FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM
Candace Watson and Mona Cooley
I
t was almost 20 years ago when her daughter was officially
diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder. For Mona Cooley, as she
started on this new, complex and unpredictable journey, she
became acutely aware that there was little available in terms
of support programs specifically for families of those with
mental illness. And as she quickly realized, reaching out for
immediate family support was a life-saving necessity.
“When she was diagnosed, we didn’t understand mental
illness,” Cooley says. “I didn’t know what mental illness was
– we didn’t know the symptoms, we didn’t know the problems,
until we read about it. And at that time we were back and
forth with our conflicts.”
Those conflicts were taking a toll on their relationship, and
Cooley says she felt lost and uncertain. What she was
able to see was the importance of self-care and looking
introspectively, rather than just focusing on her daughter’s
diagnosis as the problem.
It didn’t take long for Cooley to take the need she identified,
necessity for family supports, to CMHA. By the spring
following her daughter’s diagnosis, Cooley had determined
there was a critical need to have something for families.
She went to CMHA - Calgary to discuss what this aspect of
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mental illness would look like. In initiating the idea of a Family
Support program she found an immediate uptake, showing a
critical need in the community.
The program developed along the way. They started with
drop-in sessions, which quickly moved to the six-week
psycho-education program, as it was called at that time.
Today, that program is now the eight-week Capable Carers
program, which ensures caregivers are cared for themselves.
“We learned a lot through trial and error,” Cooley says, adding
this was a necessity as there wasn’t a model to work from.
The now integral part of CMHA’s program grouping, the
Family Support program provides assistance, education and
information to help individuals learn how to support a family
member or friend who is living with a mental disorder, filling a
much-needed gap. Through it, clients learn communications
and self-care techniques, receive counselling and education
about mental health and the resources that can assist them.
Support can be found in one-on-one and family counseling,
telephone support, weekly peer support drop-in groups
and the eight-week support program. Family Support group
facilitators are individuals with lived experience, and Cooley
continues to facilitate groups for CMHA - Calgary Region.
Canadian Mental Health Association – Calgary Region
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