When a loved one has a mental illness it causes stress. You need to look after your mental health for your own sake and for the sake of your loved one. At the beginning, especially, you will need information and support to be able to care for and give help to your affected family member. Here you will find contact information for Family Support and Family Education Programs available to you in Toronto as well as Family Resource Guides to provide you with the information you are looking for
Family Education
CMHA Toronto’s Family Outreach & Response Program (FOR) provides recovery oriented support to people who care about someone experiencing a mental health issue. Supportive counselling and group programming is available.
NAMI Education Program
CMHA Toronto sponsors this free course of 11 classes co-taught by family members. The course is designed for family members of people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar illness (manic depression), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, or who exhibit behaviours that strongly suggest one of these diagnoses.
Contact 416-789-7957 x 3035
Strengthening Families Together
The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario offers this four-week family education course, both in person and online.
Contact 416-449-6830
CMHA Toronto’s Family Outreach and Response
Contact 416-789-7957 x 3329
F.A.M.E. (Family Association for Mental Health Everywhere)
Contact 416-207-5032
The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario
Contact 416-449-6830
The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario
Contact 416-486-8046
Helpful Links
https://elizz.com/ Chances are, you know a family caregiver. Or you are one yourself. One out of every four Canadians today devotes significant time, energy and resources to caring for an aging parent or someone with long-term health needs. But who is caring for the caregiver? Saint Elizabeth, Canada’s largest social enterprise, today is launching Elizz, a breakthrough new brand dedicated to all things caregiving. Elizz is designed to arm caregivers with the support and tools they need to better care for their family members – and themselves.
Here to Help BC: Family Toolkit
Caring Together: Families as Partners in the Mental Health and Addiction System.
A report by the Family Mental Health Alliance, in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs, which identifies both the contributions and needs of families of persons living with a mental illness. The report makes recommendations … Continue reading
Resource Guides
Understanding, Support and Self-Care: A Resource Manual for Family Members
Rays of Hope – Learning About Schizophrenia