It is hard to parent a child who lives with mental illness. It is immeasurably more difficult to do it in isolation, without support or resources. Over my 15 years of parenting teens with mental illness—my nieces and then one of my own kids—so many moments, so many challenges, would have been easier if I’d known:
The fact that I didn’t know all of this early on during my family’s worst moments is exactly why I founded the Parenting & Mental Health conference. These powerful conferences bring parents in a community together to learn more about mental health, how to know when to get their kid help, how to support their kid, and how to support all kids in their community.
These conferences aren’t dry, academic presentations. Instead, attendees hear personal stories from parents who’ve been there, learn from school mental health professionals, and get to ask questions of local therapists and psychologists. They also get information from local community resources such as NAMI, and the opportunity to sign up for free classes on mental health, or support groups for other parents who are walking a similar road.
I would have given ANYTHING to be connected early on in our journey with other parents who’d been there. As phenomenally supportive as our friends and family were, they couldn’t understand the fear, the second-guessing, or the exhaustion.
It’s my hope that parents, guardians, grandmas and grandpas will be surrounded by other people who get it, they’ll leave equipped with great new strategies and resources, and they’ll be able to be stronger, more effective advocates for ALL of the kids in their communities.
My next Parenting & Mental Health conferences are sponsored by NAMI of Washington County:
January 13th in Forest Grove: register here
April 6th in Hillsboro: register soon!
If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us. If you’re not in the area, but you’re interested in an event in your community, let’s talk.
Want to learn more about having Tara Rolstad speak at your event, facilitate a workshop, or consult with your organization? Just share some basic information with her in this form, which will magically send her an email, and she’ll be in touch ASAP.
Phone
(503) 756-9135