NAMI NJ School Education Programs E-news
December 2021
Family Education and Support Programs
FREE EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

NAMI Basics is an education program for parents, caregivers, and other family members who provide care for youth (ages 22 and younger) who are experiencing mental health symptoms. This program is guided by parents and family members with lived experiences.

NAMI Basics is also available through a self-paced online course. NAMI Basics OnDemand.
NAMI Connection Recovery
Support Group is a 60 minute support group for adults (18+) with a mental health condition. Participants gain the support of peers who understand their experience and gain insight into others’ challenges and successes.

NAMI Connection Recovery
Support Group
2nd and 4th Wed at 12 pm – 1 pm ET
Every Wed at 7 pm – 8 pm ET
NAMI Family Support Group is a 60 minute support group for adult friends and family members (18+) of people with mental health conditions. Participants gain support from peers who understand their experience and gain insight into others’ challenges and successes

NAMI Family Support Group
Wednesdays at 7 pm – 8 pm ET

The spouse/partner group will meet
 2nd Thursday of the month

The sibling group will meet 4th Tuesday of the month
Additional Support Groups
The Youth Mental
Health Project

The Parent Support Network™ is a program of The Youth Mental Health Project that seeks to provide support for parents and guardians who are concerned about the mental health of their children through confidential, peer-to-peer meetings.

Parents and guardians need support to navigate the challenges that arise when raising kids who struggle with their mental health. By sharing experiences and personal stories, parents will connect with each other and gather strength from the knowledge that they are not alone. 
Upcoming Webinars
NAMI Ask the Expert: Navigating the Winter & Holiday Blues
*This Webinar is pre-recorded*

NAMI Ask the Expert Webinar welcomes Dr. Christine Crawford, Associate Medical Director at NAMI, who will provide an overview of the various stressors that people can experience over the winter months. She will discuss symptoms that people can experience secondary to Seasonal Affective Disorder, as well as challenges that people can face over the course of the holiday season. Dr. Crawford will review strategies that people can use as they navigate the winter months in order to mitigate their stress during this period of time. After the presentation, NAMI’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ken Duckworth will moderate a Q&A session.
Protecting Your Mental Health During Times of Crisis

Experiencing intense difficulties, troubles, or danger during various life moments can leave a lasting imprint on who you are and how you see the world. It’s important during these times of crisis to actively protect your mental health.

Join JoAnna Snider-Anderson, staff psychologist for the Houston Police Department, as she explains why it’s important and provides tools you can use to recognize, understand, and manage stress. View here
Articles for Teachers & Families
Surgeon General Warns of Emerging Youth Mental Health Crisis in Rare Public Advisory
Citing mounting evidence of ongoing harm, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy on Tuesday issued a public health advisory on the mental health challenges confronting youth, a rare warning and call to action to address what he called an emerging crisis exacerbated by pandemic hardships. Read More

Coping With Holiday Stress: 11 Parenting Tips
For many, the holidays are anticipated as idyllic. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a substantial mental health toll on all of us. Kids and parents in isolation; most of us missing the joy of the holidays last year at the peak of the pandemic; tragic loss of loved ones. However, it turns out that there are some things we can do to manage the tough times, and though many of these things seem obvious, it’s their very obviousness that often causes us to forget. Read More

Finding Better Ways to Ensure Safety for LGBTQ young people
It is imperative that everyone, particularly those with privilege and administrative access and decision-making duties, work to create equality, safety and inclusion for all youth in their schools and communities. Their safety is not a privilege — it is their right. Read More

School Wellness Rooms Provide Relief amid Youth Mental Health Crisis
There’s a mental health crisis among the nation’s youth, and schools in the Washington County School District are looking to address it, 10 minutes at a time. Schools are now implementing "wellness rooms", where students who are overwhelmed can check in, assess their feelings and take a few moments to calm themselves.

Schools Can Help with the Youth Mental Health Crisis
“Terrifying” shortages of counselors mean “students coming to their educators with urgent mental health problems are told to wait three months to get 20 minutes of help.” The suicide rate for persons aged 10 to 24 increased nearly 60% over a decade-long span ending in 2018, making suicide the second leading cause of death for teens, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Read More

ADHD in Girls: Why It’s Ignored, Why That’s Dangerous
Many young girls with ADHD — most with inattentive symptoms — are being drowned out by loud, hyperactive boys who demonstrate the condition’s stereotypical behavior. Learn how to recognize the mistaken, misunderstood symptoms of ADHD or ADD in girls, and turn around this unfair unbalance for your daughter or yourself. Read More
Articles for Teachers & Families
Bullying Prevention Resources
If you have done everything you can to resolve the situation and nothing has worked, or someone is in immediate danger, there are ways to get help.

Learn how to identify bullying and stand up to it safely by clicking here.
Teens Against Bullying is a website created by and for teens where middle and high school students can find ways to address bullying, to take action, to be heard, and to own an important social cause.

Click here to navigate through different resources such as Bullying Defined, Advocacy For Self, Advocacy For Others, and Take Action
KnowBullying by SAMHSA
Download the App designed by SAMHSA for parents to find simple conversation starters to prevent bullying and help their
child build resilience by boosting their confidence, resilience, and build effective strategies for facing bullying.
(Available for Apple and Android; for free)
Supporting Youth Mental Health
Classroom WISE is a FREE 3-part training package that assists K-12 educators in supporting the mental health of students in the classroom. This package offers evidence-based strategies and skills to engage and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom. Enroll here

(Note: you must first register through Healtheknowledge here)
Talking with Kids was launched with the goal of leveraging the power of technology and media to support parents and caregivers in talking with kids about difficult issues and promote children’s health and well-being. Talking with Kids provides an opportunity to re-imagine strategies for family engagement by supporting parents with the tools and resources needed to influence positive outcomes in their child’s well-being.

Click here to navigate through different topic areas such as: Sex & Relationships, Sickness & Death, Violence, Divorce, and more.
The Child Mind Institute’s School and Community Programs have delivered mental health supports to more than 60,000 students, caregivers, educators, and counselors. The program brings a suite of evidence-based services to prevent and treat student mental health disorders in school and community settings.

Click here to navigate through different programs such as Direct Care Prevention, Direct Care Intervention, and Capacity-Building.
The National Association of School Psychologists provides a list of tips for parents and educators to help support children’s mental health.

Visit the page here or download it here
Suicide Prevention Resources
HealtheKnowledge provides online learning and continuing education for professionals.

"Suicide Prevention Across the Educational Continuum: A Five-Part Series"
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders.

2NDFLOOR is a confidential and anonymous helpline for New Jersey's youth and young adults (ages 10-24). They help find solutions to problems and are available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Share your story or read other people's stories anonymously on the online message board

Call: 1-888-222-2228,
or text at 888-222-2228
Leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25. Trained counselors available 24/7.

Call: 1-866-488-7386,
or text "START" to 678-678,
or chat with us online
YOU'RE NOT ALONE.
Whether you have struggled with suicide yourself or have lost a loved one, know you are not alone. Hear about personal experiences from people in your local community whose lives have been impacted by suicide.
If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or call 911 immediately.
In response to the unique needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, NAMI NJ has pivoted to bring on a special online series in order to help our diverse communities cope better, with evidence-based and trauma-informed educational material on a wide range of topics. Click here to view past webinars and stay tuned for upcoming ones! 
NAMI NJ School Education Programs | www.naminj.org/programs/school-programs