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| The
first NAMI-NYS-sponsored Family-To-Family class belongs
to our Buffalo and Erie County affiliate. Teacher
Martha Gorman is standing second from the left. Teacher
Gerrie Cruz is sitting second from the left.
|
Knowledge begets strength: That’s the message from
the participants of Buffalo and Erie County’s Family-To-Family,
the very first NAMI-NYS-sponsored Family-To-Family graduating
class. (Since their graduation, last March, Family-to-Family
classes have graduated in Rockland, Westchester and Chautauqua
counties as well as Manhatten and Staten Island.)
Family-To-Family is for people with loved ones who have
a serious mental illness. It presents a great deal of
up-to-date, in-depth information about mental illness
and its treatment, the mental health system, what to do
in a crisis, recovery and rehabilitation, and, in general,
how to help and how to get more help.
Upon their graduation last March, several participants
in the course said it gave them more strength to deal
with the problems they and their loved ones were up against.
They were much more confident about what to do.
Most of those who had joined the course were there because
their children had a serious mental illness. Of the 17
people who signed up for the course, three had to drop
out because of the hospitalization and "multiple
crises" of a mentally ill family member. The group
that remained had such a rewarding experience that its
members have chosen to continue on as a support group
now that the classes are over.
Without exception, their course evaluations describe the
course as "great," "excellent," and
"wonderful."
"I
wish I had the knowledge that I have now years and years
ago," wrote one participant. "I am fortunate
that I was able to take this course. It has helped me
tremendously. Not only did I learn more about mental illness
and medicine, but I met families with the same heartaches
as mine. It made my burden a bit easier to bear. It taught
me how to conduct myself with my ill son."
"The
only thing I wished I could have changed was to have the
opportunity to take this course when my son was first
diagnosed," another echoed. "I believe this
course should be given to family members immediately upon
diagnosis."
Responding to the question of how the 12-week course could
be improved, one participant put, "Maybe by making
it a couple weeks longer…"
Universal praise was also given to the course’s two
teachers, Gerrie Cruz and Martha Gorman, who "led
the class with compassion, warmth and humor and stayed
on task in order to get the job done."
"This
teaching experience gave me the opportunity to verbalize
out loud sound principles and theories about mental illnesses,
their causes, treatments and effects on families,"
Ms. Cruz said. "This ‘out loud’ method
helped me with my own personal acceptance of my son’s
illness."
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