ON-BPD News | 2018, Issue 2
Following are some news stories from us, as well as some bulletins we've received from our partners that may be of interest to you.
Updates from the Ottawa Network for Borderline Personality Disorder:
News from our Partners:
- DBT Presentation at The Royal
- The Royal's Family Support Groups go Digital
- The Un-Merry-Go-Round Play
- Free Legal Clinic
- Drop-In Family Support Groups
- Parents' Lifeline of Eastern Ontario
- The Oasis in Kanata Events
- Mindfulness
- Caregivers Matter
- McLean Hospital Webinars
- BPD and Complex PTSD
- Inpatient Hospitalizations: Providing a Crash Course in Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
- I Want to Understand: An In-Depth Approach to Validation of Your Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder
If you have news that would be of interest to us or our members, please send it to webservices@on-bpd.ca.
News from the Board of ON-BPD
- We are happy to have just wrapped up two Family Connections courses that started in January with 24 new graduates. A third group will be completing in early May. We do not run courses during the summer, but will have classes running again in September. If you have a loved one with emotion dysregulation or BPD, please visit the Family Connections page on our website for further information.
- Congratulations to Karen Hanna, our vice president, for her appointment to the family advisory committee which provides family perspective, guidance, and recommendations to Addictions & Mental Health Network to the Champlain Local Health Integration Network.
- Our president, Michèle Langlois, has been appointed to the family advisory committee at The Royal Ottawa and to help represent the needs and interests of families and caregivers enabling them to effectively support loved ones living with mental health conditions.
- Watch for the fall date of our annual general meeting in the next edition of our newsletter. Learn more about our three-year strategy and the other big steps forward that we are taking.
Continuing Connections: Save the Date
Our next Continuing Connections session will take place on Saturday, May 26.
Continuing Connections is an invitation-only half-day workshop delivered quarterly to graduates who have completed the 12-week Family Connections® course. The main objectives of Continuing Connections are to develop a support network for family members experiencing similar situations and to practice the Family Connections skills in a safe, supportive environment. The 2018 Continuing Connections workshops will focus on the following skills:
VALIDATION: Saturday, February 24, 2018 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm — already conducted
RADICAL ACCEPTANCE: Saturday, May 26, 2018 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
RELATIONSHIP MINDFULNESS: Saturday, October 20, 2018 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
If you are a graduate of the Family Connections program or a trained facilitator, and do not receive an email invitation to attend approximately two weeks before the proposed dates, please send an email to karen@on-bpd.ca and an Eventbrite invitation link will be sent to you.
DBT Presentations at The Royal
Dr. Deanna Mercer, MD FRCPC, Assistant Professor at uOttawa, gave a presentation at a family information talk at The Royal on Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). At that same event, our Acting Vice President, Karen Hanna, also gave family members information on attending a 12-week Family Connections workshop to help build better relationships with loved ones with BPD.
With Dr. Mercer’s permission, we are sharing the presentation she gave.
We also have the presentation given by Karen Hanna.
The Royal’s Family Support Groups Go Digital
Family information and support groups at The Royal are now reaching outlying communities in eastern Ontario through telemedicine. Supporting those who support loved ones who live with mental illness can make all the difference. Bev, whose son lives with a mental illness, can attest to this.
“Like many other family caregivers, I have to cope with long-term emotional, mental, and physical fatigue and be mindful of caregiver burnout. I really appreciate these opportunities to gain knowledge and become a better-informed advocate for my son,” says Bev, who has been attending the family information and support groups for 13 years.
Now, families living near Pembroke and Cornwall can also access The Royal’s groups through a video connection. Facilitators on both ends of the connection help people at remote sites feel like they’re part of the room.
The Un-Merry-go-round: A Forum Theatre Play
The Forum Theatre group invites you to attend this play which addresses the stigmas and systemic barriers attached to mental illness and poverty For CMHA Mental Health Week 2018
When: Wednesday, May 9th, 2018, 2PM-3:30PM
Where: CMHA Office-1355 Bank St, Suite 402, Boardroom A
FREE admission. No need to reserve a seat.
For more info contact: Linda O’Neil, loneil@cmhaottawa.ca
Spectators will be invited to join us onstage as “Spect-actors” to rehearse transforming stigma, scene by scene.
Free Legal Clinic at Centre 454
Centre 454 is a day program serving people who are precariously housed or homeless in the Ottawa area. They will be offering a free legal clinic in downtown Ottawa, supported by REACH, which offers educational programs and independent lawyer referral services that address the rights and interests of people with disabilities, fostering access to justice in the community. Types of advice offered:
- Landlord and tenant law
- ODSP forms
- Ontario Works
- Legal documents
When: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Centre 454, 454 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa
Drop-in Family Support Groups
The Psychiatric Survivors of Ottawa has a weekly drop-in for friends and family of people experiencing mental health challenges. No registration required. These are ongoing weekly drop-in family support groups. The atmosphere is very relaxing, supportive and non-judgmental.
Upcoming topics:
Apr 30, 2018 Open Discussion, Sharing and Support
May 7, 2018 Radical Acceptance
May 14, 2018 Open Discussion, Sharing and Support
May 21, 2018 Statutory Holiday. Closed
May 28, 2018 Letting Go of Control
Cost: free
When: Every Monday 6:30-8:30 pm
Where: 211 Bronson Ave Rm. 215, Ottawa
Find out more about PSO here.
Upcoming PLEO Events
The Parents’ Lifelines of Eastern Ontario keeps a calendar of events that parents (and caregivers) might be interested in, particularly in local communities (i.e, Orléans, Ottawa, Embrun, Pembroke, Hawkesbury, Kanata, Renfrew, Kemptville, Barrhaven, Carleton Place, Rockland, and Cornwall). We recommend you check it periodically. The calendar lists whether the discussion takes place in English, French or both.
Visit the calendar here.
The Oasis in Kanata: A place for caregivers of people with mental illness
The Oasis in Kanata is one of our partners in delivering the Family Connections program as they offer classroom space at no charge to us. They also offer other programs in support of families dealing with mental illness.
Where: events are held at Glen Cairn United Church, 140 Abbeyhill Drive, Ottawa, ON K2L 1H5
A Taste of Mindfulness Workshop
Susan Kehoe, a qualified trainer certified by the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic will lead this workshop. “Mindfulness is creating an intention to well-being, paying attention to what is in this moment, and approaching ‘what is’ with an attitude of curiosity and openness.” This workshop for caregivers will be both an introduction to mindfulness and an experience of the “how to” of mindfulness by way of short meditations, mindful eating, and more. The gentle in-class meditation practice will be done on a yoga mat or seated on a chair.
When: Saturday, May 5, 9:30 am to 2 pm
Cost: $10
Registration is required as space is limited. See the poster for details and registration information.
Caregivers Matter
All caregivers are welcome to attend our monthly caregiver support group. Preregistration is not required. For information, contact Elise Laviolette, our Program Manager, at OasisManager@TheOasisKanata.ca.
When: Monday, May 7, 7 – 8:30 pm
McLean Hospital Patient and Family Education Initiative – Webinar
The McLean Hispital’s Borderline Personality Disorder Patient and Family Education Initiative launched in 2015 to provide interactive and on-demand resources to support individuals and families affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD). The following webinar is the next in their series.
Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex PTSD: Differentiation and Treatment
Thursday May 10, 2018, 4:00-5:00PM EDT
Presented by Lois Choi-Kain, MEd, MD
Borderline personality disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder are highly comorbid, have many overlapping symptoms, and are commonly confused. In this webinar, Dr. Choi-Kain will outline important similarities and differences among BPD and Complex PTSD as well as recent developments in their treatment.
Inpatient Hospitalizations: Providing a Crash Course in Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
Thursday, May 24, 2018, 4-5pm EDT
Hosted by Rebecca Schulman, LICSW, Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Inpatient Program
This webinar will review identifying BPD traits during a time-limited hospitalization; individual and group treatment to build one’s “toolbox” of skills, contain a crisis, and stabilize safety; and treatment recommendations and aftercare options.
I Want to Understand: An In-Depth Approach to Validation of Your Loved One with Borderline Personality Disorder
Thursday, June 7, 2018 4:00:00 PM EDT - 5:00:00 PM EDT
This webinar, led by Candace K. Eddy, LICSW, Dialectical Behavior Therapist, will provide an overview of the effects of validation vs. invalidation on emotion dysregulation. In addition, the speaker will provide education and examples of the various levels of validation.
To view archived or to find out about upcoming webinars, visit their website here.
