Speaker/educational meetings are held on 4th Wednesdays monthly on Zoom. We strive to invite experts in many areas involving mental illness (research, housing, alternative interventions, medications, county system and agency services). Please contact us if you are interested in speaking.
Check out “What’s New” on NAMI East Bay’s website for Zoom meeting links and post-event videos from speaker meetings. Summaries will be available in newsletters.
Join us for a discussion with staff members from the Vocational Services division of Alameda County Behavioral Health. They will be sharing information about supportive services for clients motivated to work. Highlights will be actionable strategies, grounded in the IPS model, enabling managers to facilitate meaningful competitive employment outcomes.
In recent days, many families have joined the ranks of our families who have loved ones with mental illness and experiencing – with us – the emotional world of sadness, disappointment, coping challenges, anger, frustration, etc. Welcome to our world – it’s not a fun one.
NAMI East Bay has been scheduling its educational presentations on the fourth Wednesday of each month, which this year falls on holidays. So we’re breaking with habit and scheduling a special evening zoom event on Wednesday, December 4 on the topic of Self Care – how can we take care of ourselves in stressful times?
Let’s gather and hear from Diana Winston, Director of UCLA Mindful and author of many articles and these books: The Little Book of Being, Fully Present, and Wide Awake. (www.uclahealth.org/uclamindful). We will also hear from Susan Davidson, practitioner of breathing exercises based on James Nestor’s book Breath. And we will talk about concrete self-care actions and, most importantly, hear from you. Come and share how you’re coping.
The holidays and winter weather bring their own contribution to stress and the addition of dealing with our loved ones and now the election has produced a “perfect storm”. Join us and feel free to invite non-NAMI friends to participate in our mental health-themed evening.
Isabel Zaror, PhD, is the recently-retired Executive Director at Novartis Biomedical Research in Emeryville. Her presentation will review the basics of genetics and explore the current scientific evidence of how genes play a role in mental illness. We will discus’s how the environment and upbringing influence the onset of these diseases. Dr. Zaror presented to us ten years ago and it will be interesting to hear how things have changed.
We are pleased to have local psychiatrist Alice Feller discuss her book American Madness. This book is a must-read since Dr. Feller writes not only about Serious Mental Illness and difficulties around diagnosis but also shares about her personal experiences with clients and the varying contexts in which she has had these experiences. She gives the history of legislation and pinpoints the issues which she feels are detrimental to the process of providing good care and support to our ill relatives.
Stephen Dale, Attorney, will present on Special Needs Trusts. His website at www.dalelawfirm.com is a rich one and contains several educational videos which will be helpful as you consider and/or initiate this process, so crucial in planning for the future of your ill relative.
The Supportive Housing Community Alliance (SHCLA) is a new collaborative organization that uses the community land trust model to create and steward affordable supportive housing and home ownership opportunities for and with people living with serious mental health conditions and extremely low income. The land trust acquires homes and master leases them to adult residential facility operators. The model is is one of community ownership, long term affordable availability and a resident-centered emphasis. Website is www.shcla.land).
Join us as Abby Ingber, Executive Director of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, along with a parent and individual with lived experience, present to us. The website www.NEABPD.org is a wealth of information.
Gain a greater understanding BPD including diagnosis, stigma and treatment methods. Hear from people diagnosed with BPD and family members about their journey and ways to find treatment and support. Presentation will be videotaped and posted here, along with a writeup.
Most of us family members know John George only in a time of crisis when we’re experiencing a state of worry, exhaustion, confusion, fear, anxiety, sadness – you name it…every emotion in the book. What really goes on there?
Join us for a conversation with Patty Espeseth, Chief Administrative Officer: Francesca Tenenbaum, Director Patients’ Rights and Advocacy Training; and Beverly Bergman, Family Caregiver Advocacy Specialist. These friends of NAMI are highly experienced and know the territory well.
Been There, Done That. Our 4th Wednesday (April 24) educational presentation will be a casual zoom discussion with five panelists who self define as consumers but who have gotten through the bad parts, made some peace with it all and are now working in the mental health/illness arena. Jesse Marsh, Lee Davis, Jeffrey Caiola, Viveca Bradley and Ian Morgan will share their stories and insights and discuss the perspective they developed. Link for the 7:30-9:00 pm event is
Integrative Approaches to Mental Health, Dr. Eric Arnold, March 17, 1:00 pm on Zoom
Dr. Eric Arnold is the Vice President of Bay Psychiatric Associates and Director of ECT, Inpatient Partial Hospitalization Program, Alta Bates/Summit. Trained in psycho-pharmacy, psychotherapy and incorporation of psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral approaches, he uses integrative approaches to mental health such as Ketamine, TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) and psychotherapy for diverse psychiatric conditions. These non-medication interventions will be the topic of his presentation.
This month, we have a date other than our regular 4th Wednesday presentation. Because of time issues, we will be taping his talk on Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 PM (link below), videotape it and post it for viewing on our website under What’s New. Join us for the live presentation if you have questions and would like to interact with our speaker.
