Meeting May 2004
Fraser South EPI (Early Psychosis Intervention) Parents' Meeting, Tuesday May 25, 2004
The meeting was facilitated by family members in association with Walter Lidster (EPI).
This months meeting was smaller than recent ones, but those who braved the heavy rain to attend
enjoyed some very lively discussion and once again there were new families experiencing
the support meeting for the first time.
Announcements
The 'NORMS' for the meeting were mentioned as were the web sites www.psychosissucks.ca and
www.psychosissupport.com
The new group based in Delta held their first meeting on May 10th 2004. The next meeting
for this group is Monday June 14th
The next meeting for the Surrey group (the last before the summer break) is scheduled for
Tuesday June 22nd.
The International Conference on Early Psychosis is to be held in Vancouver
28th September - 1st October 2004
BCSS is part of a collective known as the BC Partners for
Mental Health and Addictions Information which consists of the
provincial mental health organizations in BC (website is
www.heretohelp.bc.ca).
The journal "Visions" (formerly a CMHA journal) is now run by the BC
Partners and the next issue will be focussing on families who have a
child or youth with a mental or substance use disorder.
Visions would like
to include some personal stories from both mothers and fathers. They are
particularly interested in hearing from fathers and what their needs are
and what would be the best kind of support for them. There is virtually
no research on fathers, so it's pretty new territory.
Families have the option of either writing an article themselves or be
interviewed. We always respect confidentiality and they can remain
annonymous.
The deadline for articles is June 7th. Stories should be approximately
500 - 750 words in length.
If anyone is interested,
they should get in contact with nchovil@telus.net or
call Nicole at 604 270-7841.
A Young Adults Group is starting June 8th and a new PsychoEd course is starting May 26th.
There is lots of activity with the Peer Support Network with plans for more
group activities, programs for clients and a benefit concert in the works. Telus will be
involved with several programs to support Mental Health / Psychosis probably including
events like a run or walk, a chat room and a concert.
Caring and Sharing:
We formed a single group this month for the sharing time. Everyone had an opportunity
to participate and discussions were very appropriate and helpful.
Note: This caring and sharing is a favorite part of the meeting for many people and
is the main reason they attend. It gives each person an opportunity to discuss and receive
feedback on their particular situation. Each month there are new people who need to share
and learn, there are people who have sucess stories, and there are people who just need to know
that what they are experiencing is not unique and there is love and support available.
If you have comments you would like to share please email pspops@psychosissupport.com