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FAMILY MENTAL HEALTH:
Accept, Advocate, Act
December 1, 2022 | Volume 1, Issue 2
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Note from the Executive Director
Hello, Families, Family Peer Specialists, and Family-Run Organization Leaders!
Thank you to everyone who came to Oklahoma and joined us online to reconnect over learning and celebration of all of the amazing things being done to further acceptance of family mental and behavioral health challenges. Make sure to check out our Annual Conference highlights below if you missed us this year.
The holiday season comes with joyful celebrations around tables filled with favorite foods, surrounded by family for many. At the same time, it usually means higher levels of stress, mental health crises, and substance misuse. For some, the holiday season can hold painful reminders of those no longer at the table, challenge folks to maintain their recovery, or be a time of isolation.
In this edition of our newsletter and in our December events, we're providing resources and tools for you to combat seasonal depression, use healthy coping strategies to maintain your recovery journey, and practice self-care and community care as you overcome the stresses of the holiday season. We urge you to focus on the joys of this time of year with your family—whether that's the family you were born into or the family you have created. Find some time for rest, relaxation, and reflection during this last month of the year so we can all come back with energy to keep fighting for family mental health acceptance in 2023!
With hope,
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Lynda Gargan, PhD.
Executive Director, National Federation of Families
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National Federation of Families News & Highlights | | |
Our Annual Conference, in Oklahoma City this year, was attended in-person and virtually by more than 700 people! We learned a lot and connected in our 80 breakout sessions. | If you missed our conference this year, make sure to visit our YouTube page for a playlist of virtual sessions. | | |
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Celebrating Our 2022
Award Winners
Watch this year’s Awards Ceremony where we honored those individuals who made substantial contributions to the family workforce and to families whose children experience behavioral health or substance use challenges.
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Reclaiming Children Award
Sherry Candelaria, Reach Family Services
Family Peer Support Award
Joanne Peterson, Learn to Cope
Karl Dennis Unconditional Care Award
Olivia Del Giudice, Kaleidoscope4Kids
Awards of Appreciation
Joni Bruce, Oklahoma Family Network
Becky O’Dell, Parents Helping Parents
Michelle Covington, National Federation of Families
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Save the date for our 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago on November 9th-11th! | |
National Family Support Technical Assistance Center News & Highlights | | |
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The National Family Support Technical Assistance Center (NFSTAC) invites you to submit requests for technical assistance. NFSTAC is driven by the needs of families and the workforce that supports families. NFSTAC works for you.
NFSTAC provides education, training, and family support resources tailored specifically to families, the family peer workforce, communities, healthcare systems, clinicians, and educators. Our network of partners and subject matter experts will work with you to help address your needs. Our technical assistance is always free.
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Family Connection:
Reframing the Holidays
December 1st, 1:30 p.m. ET
As the saying goes, “Change is the only constant.” Our situations and relationships may have changed over time and are now challenging. We may look to the holiday season with confusing emotions or even dread. We’ll talk about how to reframe our outlook for the coming month.
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Office Hour:
Organizational Well-Being
December 13th, 3:00 p.m. ET
This month, Dr. Martha Staeheli will discuss why burnout and compassion fatigue are a leadership problem and how behavioral health leaders can prevent and address these issues. She will provide strategies to increase staff well-being; staff can then pass these strategies on to families.
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Webinar: Signs and Symptoms: Presenting Features of Eating Disorders
December 6th, 2:00 p.m. ET
Childhood and adolescence are times of growth and development and, thus, periods of increased risk of eating disorders. Assessing growth and development accurately, without weight bias, is essential for the healthcare provider in the screening, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders in pediatric patients.
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In October, you told us which skills you are most excited to learn about. We had an almost even split between topics! Luckily, the NFSTAC Office Hour, Webinar, and Family Connections events we have planned through now and into 2023 will address all of these skills! | |
| QUESTION: What was your biggest takeaway from the conference? | | | |
Happy Belated National Caregivers Month! | | |
Seasonal Depression Prevention this Holiday Season | | |
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Depending on where you live, up to 10% of your geographic region could be experiencing seasonal depression. During the winter season of shorter, darker, colder days, many people feel a sense of sadness that is either more intense or not there at all during other times of the year.
There are many things you can do to prevent and address seasonal depression (also known as seasonal affective disorder, SAD):
- Get outside
- Get active
- Eat a healthy diet
- Light up your environment
- Reframe your attitude
- Practice self-care
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Resources to Prevent and Address Seasonal Depression
Child Mind Institute's "What is Seasonal Affective Disorder" helps families understand the signs, symptoms, and possible treatments of SAD.
On Our Sleeve's "Understanding Seasonal Affective Depression in Kids" includes tips for prevention and a short video to share with families or on social media.
Mental Health America has some great "Winter Break Survival Tips for College Students" and ideas for support during the holidays.
People with bipolar and eating disorders are at increased risk for SAD. Learn how to help from bphope and Center for Discovery.
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Celebrating Our Affiliates | | |
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Augusta, ME
G.E.A.R. Parent Network knows that the families with whom they work need extra support over the holidays. They held community education events about Seasonal Affective Disorder and Managing Caregiver Stress in November and have plans for two holiday themed community events for families coming up in December.
These Mainers don't try to do everything on their own. Instead, they've partnered with Maine Alliance of Family Organizations to bring a coordinated suite of services to families.
Learn more about how G.E.A.R. Parent Network exemplifies a family-run, community-based, collaborative approach to supporting families.
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Interested in being a
Featured Affiliate?
In January, we'll be featuring an affiliate that helps the families with whom they work hunt for happiness and practice resilience. Reach out to dasby@ffcmh.org if your organization has a program, event, or great story to share!
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Legislative & Advocacy News | | | |
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SAMHSA Interim Strategic Plan
This month, SAMHSA released their Interim Strategic Plan. It is meant to provide a roadmap to carry out the vision and mission of SAMHSA over the next four years. SAMHSA has identified five priority areas to better meet the behavioral health care needs of individuals, communities, and service providers:
- Preventing Overdose
- Enhancing Access to Suicide Prevention and Crisis Care
- Promoting Resilience and Emotional Health for Children, Youth, and Families
- Integrating Behavioral and Physical Health Care
- Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce
Learn more about the Strategic Plan
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Children's Mental Health Acceptance | | |
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Families Can’t Wait for…Acceptance Now!
Lynda Gargan kicked off our new 2023 Campaign “Acceptance Now” in her keynote address at our national conference, outlining the critical need for change. As an organization focused on families across the lifespan, we believe acceptance more directly combats discrimination and prejudice. We’ve been making people “aware” for 20 years, and it’s time to demand “acceptance.” Acceptance is social justice.
This campaign builds on the Federation’s successful launch earlier this year of the first Children’s Mental Health ACCEPTANCE Week.
In 2023, Children’s Mental Health ACCEPTANCE Week is May 7th-13th. NFF will be working with Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32) to seek a new Congressional declaration to make this change permanent. Current planning resources can be found here with new resources to come.
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Join us in celebrating the Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity's recent launch of the AFFIRM Caregiver Training program. After a competitive application process, the CoE LGBTQ+ BHE has selected four sites to implement AFFIRM Caregiver in their communities. | |
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Resource:
National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care
In November, SAMHSA released national guidelines for improving crisis care for families, children, and youth. Highlighting best practices and strategies for implementation, it also offers guidance for communities to develop appropriate services to meet the urgent needs of families.
SAMHSA recommends that "youth in crisis from mental health and substance use disorders receive care in the least restrictive setting possible, and if it is safe, at home and in the community. Whenever possible, hospitalizations and justice system involvement should be safely reduced or prevented."
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Resource:
From Crisis to Care: Building from 988 and Beyond for Better Mental Health Outcomes
A few weeks after their national youth guidelines, SAMHSA released this series of technical assistance collaborative papers about the need for further development to effectively implement the 988 behavioral health crisis hotline.
All of the papers address issues that impact behavioral health, but "A Safe Place to Be: Crisis Stabilization Services and Other Supports for Children and Youth" might be especially interesting to the family workforce: "The essential elements of a community-based crisis service array are someone to contact (crisis call lines), someone to respond (mobile response teams), and a safe place to be..."
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