2008 Affiliate President Conference Call Schedule Posted Calls will be held from 12:00 to 1:00 PM on the Thursday prior to the Board of Directors meetings/calls. 2008 Board of Directors Meeting Schedule Posted Family to Family Teacher calls: 2nd Wednesday of the month. If you would like to be on the call, please contact Lisa Moore at lmoore @namitexas.org.

What is a Support Group?

A support group is made of people who share a common problem or concern. By meeting together and talking with one another, group members benefit in several different ways. Our support group provides families coping with mental illness an opportunity to focus in their unique situation within the framework of the principles of support.

Support Groups let people know they are not alone. In the midst of psychiatric problems, people often feel as if no one can or does understand what they are going through. Friends and other family members may not be helpful or their help may be misdirected. It may be that we have never known anyone else with this problem before. A support group composed of others who have the same or similar circumstances helps families to know that their reactions are not bad or wrong. Family members begin to see themselves as having predictable reactions to unpredictable events. Simply hearing stories of others in comparable situations is relieving and helps make what is happening seem less unusual and extraordinary.

Support Groups offer hope. Without hope, support groups would quickly close. As new members meet established group members who have been helped by the group's support, they can hope that they, too, will find help within the group. When group members experience someone in the group taking a positive step, it provides hope for everyone that each individual can take more positive steps toward making changes.

Support Groups provide information. "Two heads are better than one" is certainly true where support groups are concerned. When people meet together, they have an opportunity to share information. Together the pool of information grows significantly and becomes a resource available to each group member. Information can help reduce anxiety, guide problem solving, and point to other sources of assistance. A support group where information is shared may save families from "reinventing the wheel."

Support Groups give people a chance to be helpful to others. It is rewarding to feel that we can reach and be of help to others. In the family of a person with mental illness there may be little that the individual can do to 'help' and, as a result, he or she feels powerless. In the group people make a difference to others by showing up, by sharing, and by listening. Everyone needs to feel useful, and in a support group everyone is important.

To participate in a NAMI Texas support group, please contact the NAMI affiliate in your area.