NAMI Metro Baltimore’s Signature education classes provide invaluable information and support for people living with mental health conditions and their family members.

NAMI Peer-to-Peer is an 8-week course for individuals with mental health conditions. NAMI Family-to-Family is an 8-week course for family members and loved ones of an adult living with a mental health condition.

NAMI Peer-to-Peer

NAMI Peer-to-Peer is a free, 8-session education program for adults who are looking to better understand their mental health condition and journey toward recovery. Taught by a trained team of people who’ve been there, the program includes presentations, discussion and interactive exercises.

What You’ll Gain

NAMI Peer-to-Peer will help you:

• Create a personalized relapse prevention plan
• Learn how to interact with health care providers
• Develop confidence for making decisions and reducing stress
• Understand the impact of symptoms on your life
• Access Baltimore-area resources to assist you in maintaining your journey toward recovery.

Register for a Class

NAMI Peer-to-Peer is offered in person at South West Partnership. Space is limited and advanced registration is required.

NAMI Peer-to-Peer
Dates: Mondays, August 28th – October 23rd | 7pm – 9pm

To register, click here or contact our HelpLine at (410) 435-2600 or email info@namibaltimore.org

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NAMI Family-to-Family

NAMI Family-to-Family is a free, 8-session educational program for family, significant others and friends of people living with mental illness. It is a designated evidence-based program that includes presentations, discussion and interactive exercises. Research shows that the program significantly improves the coping and problem-solving abilities of the people closest to an individual living with a mental health condition.

What You’ll Gain

NAMI Family-to-Family provides critical information and strategies for taking care of the person you love.

In the program, you’ll learn about:

• How to manage crises, solve problems and communicate effectively
• Taking care of yourself and managing your stress
• Developing the confidence and stamina to provide support with compassion
• Finding and using local supports and services
• Up-to-date information on mental health conditions and how they affect the brain
• Current treatments, including evidence-based therapies, medications and side effects
• The impact of mental illness on the entire family

Register for a Class

Dates: Tuesdays, August 29th – October 25th from 7pm – 9pm

To register, click here or contact our HelpLine at (410) 435-2600 or email info@namibaltimore.org.

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In 2023, NAMI Metro Baltimore began its first ever Mental Health Story Portrait Project, to highlight the insights and resilience of some of our volunteers as they advocate to end stigma around mental health conditions in our community.

Our features come out at the beginning of every month! Below is a catalogue of the stories published, thus far.

June: Becka

May: Jane

April: Megan

March: Mary

February: Fatin

January: Rita

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On February 28^th, we hosted our first ever Mental Health Prayer Breakfast for Faith Leaders with our friends at Maryland Wellness. It was a morning full of discussion around the mental health concerns that local faith leaders are facing, and how to find a path forward to make sure that all congregations are connected with the appropriate resources, so that if a community member comes to them needing mental health support, they know where to point them.

During our panel discussion, we were grateful to hear from the below Faith and Community Leaders:

Dr. Carla Debnam – First Lady of Morning Star Baptist Church
Ayyub Hanif – CEO of INGE Benevolent Ministries, co-founder of Muslimat Al-Nisaa, and Registered Nurse
Denielle Randall, LCSW-C – Pathways to Advocacy Against Violence Everyday program (PAAVE) at the Center for Hope in Baltimore City, Maryland.
Tikvah Womack, LCPC – Jewish Community Services and serves as a member of the Jewish faith congregation
Pastor Rodney Morton – Pastor of Central Baptist Church

Key themes and takeaways that arose throughout the discussion were as follows:

1. Mental health trainings are desired for all congregation staff, including security and front desk personnel because they might be the first point of contact for someone in need of support
2. Collaboration and forming a Mental Health Coalition between multiple congregation leaders was of interest
3. Cultural humility and cultural competency are seen as buzz words, and there should be more focus around truly putting these concepts into practice, by acknowledging implicit bias
4. There is a need to look at the whole individual and their life experiences, beyond just mental or physical health because oftentimes, peoples’ living situations can affect the two
5. The desire to stop criminalization of suicide attempts was shared by many faith leaders, who recalled incidences where police involvement and the use of handcuffs was traumatizing for both the individual at risk, and family members

Churches, temples, mosques, and faith communities reach 70% if the American population each month. Faith communities can fight stigma through educating their congregations and staff, to create a culture that truly offers emotional, relational, and spiritual counseling to people touched by mental illness.

If you are interested in participating in future mental health programs for faith communities, sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop for our Mental Health Education Faith Conference on May 4^th, 2023!

Stay engaged with our activities in West Baltimore and to reach out to Outreach Coordinator Tyleia Reed at treed@namibaltimore.org for more info about our support group at Bon Secours Community Resource Center.

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Each of the artists featured on this playlist is living with, or lived with a mental health condition. Thanks Sheppard Pratt for sponsoring our LOUDER event and the creation of this playlist! We hope you enjoy these tracks, and find inspiration in the musicians’ stories, which you can read below.

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NAMI Metro Baltimore is proud to be featured in the February 2022 Issue of Baltimore Magazine! You can read more about mental health in the workplace, criminal justice system, and more by checking out our feature below.

If you would like to read the rest of the Magazine, visit their website by clicking here.

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Gain insight into how you can support the mental health of your community at this educational web series hosted by NAMI Metro Baltimore.

The Mental Health Education Conference for Faith Leaders offers participants the opportunity to gain a better understanding of topical issues pertaining to mental health and the effects of stigma. Faith community leaders will learn new strategies for supporting their congregation’s mental health needs by effectively “Putting their Heads Together”.

Participants will hear from fellow faith leaders, experts in the mental health field, and peers and family members whose lives have been impacted by mental illness.

Check out our presentation line up below!

May 5th: Dr. Que English “The Kids are not OK: Mobilizing Faith and Community Leaders to address Youth Behavioral Health”

May 12th: Rev. Kevin Wayne Johnson “Suicide Prevention: Why It Matters and How You Can Help”

May 19th: Rabbi Ilan Glazer and Rev. Jermine Alberty “A Conversation About Recovery”

May 26th: Rev. Pamula Yerby-Hammack, Robin Schaffer, and Dr. Sharlene Allen-Milton “Putting Our Heads Together” Panel

Join our newsletter to stay in the know about other NAMI Metro Baltimore Events!

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Past Faith Conferences

NAMI Metro Baltimore’s annual conference for faith community leaders took place virtually in 2021 and was a 3-part webinar series to help educate and support faith leaders. Participants learned new strategies and gained tools to help support the mental well-being of their congregations.

This educational program has passed, however you can view recordings of the Webinars of your interest by clicking the links below. Be sure to click the play button on the bottom of the screen in the new window.

Mental Health Stigma | July 22nd

A discussion led by Rev. Bryce A. Jones will define social and perceived mental health stigma and the factors that cause stigma. Participants will learn how to help reduce mental health stigma in their congregations.

About the Presenter: Rev. Bryce A. Jones graduated from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University with a Masters of Divinity. Ordained in the Gospel ministry at New Friendship Baptist Church in Baltimore, Rev. Jones currently serves as the Minister of Urban Affairs and Political and Community Outreach.

Vicarious Trauma |July 29th

Rev. Bryce A. Jones joins us again to discuss the emotional, mental and physical toll that is often imposed on faith leaders. Participants will learn how to identify and define vicarious trauma, and more importantly how to strengthen themselves and their organization against compassion fatigue and burnout.

You can watch a recording of the Webinar by clicking here!

Congregational Depression Assistance Program |August 5th

Dr. W. Dan Hale of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center will lead a discussion to inform participants of a congregational mental health training program and how faith organizations can get involved.

About the Presenter: Dr. W. Dan Hale is a clinical psychologist who serves as special advisor to the President of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and director of the hospital’s Healthy Community Partnership. He is the coauthor of Healing Bodies and Souls: A Practical Guide for Congregations.

You can watch a recording of the Webinar by clicking here!

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Written by Kerry Graves, Executive Director of NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore serving Baltimore City and Baltimore County

It’s no secret that the events of the last year have set the stage for an unprecedented national mental health crisis. On top of life’s normal stressors, we’ve been dealing with a global pandemic, unrest over racial injustice, political divisiveness, and now the thread of seasonal depression and increased social isolation during the wintertime.

Needless to say, there is an urgency to not only talk about mental health in the workplace, but to create a culture centered around mental health awareness and prevention. Organizations and their leaders must understand that mental health education, advocacy, and support are “must-have” standards for employees, not “nice-to-have” benefits.

Mental health stats to note – and how they affect the workforce

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that nearly one-in-five American adults live with a mental illness. One study shoes that nearly 41% of American adults who didn’t struggle with mental health issues are now experiencing them as a result of COVID-19. The results are leading to dangerous and costly patterns from a workplace standpoint.

According to the World Health Organization, the loss of productivity due to poor mental health can be as high as $1 trillion per year, and again, that’s without taking the pandemic into account. A recent survey found that 70% of employees have admitted to experiencing burnout since the pandemic because the boundaries between work and home are more blurred than ever. In turn, productivity, motivation, and work quality are all suffering.

Furthermore, one-in-four senior-level women are highly considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers due to stress overload since the start of the pandemic, according to McKinsey’s most recent annual Women in the Workplace study. This means we are at risk of losing women in leadership, as well as future women leaders, which could undo decades of progress towards achieving workplace gender diversity.

Steps for employers to take

But just as poor mental health leads to negative workplace effects, positive mental health can translate into benefits and successes. Improving employees’ mental health can facilitate a more efficient workflow, relationships, productivity, company loyalty and employee recruitment. It’s also a smart financial move. What better time than now to create that kind of environment?

Here are some actions employers can take to improve mental health awareness.

• Lead by example. Having a leadership team that talks about mental health and promotes how they are caring for their own can not be overstated. Educate yourselves as leaders, and understand the impact COVID-19 can have on mental health.

• Empathize with and understand those living with a mental health condition. Hold training sessions so employees can both recognize the signs of mental illness and know how to respond to those who present these symptoms. Make anxiety and depression in the workplace easily identifiable. NAMI Metro Baltimore provides several training workshops as part of its workplace initiative “I Will Listen“, which is designed to raise awareness and reduce stigma.

• Facilitate open and honest discussions about racial trauma in particular, as sustained trauma has profound impact on both mental and physical health. Ensuring that your workplace addresses racial injustice as a priority is an important component of a healthy work environment.

• Provide and promote a flexible work environment so that employees can get help for themselves or their families when needed. Treat leave required for mental health care the same way you would treat leave for any other physical health condition.

• Create social opportunities for employees. Employees with the opportunity to interact casually in the workplace are more open to sharing concerns around mental health. Consider creating an employee resource group. These voluntary, employee-led groups can foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational values, goals, and business practices.

• Consider offering an employee assistance program (EAP) to help employees access mental health care. EAPs are paid for by employers and offer free confidential assessments, short-term counseling and referrals to employees facing mental health struggles, whether personal or work-related.

*This column originally ran in the Help Desk section of the Baltimore Business Journal on February 11, 2021. Click here to view the original article.

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Our team of young adult volunteers is passionate about raising mental health awareness, and starting conversations about it in the community through our digital publication, the NAMI Metro Baltimore Zine!

Our mission with this Zine is to amplify the voices of people impacted by mental health conditions, break stigma, create a safe space emphasizing mental health & wellness, and of course, spread the word on all things mental health. Check out our latest editions below by clicking on the images!

Want to share your art, a poem, or something you’ve written about mental health with our Zine?

May 2023

Winter 2022

Fall 2022

June 2022

May 2022

March Mini Zine 2022

December 2021

December 2021

June 2021

May 2021

March 2021

December 2020 Edition

November 2020 Edition

September 2020 Edition

There are several ways to get involved and interact with our Zine! If you have leads for news on anything mental health, contact Nova at ngetz@namibaltimore.org. If you want to share your personal journey with a mental health condition, click here. We also have an ‘asking for a friend‘ section, where we are taking questions about mental health! Please note that we are not doctors, psychiatrists, or therapists. We are answering from a peer perspective.

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NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore is offering weekly online support groups. Meetings will be held via Zoom video call.

Registration is required to participate in each meeting. Space is limited to ensure participants can be heard, and receive needed support. Registered attendees will receive a link to join the Zoom call 24 hours in advance.

NAMI Family Support Group

Schedule: Thursdays, 7:00-8:30pm
Participants: Open to any family member or caregiver whose loved one lives with a mental health condition

NAMI Family Support Group is a peer-led support group for family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals living with mental illness. Gain insight from the challenges and successes of others facing similar circumstances. Learn more.

Schedule: 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 6:00-7:30pm
Participants: Open to any young adult (under 40) living with a mental health condition

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group is a free, peer-led support group. This group is specifically open to young adults living with mental illness. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others. Learn more.

Please note: NAMI Support Group facilitators will make every effort to adhere to the NAMI Signature Support Group models and practices. Adaptations may be made in the online format. The group is confidential, and personal information requested in the registration form will only be shard with NAMI Metro Baltimore staff.

Questions? If you have any questions about the group, or experience any difficulty with registration, please contact our HelpLine at 410-435-2600.

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NAMI Metro Baltimore takes the coronavirus risk very seriously, and is staying informed of all advisories from the state of Maryland and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Program Schedule Update: April 22, 2020

In accordance with the state of Maryland’s declaration of a state of emergency, NAMI Metro Baltimore suspended in-person education and support programs beginning March 16th. NAMI Metro Baltimore adheres to the closure policy of Baltimore County Public Schools for all programs and activities. Please see below for additional program and event schedule changes.

Online Support Group Meetings

Beginning April 2nd, NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore will offer weekly peer and family support group meetings online. Registration is required to participate in each meeting. View the schedule and learn more here.

Event Postponement

• The Of Substance Stoop Storytelling event scheduled for March 31 at Goucher College will be  postponed. The partnering organizations are developing plans to hold the event in the fall.  
• The Mental Health Education Conference for Faith Leaders scheduled for April 2nd at the Conference Center at Sheppard Pratt has been postponed.
• The Writers LIVE event in partnership with the Enoch Pratt Library scheduled for May 28th has been postponed to October 14, 2020.

We will continue to keep you updated as events are rescheduled.

Virtual NAMI Classes

NAMI Family-to-Family will be offered online this spring. This class is open to any family member or caregiver of an adult living with a mental health condition. Learn more about the program here.

Class Schedule

Dates: Tuesdays, May 5th – June 23rd, 6:30-8:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom

Registration is required. Please contact the NAMI Metro Baltimore HelpLine (410) 435-2600 to join.

Office Closure and HelpLine

The NAMI Metro Baltimore office will be closed from March 16th through May 15th. Staff will be available remotely. Additionally, the HelpLine will continue to be available during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm.

NAMI Metro Baltimore will share updates on our program schedule and events via email, our website, and our social media accounts. Please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to receive the latest updates and announcements. You can subscribe to receive our email newsletter and updates here.

Managing Your Mental and Physical Health

First, and foremost, we want you to care of your own health. Be sure to stay hydrated, eat good, healthy foods, get restful sleep, and maintain, to the best of your ability, your own personal self-care practices. This is key to wellness.

We know that the breaking news and headlines about this health emergency can feel overwhelming and stressful. It’s important to remain informed and aware, but also to manage your stress and anxiety. Here are a few tips and practices:

• Take breaks from your news consumption: With smartphone apps, push notifications, and 24/7 news coverage, there is a tremendous amount of information available at all times. It’s ok to take breaks. Be observant of your own tendencies in news consumption, and limit your time on news sites if you notice yourself spending a lot of time on them.
• Be cognizant of your social media use: Social media can intensify the effects that you feel from news and information overload. The seemingly endless stream of information can make it difficult to shift your focus. Make sure to exhibit self-control when it comes to social media use, and consider deleting apps, turning off push-notifications, or giving yourself a mental break.
• Practice good stress management: Consistent and sound stress management practices can be an easy and effective way to mitigate news anxiety. Be sure to stick with practices that work for you.

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