experiencing symptoms but have not yet received a formal diagnosis. The course covers everything from the biology behind mental health issues to practical tools for communicating effectively with your child and the different systems of care they are involved in (including the mental health system, the education system, and the health care system). juvenile justice).
“You learn what all these confusing acronyms like APRN, LCSW, IEP, etc. mean,” said Wendy Fayles, who is now a certified basic education teacher. “You learn how to set up a record-keeping system to track appointments, medications, medication changes, and all those things that you don’t think about when you’re in the middle of a crisis but really do, We really end up needing it later. And above all, we learn that we are not the only parent to be faced with this kind of situation.”
NAMI Utah’s Progression course is a free, six-week course for teens experiencing mental health issues. In a safe and supportive environment, teens meet teens with mental health issues and learn all about mental illness, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and tips for living a full life and rewarding with a mental health problem. Progression Instructors are young adults who first experienced mental illness as teenagers.
Kelsey Fayles spent several years as a progression instructor. “I wish this course had existed when I was diagnosed,” she said. “I have lost friends to mental illness and sometimes I wonder if they would still be here if they had been able to follow the Progression program.”
If you or someone you know is interested in enrolling in the NAMI Basics or Progression course, register here.
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