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Welcome to NAMI Ventura County!   

NAMI Ventura County is an affiliate of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  Founded in 1981, NAMI Ventura County has become the community's voice on mental illness.  NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families.

NAMIWALKS VENTURA COUNTY
May 1, 2010
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GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday March 9th, 2010
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF PSYCHIATRIC REHABILITATION

Robert Paul Liberman, M.D.
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry
UCLA School of Medicine

The term "recovery" has been used all too loosely by state and local mental health agencies, consumer advocates and family members.  Recovery is not simply a "state of mind" that includes terms such as "empowerment", "hope", "self-esteem", "dignity", and "self-responsibility."  Without real changes in a person's functioning plus remission of symptoms, recovery as a catch phrase remains a hollow and unfulfilled promise.  There is no short-cut to enabling individuals with serious and disabling mental disorders to recover, just as there is no short-cut for recovery by those with myocardial infarctions, strokes and severe arthritis.  Demonstrably effective treatment and rehabilitation practices are essential for improving daily functioning, illness self-management and symptom remission.  These evidence-based practices must be delivered in ways that are comprehensive, coordinated, collaborative, competent, connected to phase of illness, cooperative with families and compassionate.  Only external pressure from families and other political and fiscal influences on the treatment enterprise can reform a mental health or behavioral health system that continues to use the same modalities that are non-specific and ineffective in promoting true recovery. 

Dr. Liberman directs the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program at the UCLA
Neuropsychiatric Institute.  He uses social skills training and other
evidence-based practices to achieve recovery in many of the patients that he and
his associates have treated over the past 35 years. His latest book, published
in 2008, is "Recovery from Disability: Manual of Psychiatric Rehabilitation".

MEETING LOCATION
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church
1251 Las Posas Rd, Camarillo

A Family Support Group is held at the church prior to the General Meeting,
from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm

All General Meetings are Free and Open to the Public
NAMI General Meetings are open to anyone interested in learning about mental illness. Speakers address a wide range of topics such as: research on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, new medications, proven rehabilitation approaches, financial planning for families with a disabled member, early diagnosis and intervention, public and other community mental health services, disability benefits, etc.

NAMI General Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month.

NAMI Ventura County
National Alliance on Mental Illness
P.O. Box 1613
Camarillo, CA 93011-1613

Phone:    805.641.2426
Fax:      805.275.2188
Email:      namiventura@gmail.com

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