Pre-registration is recommended for all programs. Please click the REGISTER ME link located below our program descriptions and reserve your space. Or call the NAMI Welcome Center at (262) 339-1235 and leave your name, phone number, and the name and date of the program you would like to attend.
NAMI Welcome Center Program Descriptions
All programs are held at 279 S. 17 th Ave., Ste 7, West Bend (enter parking lot off of Chestnut Street driveway)
Crafting Connections
This group appeals to adults who are newly diagnosed, or those who have been in recovery for a long time. The relaxed atmosphere encourages socialization to help begin building a support network. Peer-led art projects demonstrate how creativity can reduce anxiety, improve mood, and increase happiness.
Offered every Monday from 12:30 – 2:00 pm
Mindful Creativity Adult Art Therapy
Facilitated by a professional art therapist, art materials are used to help improve cognitive functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, and enhance social skills, to facilitate improved conflict resolution.
Offered on the first and third Monday of the month from 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Wellness Self-Management
This nationally recognized evidence-based program is for adults living with serious mental illness. Facilitated by peers, the curriculum is designed to assist adults in effectively managing serious mental health problems while leading productive lives.
Currently not being offered
R.I.S.E. Adult Support Group
Facilitated by Certified Peer Specialists, this weekly group is an open forum and welcomes adults living with mental illness to gather and share their experiences, celebrate their successes, offer an empathetic listening ear, share resources, and provide options and ideas for positively managing a mental illness, and achieving a daily over well-being and healthy lifestyle.
Offered weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:15 pm
Let’s Connect Young Adult Support Group
Designed for young adults, ages 18 to 30, this is an open forum for discussion, building support networks, and encouraging community involvement. Topics may include interpersonal skills, relationship management, goal setting, and accessing additional resources to maintain recovery.
Offered every Tuesday from 4:15 – 5:30 pm
Hope Connections
The death of a loved one by suicide presents challenges with the grieving process. For adult survivors of suicide loss, this is a safe space to share loss, grieve, and receive support from those with similar experiences.
Offered twice monthly on the first and third Tuesday of the month from 6:30 – 7:45 pm
Please contact Suzanne at (262) 629-5187 or suzanne.namiwashington@gmail.
Teen Connections
Led by trained facilitators, this group is for teens who live with a diagnosed mental illness or suspect a mental
health condition.
This is a safe place for teens to talk with peers and trained facilitators about the challenges of managing their illness while trying to build a support network with other teens who are not affected by mental illness.
Offered every Thursday from 4:15 – 5:30 pm
Please contact Suzanne at (262) 629-5187 or suzanne.namiwashington@gmail.
NAMI Family Support Group
This group is not intended for the individual living with a mental illness but rather those who are caring for them. This open forum is an opportunity for parents and caregivers to build a support network, learn from others who are in similar situations, help others identify options for dealing with challenges, share resources, and learn about the importance of self-care.
Offered the FIRST Monday of the month from 10:00 – 11:30 am at Northbrook Church, 4014 Hwy 167, in Richfield
Offered the THIRD Monday of the month from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the NAMI Welcome Center, 279 S. 17 th Ave., Ste.7, West Bend (enter driveway off Chestnut Street)
Teen Art Expressions
Led by a licensed art therapist, teens use a variety of art materials as a means of self-expression. The process of using these materials to create a product helps teens gain self-awareness, build resiliency, share and talk through difficult emotions and learn how being creative is another valuable coping method.
Offered twice every Thursday
Session 1 – 4:15 – 5:30 pm for teens who do not attend Teen Connections Support Group
Session 2 – 5:30 – 6:45 pm
Please contact Suzanne at (262) 629-5187 or suzanne.namiwashington@gmail.
NAMI Peer to Peer Education Class
This 8-session recovery-focused course is for young adults with mental health conditions. Each weekly meeting is two hours long and offers great resources on mental health and recovery. Weekly lessons build on the strengths and resilience of participants.
This course is currently not being offered. Please email executivedirector@
Community Education Program Descriptions
Offered throughout the year as scheduled. Please call (262) 339-1235 for more information.
NAMI Family & Friends Education Seminar
This 90-minute seminar is for people who have loved ones living with a mental health condition. Participants learn to understand diagnosis and recovery, effective communication strategies, the importance of self-care, crisis strategies, and what other community resources are available to support themselves and their loved one.
NAMI Ending the Silence Education Program
The goal of this evidence-based program is to create a generation of students who are well-positioned to end the silence and stigma surrounding mental illness. This program is suitable for classroom presentation as well as community youth groups. There are similar programs designed for parents, school personnel and other organizations’ staff members.
NAMI Family-to-Family Education Class
This 8-week class is specifically for family members and caregivers of adults with mental illness. The team of teachers have had extensive NAMI training and have family members living with a serious mental illness. Through a variety of exercises, participants gain empathy, learn new techniques for problem-solving, and strengthen active listening skills. Participants acquire strategies for handling crises, learn methods for coping with anxiety, and receive guidance on locating supports within the community.
NAMI Mental Health Chat
This program is a fun, interactive, high-energy presentation developed to bring awareness and provide education about mental illness to elementary students in the fourth grade. Program goals include educating students about mental illness, helping students understand that getting help for a mental illness is good, providing positive coping skills for dealing with strong emotions, and teaching students how to help themselves or a friend identify an adult they can talk to if feeling sad, depressed or anxious.
Q.P.R. Suicide Prevention Training Program
This 90-minute presentation familiarizes community members and professionals with the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond. Class participants learn to recognize when someone may be at risk of suicide, persuade the person to seek and accept help, and refer the person to appropriate resources. Trainees receive a QPR booklet and wallet card as a review and resource tool that includes local referral resources.
Offered the second Thursday of every month from 6:30 – 8:00 pm via Zoom
C.I.T - Crisis Intervention Training
Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) is a program that provides the foundation necessary to promote community and statewide solutions to assist individuals with a mental illness and/or addictions. The CIT model reduces both stigma and the need for further involvement with the criminal justice system. NAMI Washington County facilitates this 40-hour training for law enforcement officers and other first responders in Washington County. The program creates connections between law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services, other social service agencies, and individuals living with mental illness and their families. Through collaborative partnerships and intensive training, the CIT program improves communication, identifies resources for those in crisis, and ensures officer and community safety.
The next CIT Training is scheduled for October 11 – 14, 2021. For more information, email executivedirector@namiwashingtonwi.org
OTHER TOPICS
Is there a specific topic in mental health or illness you’d like to learn more about? Are you looking for a presentation for a specific audience? Are you a leader for a non-profit organization, faith-based organization, corporation, service club, or parents’ group? NAMI Washington County partners with many of the county’s mental health experts. NAMI’s team plus a mental health professional are more than ready to provide the education and information you are seeking to help those living with mental illness live their best lives.
