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Connection Recovery Support Groups
Detailed Program OverviewNAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups are 90-minute weekly support groups run by persons who live with mental illness for other persons with any diagnosis who also live with mental illness. These groups provide a place that offers respect, understanding, encouragement, and hope.
NAMI Connection Groups offer a casual and relaxed approach to sharing the challenges and successes of coping with mental illness. Each group:
- Meets weekly for 90 minutes.
- Is offered free of charge
- Follows a flexible structure without an educational format
- Does not recommend or endorse any medications or other medical therapies
All groups are confidential – participants can share as much or as little personal information as they wish.
Where in Virginia can I find a Connection Support Group?
Currently in Virginia there are Connection Support Groups forming or running in:
- Hampton/Newport News - including Veteran groups
- Virginia Beach
- Williamsburg
- Winchester
- Harrisonburg/Staunton
- Northern Virginia
- Richmond - including Veteran groups
- Fredericksburg
- Halifax/South Boston
- Norfolk - including Veteran groups
- Eastern Shore
- Chesapeake
- Portsmouth
- New River Valley - Blacksburg, Radford & Floyd
- Colonial Heights
- Jarrett
- Gloucester
- Roanoke - including Veteran groups
- Bristol
See a list and schedule of current Connection groups in Virginia.
Interested in becoming Connection Facilitator? Come to a training!
Thank you to everyone who attended our spring 2013 Trainings! It was very successful!
NAMI Virginia will hold the next training for Connections Facilitators
Spring 2014!
If you are interested in becoming a Connections Recovery Support Group Facilitator, please contact your local affiliate and ask for the local Connection Coordinator.
NAMI Connection facilitators are certified by attending and graduating from a 3-day training event. The training event is designed for facilitators to learn and practice specific skills that will guarantee a meaningful support group experience for all participants. After the training event, certified facilitators know how to encourage the group to make room for all of its voices; short-circuit personal sagas; engage the group in subjects of collective interest; encourage collective thought; and circumvent negative interactions by identifying common ground for real discussion among group participants. NAMI Connection Support Group facilitators make use of the strategies, structures, and processes they have learned from the training events to ensure the group provides a place that is safe and maintains group guidelines.
Thanks to a grant from the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services, the training is provided free of charge to participants.
What is a NAMI Connection "Champion?"
In every community, NAMI will be looking for "Connection Champions" to help ensure that NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups take root, grow, and flourish. Some of the tasks a champion might perform are as follows:
- Securing support group locations
- Assisting with securing transportation for facilitators
- Ensuring an adequate supply of resource materials and possibly refreshments for the groups
- Promoting the NAMI Connection Support Groups in your community
Dedicated champions will help NAMI make history – by greatly increasing the number of people with mental illnesses whom we help and the number of people who learn about NAMI.
How can I become a NAMI Connection "Champion?"
You can contact your local Connection group faciliator or local affiliate directly to let them know that you are interested in becoming a NAMI Connection Champion.
Who can I contact for more information?
Contact Program Coordinator Sarah Eisenman at seisenman@namivirginia.org or at (804) 285-8264 x203.
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