Overview

Partnering with Families Affected by Concurrent Disorders - Facilitators' Guide

In the Overview:

• Overview introduction
• An education and support program
• Language

An education and support program

Program Description

The education and support group is intended to help family members:

• learn about concurrent disorders
• develop skills that help them deal with the impact of concurrent disorders on their family life
• collaborate with their ill relative and treatment providers to find ways to manage substance use and mental health problems.

The primary objective of this education and support program is to increase the well-being of the family members (in contrast to psychoeducation intervention where the primary objectives are related to consumer outcomes).

The program consists of 12 weekly group sessions that combine presentations on topics related to concurrent disorders, interactive activities and opportunities for families to share their stories and to offer support to one another. The groups consist of 10 to 12 family members (this program does not include the consumer). The groups are not limited to a single mental health diagnosis and are independent of any treatment for the family member or the person who has concurrent disorders.

Program Resources

Partnering with Families Affected by Concurrent Disorders has two components.

The Facilitators’ Guide is intended to be a supporting resource for family support group facilitators. In it we share observations and offer suggestions based on our own experience and feedback from family members who participated in the initial project. We provide an overview of and orientation to the overall goals of the support group, as well as specific comments, suggestions and tips for the content areas that are covered in the weekly sessions.

The accompanying resource for families ( A Family Guide to Concurrent Disorders ) contains the content for each of the 12 sessions.

Audience for this guide

This guide is intended for health care and social service workers who are willing to make a commitment to convene and facilitate a group for family members affected by concurrent disorders. We expect that people working in addictions, mental health or concurrent disorders will be the ones most likely to be interested in offering formal programs. But we also hope that these resources will support the efforts of workers in a broader range of service environments (e.g., social service agencies, corrections) to support families affected by concurrent disorders

Facilitators of these groups will need to be comfortable and competent in facilitating group psychoeducational and peer support sessions. The importance of those skills in making this activity a success cannot be overemphasized.

It is not realistic to expect clinicians to have expertise in all topic areas. For example, if neither of the group co-facilitators has a background in psychopharmacology (covered in Session 8),we suggest inviting someone with expertise in this area (e.g., a pharmacist or doctor) to participate in this session.

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Partnering With Families Affected by Concurrent Disorders - Facilitators' Guide

• Overview
• Working with families
• Preparation
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Session Outlines
  • Session 1: Introduction
  • Session 2: Substance use problems
  • Session 3: Mental health problems
  • Session 4: How concurrent disorders affect family life
  • Session 5: Self-care
  • Session 6: Stigma
  • Session 7: Navigating the treatment system
  • Session 8: Medication
  • Session 9: Relapse prevention
  • Session 10: Crisis and emergency
  • Session 11: Recovery
  • Session 12: Saying goodbye
• References
• Resources
• Appendix 1: An Overview of the Research
• Appendix 2: The Partnering With Families Affected by Concurrent Disorders Project

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