Being a caregiver or care partner can be challenging and isolating, especially when you’re providing support to a loved one with a mental illness.
The Mental Health Network of Chatham-Kent has been providing a free peer group for more than 25 years geared specifically to family and friends caring for loved ones with mental illnesses.
The Circle of Support Family Group – which meets the third Thursday of each month from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Hope House at 71 Raleigh St. in Chatham – is led by Erin Appleton and Hannah Singer, who are both psychotherapists and registered social workers.
Partners in Comm Counseling Co, they have seen the toll being a caregiver for someone with a mental illness can take on a person.
Appleton said providing care to someone you have a personal relationship with “is just such a different dynamic.”
“You’re not armed with the skills and the information all the time and you have such an emotional pull to the person, so the support is so needed,” she said.
Singer said being a caregiver living with someone with mental illness comes with “many challenges – navigating the health-care system, understanding their symptoms … and emotional ties.”
Being in a peer support group helps people validate their own experiences, she added.
Being a caregiver can be very isolating, Appleton said, but in leading the group she’s noticed “people are surprised to hear how similar their situation is to other people.”
Coming to a group where a lot of people have similar experiences can make the caregivers “feel more supported and more understood and less alone in (their) journey,” she added.
Singer said there are many “ah-ha moments” that come from people in group while sharing their experiences and how they’ve been able to address situations.
“There’s so much knowledge that comes to group, and I think that is what’s most powerful,” Singer said.
She added their roles as facilitators is to keep the conversation on track and to provide some information, but a lot of the support “really it comes from the room.”
The group is open to anyone caring for someone with any type of mental illness, including those battling addiction.
Singer did acknowledge some people can be anxious about joining the group, similar to the trepidation many experience accessing any mental health service.
“I would say there’s an understandable anxiety approaching the door,” she said. “People worry about the stigma.”
Singer said the comfortable, home-like setting of Hope House is inviting while longer term members help take the edge off for newcomers by reassuring them they’re in a safe space.
Appleton said those participating can share as much or as little as they want while everything said remains confidential.
“It’s not a group that you have to commit to coming every month,” Appleton added. “You come when you need it.”
Facilitating this group is something Appleton and Singer both enjoy.
Appleton said in their day jobs they provide support to individuals, so it’s nice to provide a different role to help support the family.
“It’s fulfilling,” Singer said. “You feel like you’re providing care to people who are so integral in our health-care system and are often forgotten.”
The next Circle of Support Family Group meeting is Feb. 16. For more information, call 519-351-3100.