SUPPORT GROUP FACILITATOR TRAINING

PRESENTATION:  The Support Group Facilitation training workshops are designed to teach facilitators:

1. How to encourage the group to make room for all its group voices;
2. How to short-circuit personal sagas and engage the group in subjects of collective interest; and
3. How to circumvent griping by identifying common ground for real talk about the emotions family members are coping with.

The focus will be on specific techniques for shaping, invigorating and improving the group experience within the support group. This model teaches 4 Structures and 3 Group Processes that are effective in guiding the group. These workshops will help facilitators recognize cues that signal a need to shift the group to a specific structure or process which in turn will enhance the group’s experience.  NAMI education and support programs are taught in a trauma based, peer led model. There might seem to be much reading aloud and repetition involved in our teaching/learning that is because the families and individuals we are serving are often experiencing stressors that are traumatizing and stigmatizing for everyone involved.  Individuals in crisis and experiencing trauma do not absorb information the same way that others do.  Our families, the groups that you will be facilitating, respond quite well to peer support and people that understand their experiences, their feelings and their fears because it is a shared experience.  It is important to attend both days to be certified as a Facilitator in this Support Group model.  Trainings will start promptly at 9:00 on both days.  All training materials will be provided for you.

PRESENTER:  Susan Allen-Samuel has been a staff member at NAMI NH for 9 plus years.  In her role as Community Educator and Support Coordinator, she works one on one with family members that have loved ones with mental illness and/or substance use challenges by helping them to better understand their loved ones diagnoses, how to better communicate with that person and with the systems that surround and support them, and most of all, help them to reduce the stigma and isolation that often is part of carrying a diagnosis or loving someone that has one. She brings to this position, a Master’s Degree in the field of Human Services with a Major in Community Counseling and Addiction studies, a second Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and most importantly, first hand personal family experience.   Sue is a nationally trained Facilitator Trainer in the NAMI model.  She has been able to capture the use of appropriate SUD language and experiences into this model to make it more meaningful to this training.

Fee:   A registration deposit of a $100 personal check will be returned uncashed to Family Support Group members upon check-in at training.  Deposit is nonrefundable with failure to attend.    As space allows others working with families may register for $100.  Lunch will be provided both days.  For registration information contact:  603-225-7060, traininginstitute@nhadaca.org

REGISTRATION FORM:

All registrations and cancellations must be received in writing via mail, email or fax.  If registration is not accompanied by payment, you or your agency, are still responsible for full payment and, in the event of non-attendance/NO SHOW (without proper cancellation as outlined below) will be sent an invoice, as materials have been purchased in reliance on your registration.  No refunds will be issued.  You may cancel your registration up to seven days before the training by transferring your registration to another NHTIAD training of your choice within 12 months or by sending a substitute from your organization.   No refunds will be issued.  If you need to cancel less than seven days prior to the designated training, there will be no credit or refund, however you may send a substitute in your place.  When using US mail, the postmark will determine date of cancellation.  Apart from inclement weather or trainer illness, if NHTIAD must cancel a training, this determination will be made ten days prior to the date of the training, and you will have the option of a full refund or transferring your registration to another training.  In the event of trainer illness or weather cancellation as determined by NHTIAD, NHTIAD will make every reasonable effort to reschedule the event in a timely fashion.  You will have the option of attending on the new date, a full refund, or transferring your registration to another training.  To verify if an event is being cancelled due to weather conditions, call (603) 225-7060, after 6:30 a.m. the morning of the event.  The answering machine will have any cancellation information, if needed.  If you call, and there is no message referencing cancellation, then the training is proceeding as scheduled. Send registration or cancellation information to: NHADACA 130 Pembroke Rd. Suite 100, Concord, NH 03301, traininginstitute@nhadaca.org or fax to 603-589-1191.

From the South (Manchester):  Take I-93 North, to exit 13.  Turn right onto Manchester Street.  Go over the bridge and take the first left onto Old Turnpike Road.  At the light continue straight onto Regional Drive.  Take the 4^th  left onto Chenell Drive. Turn right into NHADACA which is on the corner of Chenell Drive and Pembroke Road.

From the West (Keene):  Take Route 9 to I-89 South/Concord.  Merge onto I-93 North to exit 13.  Turn right onto Manchester Street.  Go over the bridge and take the first left onto Old Turnpike Road.  At the light continue straight onto Regional Drive.  Take the 4^th  left onto Chenell Drive.  Turn right into NHADACA which is on the corner of Chenell Drive and Pembroke Road.

From the North (Plymouth/Berlin):  Take I-93 South to exit 14.  Turn left onto Loudon Road.  At the top of the hill turn right onto Airport Road.  At the light turn left onto Regional Drive.  Take the 4^th  left onto Chenell Drive.  Turn right into NHADACA which is on the corner of Chenell Drive and Pembroke Road.

From the East (Portsmouth):  Take Route 4 West to Concord.  Stay straight on Route 9 West (Concord Heights Business District).  Turn left at the lights onto Route 106 South and go 1.5 miles.  Turn right onto Pembroke Road and continue for about ¾ of a mile.  Turn left into 130 Pembroke Rd. The building is on the corner of Pembroke Road and Chenell Drive.  If you pass the first entrance, turn onto Chenell Drive and take the first entrance on the left.

Drive Safely.

If you are concerned about a training being cancelled due to the weather conditions, call (603) 225-7060, after 6:30 a.m. the morning of the event, to check the status.  The answering machine will have any cancellation information, if needed.  If you call, and there is no message, then the training is proceeding as scheduled.