4th Wednesday presentation – April 23, 7:30-9:00pm on zoom
Julie Brown, MPH, LCSW will give a presentation on her book Masters of Change, Why today’s most successful individuals learn to harness life’s most challenging moments to become who they want to be. For those of us in the daunting process of harnessing persistent and pervasive challenges, this is our opportunity to hear from a life coach who can help us with the process.
FASMI (Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill) is a local group of well-informed advocates who are bird-dogging county efforts to deal with funding and legislative actions targeting those with serious mental illness. FASMI’s efforts are impacting statewide actions and there are now FASMI spin-offs in San Francisco and Sacramento. Members of FASMI will be discussing advocacy efforts around legislative issues on a statewide level, the issue of 5150’s here and statewide, and Berkeley Mental Health since there is now a BMH committee. Join us for an informative and interactive evening. The meeting will be videotaped, written up and posted on our website.
Join us for an interesting evening about relevant research being done at UCBerkeley presented by Professor Sheri Johnson, PhD, and our NAMI friend Robert Villanueva, who is a lead member of the Lived Experience Advisory Board for the CALM program. Dr. Johnson and Robert, who can share about his own lived experience, will be discussing the current international research project looking at healthy eating plans as supplements to medication. We will learn about study details and how local consumers can participate on a paid basis
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.
Jan 22, 2025 07:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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.
