Following are some news stories from us, as well as some bulletins we've received that may be of interest to you.

Updates from the Ottawa Network for Borderline Personality Disorder:

• Family Connections
• Continuing Connections
• Moving Forward

News from our partners:

• Free Lecture: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst
• Free Play about Stigma and Barriers
• Free Webinar: Compassion Fatigue
• Research into Caregiving

If you have news that would be of interest to us or our members, please send it to webservices@on-bpd.ca.

Family Connections

Research has shown that providing information about BPD is not enough; adding skills to the mix makes a big difference to how well families cope with their loved one's disorder. Family Connections addresses the needs of family members by giving information about BPD and teaching them skills for improving communication and strengthening their relationships. A third element of the Family Connections program is opportunity to find peer support of others who understand and have lived our challenges.

ON-BPD is now accepting applications to participate in our next session of Family Connections, a 12-week program designed to provide the adult family members and spouses of individuals with emotion dysregulation or borderline personality disorder with knowledge and skills for their own well-being and for better understanding their loved one. Our next session is full, but we do keep a waiting list, so don't wait to apply.

To apply, please download and complete the application form, and send it by e-mail to intake@on-bpd.ca.

Continuing Connections

We have just sent out the invitations to the next session of Continuing Connections, which will take place in June.

Continuing Connections is offered as a three-hour skills refresher and support group for Family Connections graduates. At these sessions, offered quarterly, a facilitator reviews topics that were covered during the 12-week course and provides further discussion. Participation is by invitation only.

Below is the Continuing Connections (tentative) schedule for 2017. Please save the dates in your calendars and stay tuned for your personal email invitation to the next Continuing Connections session. If you have completed a Family Connections course, but have not received any of the previous e-mails about Continuing Connections, please contact us at webservices@on-bpd.ca.

• June 10: Family Education
• October 21: Problem Management

We appreciate your support, attendance, and participation. If you have suggestions on how we can improve these workshops, we would love to hear from you. Please email : info@on-bpd.ca

Moving Forward

Behind the scenes, the ON-BPD board of directors has been busy!

• In March, we submitted a funding proposal to the Bell Let's Talk Community Fund with an objective of being able to offer "tele-Connections" – Family Connections by phone. Our American counterpart, the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, has been doing this for years. It is a great solution for rural participation. We hope to do a pilot teleConnections session later this year.
• After many years of volunteering as our secretary, Madonna is retiring from that role. She will continue to facilitate Family Connections courses, thank goodness, and will also continue handling intake for the Family Connections course! The board is grateful for Madonna's longstanding dedication and attention to detail.
• Of course, this means we are also looking for someone to volunteer as secretary. The role involves approximately 3 hours per month at a board meeting (except in the summer), and a further 1-2 hours of writing minutes and handling correspondence. If you are interested, please contact our president, Michèle at michele@on-bpd.ca.
• We are making plans for our Annual General Meeting, which will take place on September 13 (pencil it in your calendar now!). We hope to have a speaker and to share updates on our organization's strategic plan.

Free Play about Stigma and Barriers

Labels: a Forum Theatre play addressing the stigmas and systemic barriers attached to mental illness is free in celebration of CMHA Mental Health Week.

Monday, May 1st, 2017, 2PM-3:30PM
CMHA Office-1355 Bank St, Suite 402, Boardroom A
In celebration of CMHA Mental Health Week. FREE admission.
For more Information contact: Linda O’Neil, loneil@cmhaottawa.ca

Spectators (who wish to) will be invited to join us onstage as spect-actors to rehearse transforming stigma scene by scene.

Free Lecture: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst

The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, invites you to join Dr. Robert Sapolsky for an upcoming lecture titled ‘Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst’. The uniqueness of Sapolsky’s perspective on the human condition takes into account the evolutionary aspects of human behavior, combining insights from his work with baboons in Kenya with his highly technical neurological research in the laboratory. As a result, he can effortlessly move from a discussion of pecking orders in primate societies (human and baboon) to global conflict and whether primatology can teach us something about a rather important part of human sociality, war and peace.

A fascinating speaker, Sapolsky brings humor and humanity to sometimes sobering subject matter and has lectured widely on topics as diverse as stress and stress-related disease, baboons, the biology of our individuality, the biology of religious belief, the biology of memory, schizophrenia, depression, aggression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research at the National Museum of Kenya. He is the author of several works of nonfiction, including A Primate’s Memoir, The Trouble with Testosterone, and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. Dr. Sapolsky’s latest book, coming out in May 2017, is titled Behave: the Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.

Date

Thursday, May 18, 2017
7 PM

Location

The Royal, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa
Auditorium

Registration

This is a FREE Public Lecture however registration is required.
To register please click here.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Free Webinar: “Compassion Fatigue”

BPD Patient and Family Education live webinars are geared toward family members of loved ones with borderline personality disorder and are available free of charge. Advance registration is suggested.

Thursday, May 25, 2017, 5-6 pm EDT

Compassion fatigue is a term that describes the way in which caregivers who are constantly giving are frequently at risk for mental instability and illness themselves. Compassion fatigue symptoms are displays of chronic stress including isolation from others, poor self-care, excessive blaming, or substance abuse. Recognition that one may have compassion fatigue can lead to insights of past difficulty, greater self-care, and eventually healing and recovery. Both family members of and professionals working with individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) will benefit from recognition of this concept and tools to intervene in strengthening their status as supports to those with BPD.

Register!

Archived Webinars (Browse this page to see more.)

• “Introduction to DBT Skills Training”
• “Eating Disorders, Overeating, and Borderline Personality Disorder”
• “Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder in Boys and Young Men: An Underserved Population” | Watch now with AdobeConnect
• “Adding Fuel to the Fire: Borderline Personality Disorder and Substance Use Problems” | Watch now with AdobeConnect
• “Mentalization and Trust: A New Understanding of Borderline Personality Disorder” | Watch now with AdobeConnect
• “Validation: Making Sense of the Emotional Turmoil in Borderline Personality Disorder” | Watch now with AdobeConnect
• “An Open Discussion on Borderline Personality Disorder and Its Treatment” | Watch now with AdobeConnect

Caregiver Study

UPDATE: This study has now closed.

There's still time to give feedback about the experience of caring for a loved one with a personality disorder. Paige Lamborn is doing research into the experience of people who care for others with personality disorders, and would like your input. Read more about it here: PDF about the survey.

Contact Paige Lamborn if you are interested in taking this survey.