NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

 Who, What, When, Where, Why

Ways media portrays mental health as a stigma

I attended a training workshop on NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) presented by Erik Villalobos, who is the NAMI California education coordinator. The training workshop was held at the North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos on September 20, 2017. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity because my fieldwork site (Fallbrook Union High School) is creating a NAMI club called Healthy Heart, Mind, and Soul, which promotes mental wellness and awareness. My fieldwork partner and I are taking part in pursuing this club with our supervisor and district therapist. A lot of the time, mental illness goes unspoken or is seen in a negative light, so we are trying to break that stigma and promote mental wellness and to reach out to others if one feels they need help or if they know someone who needs help. Not only that, but a lot of students at FUHS suffer from depression. Getting more insight as to knowing the signs and learning ways to reach out would definitely be beneficial for all students as well as school culture. At this training, there were many students and faculty who attended to start up their own NAMI club at their schools. Four students, the district therapist, my partner and I represented FUHS.

Mission Statement

List of resources

How

A huge part of this training was to learn the signs of mental illness and have the tools, knowledge, and skills to create this club from the ground up. Through videos, PowerPoint, and discussion, students and the advisors of the club were able to learn more about mental illness stigma and participate in activities together to create the foundation of each NAMI club. As a group, we learned about what stigma was and brainstormed ways mental health is considered a stigma, as well as how to fight stigma. We also created a mission statement for the club, “The Healthy Heart, Mind, and Soul club is an inclusive, student-lead club with a goal to raise awareness of the importance of mental wellness by creating a safe space, being advocates, holding presentations, and reaching out to the community.” We also made a list of resources in which students can reach out to if needed (community, on campus, county, etc.) and a flyer to expose the club to other students. As a group, we also gained insight on how to run a NAMI club effectively built on awareness and knowledge. Seeing students work as a group with faculty was a great way for students to get to know others more and learn the skill and effectiveness of collaborating.

Flyer to hang at their school sites

Creating a NAMI club gives students the opportunity to take on a leadership role, help other students, and raise awareness on a topic that a lot of people keep to themselves. In the counseling realm, it has also raised the importance to keep positive about situations like this– to stay mindful of the vocabulary I use, to listen and understand different circumstances students may be going through, and ensure to students that as a counselor, I genuinely care for them as a whole and want what is best for each student. Building trusting relationships and making sure the student feels safe is key. I believe this can be used with all ages, genders and grade levels, especially because many people experience mental illness at a young age, and many do not seek help until years later. Many do not seek help at all. When implementing this counseling technique, it is important to be aware that counselors are not the only ones who should be tending to these situations. Reaching out to outside resources and knowing community resources students can reach out to may be best depending on the students’ situation. As a school counselor, I plan on using this technique in my counseling practice by giving students the space to speak freely and use my knowledge and skills to give them the best of my ability to help them, whether that be seeking help outside or working with them one on one with a trusting relationship. Also, building relationships with the community could better support my students in ways I would not be able to on campus. I would measure its effectiveness by seeing how much students know about mental wellness and seeing the transformation in students I work with.

Monica Diaz

SDSU Graduate Student

Summary of Presenter-led Highlights of the Event:

Guest Speakers:

Monica Nepomuceno, CA Department of Education                                                                      Liz Kruidenier, NAMI North Coastal San Diego Co.                                                                  Karen Godfrey, NAMI North Coastal San Diego Co.

With my site partner, I attended the NAMI on Campus High School Training to learn how to help students spread awareness about mental health, with the hopes of ultimately debunking the myths, stigmas and stereotypes surrounding mental illness within a school community. Throughout the training the presenter and guest speakers modeled intervention techniques counselors and other educators in a position of advisement could use to assist students in learning about mental health, as well as explore and implement ways to reach out to their peers and community to create a better school climate for those who may be suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, or any other form of mental illness.

One particular technique I learned from this professional growth opportunity was utilizing the student-created videos of the Directing Change Program as a key resource for facilitating meaningful discussions around mental health, particularly in regards to shifting the dialogue toward viewing mental illness the same way as one would view a physical disorder, such as heart disease or diabetes. The training presenter, for instance, showed a video titled “Sticky Notes,” which depicts a girl living with mental illness and consequently labeled by her peers with sticky notes that say deeply harmful words like, “crazy” or “psycho.”  After viewing this video, the students and educators were asked to discuss the effects of these types of labels that are frequently used within society, and subsequently devise strategies to end this type of language on their school campus. This experience led me to believe that showing the mental health-related Directing Change Program videos and facilitating follow-up discussions would be beneficial in a small group or club setting, with participants being both male and female high school students who want to make a positive impact on their peers and spread awareness about mental health. Since the videos focus on the significance of separating individuals from their mental illness, thus not allowing the illness to define them, the concepts behind this counseling technique closely align with narrative theory. Although not precisely evidenced-based as of yet, this technique could also be replicated and essentially used in different contexts as long as the topic of interest aligns with the video footage shown to students.  

Bree Galster 

SDSU Graduate Student