Mental Health Matters: Caregivers connections: Finding balance

By Medicine Hat News on August 26, 2017.

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is excited to host a new support group in Medicine Hat. Caregivers Connections: Finding Balance is a drop-in support group for parents and/or caregivers for individuals with mental health concerns. This new support group is the first of its kind in Medicine Hat and has specific approaches to support those who attend.

Parents and caregivers often have struggles attending to individuals with mental health issues, which in turn cause them to struggle with themselves. Caregivers Connections is a different type of support group as it is co-facilitated and one facilitator is an individual with lived experience as a caregiver to someone with a mental illness. This allows the group to provide support for each other as well as having available the experience and knowledge of someone who understands their situation.

Many community members accessing support and education about mental health indicate a need for greater support for themselves. There are supports available to someone living with a mental health concern but family members are often left in the dark, perhaps feeling confused, frustrated, scared and even angry. This group has a process-over-context approach which means instead of providing specific information about mental health diagnosis, we provide encouragement and validation to each individual journey that members are currently experiencing as they take care of their loved one.

Through the support of peers with lived experience, parents and caregivers will learn how to best take care of themselves, how to ask for help when necessary, the importance of boundaries, how to incorporate self-care into their lives and when to say no. In addition to these topics, other key areas of need as identified by the families and caregivers will also be covered. The members of the group will decide topics of concern and the staff will provide direction and resources when needed. Group discussions and activities are aimed to create tools that individuals can use in their daily life to have a more fulfilling life.

Caregivers Connections will start Monday, Sept. 11 at 6:30 to 8 p.m. and will be held every following Monday evening after that date. The group will take place at the CMHA office, which is located at #204 1865 Dunmore Rd SE. Snacks and coffee will be provided by the CMHA staff and is open to all community members. It is a drop-in group with minimal sign-up and is cost-free.

Justine Fiegler is the youth mental health outreach rorker with Canadian Mental Health Association. In addition to the youth program, Justine also serves as a facilitator with Caregivers Connections. For any inquires please call 403-504-1811 ext. 115.

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