Family Support
Supporting someone you love who has a mental health or substance use issue can take a lot of hard work. Family supports are for the people who support us—our parents, our significant others, and other friends and allies.
Family Support is different from family therapy. The focus isn’t on working through problems within the family, but rather on providing education and help to the family or friends of someone who is struggling with mental illness, substance use, or addiction.
“I wish there had been a support group for my parents, for people like my parents struggling with kids who are going through hard times. Or if there are, that they had known about them.”
What is NAMI?
The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides FREE support, education, and advocacy both for people like us who experience mental health and addiction issues and for our families. Many people feel a huge sense of relief, understanding, and bonding when they first get involved with NAMI after struggling on their own.
NAMI chapters are everywhere. They offer support groups, guest speakers, and more—all for free and open to the public. Also offer special multi-week programs—like “Family to Family” (F2F) and the Child and Adolescent Network (CAN)—that are like a Mental Health 101 for our families.
“I wish my dad would have taken the NAMI Family to Family training. My mom took it and she said it was a very good experience and she learned a lot.”
What about advocacy for children?
FAVOR is a Family Advocacy group for children’s mental health in Connecticut. They offer support groups, trainings, advocacy, and more. The Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center and State Education Resource Center provide training, documents, and legal resources.
