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SALT LAKE CITY — Several organizations across the state are tailored to work with veterans dealing with mental health issues, but a new program is catering to a new audience — their loved ones.
Family members of veterans and active military members with mental illness surely want to support their soldier, and a new, free, six-week course offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Utah will help educate them on how they can.
NAMI Utah Programs Director Robin Holcomb said these families are often overlooked, but when people in the military experience mental illness, some things impact the entire family. This class, she said, will educate and support these families.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office in Salt Lake, the NAMI Homefront course will address topics like the biology of mental health conditions and getting a diagnosis, understanding trauma, treatment systems and services, crisis preparation and communication skills, recovery and self-care.
“It’s so important for these families to learn about taking care of themselves,” Holcomb said. “They spend so much time taking care of their person with a mental health condition that often times their own personal and mental health suffers.”
Participants will also learn about the specifics of mental illness, such as diagnosis and medication, and will share stories and learn how to advocate for themselves and their loved one.
It's so important for these families to learn about taking care of themselves. They spend so much time taking care of their person with a mental health condition that often times their own personal and mental health suffers.
–NAMI Utah Programs Director Robin Holcomb
Fifteen local teachers have been trained and Holcomb said NAMI Utah’s vision is to offer the course throughout the state, as they plan to expand rapidly.
“We know that we can’t expect anybody with a mental health condition to recover from that all on their own, they need the support of the family and the community and so this is a really critical way to bring the family into the picture,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb said NAMI Utah is excited to be working with the VA and she believes involving the family in the recovery process through this course will “deeply impact families in a positive way.”
NAMI Homefront will run Wednesdays, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., from July 15 to Aug. 26, excluding July 29, at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
Utah is one of the first states in the nation to be trained on the Homefront course, which is funded by The Wheeler Foundation.
To register for the class, call 801-323-9900.
For more information about Homefront and its history, visit the NAMI Utah website.
