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NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 1
Contra Costa’s Voice on Mental Illness July 2014 61714 1200P
The NAMI Contra Costa Newsletter is available on the web at: www.namicontracosta.org
Email: [email protected] Phone Number 24/7: (925) 465-3864 Office Number: (925) 942-0767 If Your Family Faces The Challenge of Mental Illness . . . E mail: [email protected] and/or crashcoursehelp@ aol.com
June 15 2017 GENERAL MEETING
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
EMPLOYMENT
RESOURCES In Contra Costa County!
June 15th at 7:00 pm
Come and learn what employ-
ment resources are available for
you or your loved ones!
Location:
John Muir Hospital
Concord Campus 2540 East Street
Concord
Open To The Public- Free Admission
NAMI CALIFORNIA
2017 CONFERENCE
August 25 & 26 2017
Newport Beach Marriott Hotel
Newport Beach, California
NAMI is seeking proposals for
presentations.
[email protected] Telecare’s Hope House
HOPE
HOUSE THIRD YEAR
The Hope House is now
going into it’s third year. It is a cri-
sis residential facility and is just one
half block from the CCRMC. It
opened in April of 2014. A badly
needed addition to the mental health
field.
It was built by the Telecare
Corporation and was funded with
MHSA funds from Proposition 63.
(Continued on page 3)
D. J. JAFFE
ADDRESES
FAITH NET
SYPOSIUM
D. J. Jaffe, author of
“Insane Consequences” spoke to
the NAMI CC Faith Net Symposi-
um, May 25, 2017 at the Pleasant
Hill Community Center.
He spoke on a wide range
of mental health issues including
the three listed on page 4.
A review of his book is
on page 6. (Continued on page 4)
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 2
NAMI-CC Care and Support Groups Central Contra Costa County
3rd Monday of Each Month, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., John Muir Medical Center , 1601 Ygnacio
Valley Road, Walnut Creek Campus, downstairs in the Epstein Conference Room. Park in the
FREE public garage on the La Casa Via side of the hospital. The group is facilitated by Sharon
Madison and Bob Thigpen. Email: [email protected], or call: (925) 256-9640, (925) 676-5771.
Open Our Hearts
Family Member Support Group
Temple Isaiah
945 Risa Road, Lafayette
(In The Talmud Torah Center, Room E204)
Call Karen at (925) 945-7272 or
email at [email protected]
www.openourhearts.net
NAMI Contra Costa Writers’ Group All writing levels welcomed. 1st Tuesday of Each Month
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 Noon
Rainbow Center-2118 Willow Pass Road, Concord Roberto Roman 925-957 5105
Margaret Netherby, facilitator, [email protected].
Support Group for Parents of
Adult Children with Mental Illness Meets the 2nd Sunday 2-3:30 pm
San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church 902 Danville Blvd., Alamo, CA 94507
Karen Scalzi: (925) 820-7495 or [email protected]
Marilyn Clarke: (925) 837-5243 Office: (925) 837-5243
NEW HOPE SUPPORT GROUP
Offering support, education and resources to parents, caregivers of children, teens and young adults diagnosed with a mood disor-
der. Meets the 2nd Monday of Each Month
Lafayette/Orinda Presbyterian Church 49 Knox Drive, Room 204, in Lafayette
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Christina Mellin 925-899 0862
NAMI CC Mandarin Program
Family Support Group
Language: Mandarin中文
Time: 08/05/2017-10/21/2017 Every Saturday from 2-4:00 pm
Location: DCBC 2278 Camino Ramon, San Ramon
Contact: Shelly: 925-238 6286
NAMI West County Support Group 2nd Wednesday Each Month 6:30—8:00 pm
Richmond Medical Center of Kaiser
901 Nevin Avenue– 3rd Floor Room 317 Conference Rm 1 Richmond Contact Dr. Sumchai 510-237 9277 or
E mail: [email protected]
NAMI SPANISH LANGUAGE
FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP—PITTSBURG
1st Thursday each month 7:00-8:30 pm
Faith Based-ALL Creeds Welcome!
Church of the Living God
1125 Harbor St. Pittsburg
Veronica: 925-250 4032
defamiliaafamilia@namicontracosta
The Crash Course A comprehensive orientation to the
resources in Contra Costa to help
with recovery
EVERY Wednesday night 6:30 pm
2151 Salvio St. Concord 2nd Floor
[email protected] 925-676 5771
Free-RSVP NOT Required
Brentwood Support Group Last Monday Evening of the Month
Raley’s Grocery Store
2400 Sand Creek Road, Brentwood
Contact: Laurel Howard-Fong 925-437 1751
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 3
NAMI Contra Costa
National Alliance on Mental Illness
OFFICERS:
Charles Madison, President
(925) 256-9640 [email protected]
Douglas Dunn 1st Vice President
Yan Bennis, 2nd Vice President
Mark Cohen, Secretary
David Kahler, Treasurer (925) 676-5771
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kay Derrico Barbara Scott Susan Horrocks Phil Belisle
Al Farmer
Shelly Ji Don Green
COMMITTEES:
Don Green Criminal Justice
Shelly Ji Mandarin Groups
Susan Horrocks Membership
David Kahler Publishing
Veronica McManus F 2 F Spanish
Barbara Scott Nominating Committee
Nancy Seibert Family-to-Family
Clare Beckner Database
Richard Derrico Behavioral Health Court
Gigi Crowder FaithNet Coordinator
Phil Belisle Internal Auditor
Kay Derrico Outreach Committee
Steve Sullivan Librarian
Douglas Dunn Political Advocacy
Newsletter Group Fran Martin
Peggy Luna Dick Owens
David Kahler Karin Baker Greg Beckner
Rich and Yvonne DeAndre
Email: [email protected] Website: www.namicontracosta.org
Phone: (925) 676 5771 52817 1226P ZZZZ
Newsletter Deadline:
20th of Each Month
PRESIDENT’S
COLUMN By Charles Madison
NAMI Contra Costa Mission Statement
Our Mission is to Provide Support, Outreach, Edu-
cation and Advocacy to Families affected by and In-
dividuals living with a mental illness.
SOCIAL
MEDIA
NAMI needs a volunteer
who has expertise with the social
media to help us do outreach and
attract people in need to the
On May 3rd the Mental
Health Commission and County
Mental Health discussed the
MHSA proposed plan for the next
3 year cycle.
Family members present
thanked the County and CPAW
for including an allocation of
dollars to support families in the
plan. With more educated fami-
lies it is a win win for all. More
understanding for the families
and thus support for those living
with a mental illness. Thank you
all who could attend.
A big thank you to Gigi
Crowder who has continued
working with NAMI CC, the
County, and the Faith Net Com-
munity to make a difference and
enhance our wonderful NAMI
programs.
On Thursday May 18th
our General Meeting was a won-
derful presentation by the Putnam
Clubhouse. A very powerful
message, on mental illness, that
was written and performed by the
members of the Clubhouse.
Thank you Clubhouse.
See page 1 for the June Employ-
ment Fair program.
The very best to all and remem-
ber that everyone counts.
HOPE HOUSE (Continued from page 1)
The Hope House accom-
modates 15 people and the stay is
usually from 2 to 4 weeks.
Services include but are
no limited to:
Crisis intervention, including
emotional support and de-
escalation of crisis situa-
tions.
Development of a service/
recovery plan.
Brief individual and group
rehabilitation treatment and
family counseling as needed.
Temporary respite from a liv-
ing situation that was contrib-
uting to the crisis.
Assistance with self-
administration of medications.
Discharge planning and imple-
mentation of integrated after-
care services in the communi-
ty.
Linkage and referral to ser-
vices including assistance with
obtaining disability entitle-
ments, community housing,
community treatment re-
sources and referral to appro-
priate medical services.
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 4
NAMI EDUCATION
COURSES
There are sixty partici-
pants currently attending Family
to Family Education Course in
three separate county locations.
In August a Mandarin course
will be presented in San Ramon.
In September another English
speaking series will be presented
in Lafayette. These educational
opportunities present infor-
mation and foster discussion to
help families who have a men-
tally ill loved one.
Though family mem-
bers are stressed and want solu-
tions for their loved ones, the
course also provides a voice that
asks “How can you take care of
yourself in this?” or “What do
you need?” Anger or grief may
be expressed and is validated.
Workshops centered on compas-
sion and empathy for the person
with mental illness help class
members accept their own losses
of communication and relation-
ship. The process of supporting
one’s loved one is challenging
but what program coordinator
Nancy Seibert has observed is
that F2F course participants are
tenacious, resourceful and com-
mitted to their loved one. Come
share this educational opportuni-
ty!! See the column on page 5,
column 1.
The NAMI website address is:
@namicontracosta.org.
NAMI BASICS
Course for Parents of Children or
Adolescents
What: NAMI Basics, a free, six-
session program for parents and other
family caregivers of children with
emotional and behavioral difficulties.
Where: Concord
When: soon, 6 Saturdays, 9 am to
noon
Registration and information:
Contact Nancy
[email protected] or leave a
message with the NAMI CC answer-
ing service 925-942-0767.
NAMI CC Board
Meetings Open to all
2nd Thursday of Every Month
7:00-9:00 PM
Hillcrest Congregational Church,
404 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill
Family to Family
In Mandarin Language: Mandarin中文
The NAMI signature
course, Family to Family is now
offered in Mandarin for caregiver/
family members.
Time: August 8, 2017 to October
21, 2017, every Saturday from 2:00
pm to 4:00 pm.
Location: DCBC, 2278 Camino
Ramon, San Ramon, California,
94583.
To Register: Phone: 925-238 6286
E mail:
D. J. JAFFE
ADDRESES
FAITH NET
SYPOSIUM
(Continued from page 1)
Below are notes taken by Mark
Cohen
We keep talking about
mental health care. That sets up
our minds to think that all we
need to do is promote programs
that maintain mental health. That
is the wrong approach. The se-
verely mentally ill, as the phrase
implies, are not just having an off
day. They are suffering from an
illness. And as with other illnesses
require definitive "sick care."
We have
funds that are
meant be
allocated to
the SEVERE-
LY mentally
ill that are
being inap-
propriately
spent on "feel
good" pro-
grams such
as: to reduce stigma, prevention of
mental illness, and to treat the
easily treatable functional emo-
tional problems while ignoring the
1 - 4% of the mentally ill that are
severely psychotic ultimately rele-
gating them to the streets or pris-
on system where matters are made
even worse.We are deluding our-
selves when we proclaim that the
mentally ill are not any more vio-
lent than the general population.
This may be true for the non psy-
chotic mentally ill, but for that
segment of the severely mentally
ill who suffer from anosognosia
and under the influence of para-
noid delusions and hallucinations
that does not hold.
(Continued on page 6)
D. J. Jaffe
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 5
Review by Mark Cohen Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Anchor ; Reprint
edition (February 17, 2015) Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307473341
ISBN-13: 978-0307473349
Like most of us, I have
many times contemplated the exist-
ence of mind, soul, and meaning.
What, if any, is the relationship to
our brain, particularly the relation-
ship between our prefrontal lobes
and the emotional networks?
Where lie the causes re-
sponsible for emotional and mental
disorders and will we ever be able
to cure them?
It is unlikely that the au-
thor Michio Kaku, a professor of
theoretical physics and quantum
mechanics at the City College of
New York and CUNY Graduate
Center, will totally satisfy your
curiosity but I personally have en-
joyed the ride.
The author takes us on a
journey starting with the complexi-
ty of the brain and its associated
mind to the outer limits of the uni-
verse, or as he puts it, from inner
space to outer space; “There are
100 billion stars in the Milky Way
galaxy, roughly the same as the
number of neurons in our brain”
Along the way, our travels
bring us up to date on what is
known about and what is speculat-
ed on regarding the workings of
brain and mind.
“Physicists have played a
pivotal role in this endeavor,
providing a flood of new tools with
acronyms like MRI, EEG, PET,
CAT, TCM, TES, and DBS that
have dramatically changed the
study of the brain. With these ma-
chines we [are] able see thoughts
moving within the living, thinking
brain.”
Scientists can also insert a
chip into the brain of a patient who
is totally paralyzed and connect it to
a computer, so that through thought
alone the patient can surf the web,
read and write e-mails, play video
games, control their wheelchair,
operate household appliances, and
manipulate mechanical arms.
Using the very latest in
genetics, electromagnetics, and
drug therapy, it may become possi-
ble in the near future to alter our
memories and even enhance our
intelligence. The idea of download-
ing a memory, learning complex
skills overnight, and becoming su-
per intelligent is slowly leaving the
realm of science fiction.
New modalities of imaging
and brain direct and indirect stimu-
lation including optogenetics, may
activate certain pathways control-
ling behavior by shining a light
beam on the brain. There is great
hope that this technology will have
a direct application in treating dis-
orders like Parkinson’s and depres-
sion.
Once the neural pathways
of the brain are finally decoded, one
can envision understanding the pre-
cise origins of mental illness, per-
haps leading to a cure of these af-
flictions.
“Decoding also makes it
possible to create a copy of the
brain, which raises philosophical
and ethical questions. Who are we,
if our consciousness can be upload-
ed into a computer? We can also
toy with the concept of immortality.
Our bodies may eventually decay
and die, but can our consciousness
live forever?
. . . Centuries from now, one can
imagine placing our entire neural
blueprint on laser beams, which will
then be sent into deep space, per-
haps the most convenient way for
our consciousness to explore the
stars.”
In summary, I find this
work informative, intriguing, atten-
tion grabbing and mind blowing.
NAMI
MEMBERSHIP
The NAMI Board of Di-
rectors has decided to add a House-
hold membership category to our
membership structure as well as
increase the dues for Regular and
Open Door memberships. All of
these changes will become effec-
tive as of July 1, 2017.
• Household Membership $60
• Regular Membership $40
• Open Door Membership $5
A Household membership
will apply to everyone living in a
single household whose names are
provided to NAMI. Regular and
Open Door memberships will con-
tinue to apply only to one individu-
al. For voting purposes, each mem-
bership (including Household) will
be counted as one (1) membership.
Family to Family
Education Course Lafayette starts Sept. 2017
Brentwood starts January 2018
Through 12 free, week-
night classes, families have oppor-
tunity to gain understanding and
confidence about issues and facts
related to their mentally ill relative
or friend.
Contact F2F Program
Assistant Gloria Davidson for class
flyers and registrations, (925) 244-
0873 or
Answering service 925-942-0767.
We will notify you of the con-
firmed calendar.
de familia-a-familia Family-to-Family Education
Course for Spanish speakers.
Dates to be determined. Contact
Veronica McManus at 925-250-
4032 or defamiliaafamilia
THE FUTURE
OF THE
MIND By: Michio Kaku
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 6
D.J. Jaffe (Continued from page 4)
They deserve and need ur-
gent treatment. We do a disservice to
them and to our communities when
we wait until they become "a threat to
themselves or others, or greatly disa-
bled." By waiting this long we de-
crease the efficacy of treatment and
present a clear and present danger to
the community at large
INSANE
COSEQUENCES
Author: D.J. Jaffe
Publisher: Prometheus Books
363 Pages, Including 78 pages of
notes substantiating his criticisms.
Available in most book stores.
Review by: Dick Owens
D. J. Jaffe has written arti-
cles critical of the nation’s mental
health system for years. Here they
are brought together where they can
be scrutinized and evaluated. A
very welcome development.
He presents why—in spite
of spending $147 billion annually—
140,000
seriously
mentally ill
are home-
less, 390,
000 are
incarcerated
and even
educated,
tenacious
and caring
people can’t
get treatment for their mentally ill
loved ones.”
He points out that we have
about 10 million seriously mentally
ill, mainly from schizophrenia and
bi-polar disorder.
He draws on his thirty
years of experience in the field to
show how the system wrongly plac-
es emphasis on improving “mental
wellness” many of whom are not
even symptomatic.
While hospitals are still
being closed, laws now require vio-
lence rather prevent it.
Laws should prevent vio-
lence, not require it!
“Jaffe proposes smart,
compassionate, affordable, sweep-
ing reforms designed to send the
most seriously ill to the head of the
line for services rather than to our
jail and prisons.”
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 7
NAMI CONTRA COSTA DONATIONS
IN MEMORY OF
SVEN PATRICK DANIEL KENNEDY
Sven was born in Walnut creek to Rose-Marie Westberg and Edward Kennedy
(deceased) and passed away at the age of 39. He is a graduate of Sacramento
State University with a B. A. in history. He was an avid skier and spent the last
three years at South Lake Tahoe. He suffered from mental illness for the last ten
years.
Sven is survived by his mother, Rose-Marie Westberg and stepfather, Sven-Ove
Westberg, sister Anne-MarieKemberling, brother-in-law Robert Kemberling and
nieces Annalisa and Seraphina Kemberling.
Ben Siegel Rose-Marie Westberg Sven Ove I. Westberg
Larry E. Ribarich Marilyn Ribarich Patricia McLaughlin
Linda R. Phillips William and Susan Lapat
R. Ronald and Haleen Y. Armijo Charles and Sharon Madison
Stella F. Baker Robert and Cynthia Brittain David Kahler
Jo and Joseph Macaluso Teresa Celli Judy Weil
Mary Kathleen Hildebrand Janet Hildebrand
IN MEMORY OF
JOHN MACALUSO
Kathryn Fitzpatrick Jeff and Karen Vesely Jo Kerner
Bob and Gloria Anderson Joseph and Susan McGregor
Kenneth and Joanne Brencic Richard and Jane Carone
Adrienne Landis Charles and Sharon Madison
John and Beverly Prosek Gloria and Robert Anderson
Ronald and Haleen Armijo Joe and Pamela Appel
Anthony Paul and Janyce Mack
Sheila Fahy
NAMI Contra Costa June 2017 8
NAMI Contra Costa
P.O Box 21247
Concord, CA
94521
Phone: (925) 465-3864
Email: [email protected]
Stamp
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
NAMI CONTRA COSTA Make check payable to NAMI Contra Costa
Complete this information and please return to:
Treasurer
NAMI Contra Costa
P.O. Box 21247
Concord, CA 94521
Name
_______________________________________
Address ______________________
City _________________ Zip ___________
Phone _________________ Cell ___________
Email Address: _____________________________
___________________________________________
______
Renewal New Member
Open Door $ 3 General Membership $35
DONATION FORM
Amount ___________ Mail to:
Treasurer, NAMI Contra Costa
P.O. Box 21247, Concord, CA 94521
Note: Tax ID #68-0209474
(No goods or services have been received
from the following donor or donors)
Name ____________________________________
Address __________________________________
City _________________ Zip ________________
Phone ________________ Cell _______________
Email Address ____________________________
3rd Monday Support Group June 19, 2017 7:00 p.m.
John Muir Medical Center
Walnut Creek
Epstein Meeting Room
Basement Area (See page 2)
Email: [email protected]
To:
From:
