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Support Groups

Person-to-person support and/or educational groups (Toronto and Ontario), and online support and discussion groups.

Person-to-Person Support and/or Educational Groups

Toronto and Area

If you do not find what you are looking for below, contact 211 Toronto Community Connection (www.211toronto.ca), the Self-Help Resource Centre (www.selfhelp.on.ca), and/or the Family and Friends section of the Making Choices Resource Guide from Community Resources Consultants of Toronto (www.crct.org) for more listings of support groups in the Greater Toronto area.

Across Boundaries
www.acrossboundaries.ca
Across Boundaries is a mental health centre serving people of colour in Toronto. In addition to peer support groups for the Afghan community, the Somali Women's Support Group, the Tamil Support Group, and other peer-support groups addressing individual, systemic and ethno-specific issues affecting mental health, Across Boundaries from time to time offers support groups for families within these communities. 51 Clarkson Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. For more information call 416-787-3007.

Alternatives: East York Mental Health Counseling Services Agency
Services provided in English, Gujurati, Hindi, Urdu. Support groups and support for consumer/survivor and family involvement in community mental health reform. 2034 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, and 16 Thorncliffe Park Drive, Toronto. For more information call 416-285-7996 (Danforth), 416-421-5743 (Thorncliffe Park), or e-mail alternatives@primus.ca.

Anishnawbe Health Toronto
www.aht.ca
Culturally specific, traditional mental health services, including individual, couple and family counseling, delivered in American Sign Language, Cree, English, Inuktitut, and Ojibway. 225 Queen Street East, Toronto. For more information call 416-360-0486 or e-mail reception@aht.ca.

Breakaway – Family and Youth Initiative
www.breakawayyouth.org
Breakaway provides free, confidential harm reduction and addiction treatment services and has made support for parents a key part of its programming. Individuals and family members can receive counselling regarding drug and alcohol use. The goal of the family and youth initiative is to reduce the harm from drug and alcohol use while helping the youth and family to develop better alternative coping skills.
2 Billingham Rd., 4th Floor, Toronto ON, M9B 6E1
Telephone: (416) 234-1942
Toll-free: 1 (800) 836-6209
Fax: (416) 234-5702
E-mail: breakaway@breakawayyouth.org

Concerned Parents of Toronto
Support groups for families and friends of individuals with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and a mental health issue. Scarborough Central area. For more information call 416-492-1468 or e-mail thejohnstons@attglobal.net.

Family Outreach and Response
www.familymentalhealthrecovery.org
FOR provides individual and group counseling, support groups and educational seminars for family members and friends of people with a serious mental illness, supporting their role as caregivers and/or helpers of their relative or friend. Located at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto. Call 416-535-8501 ext. 2011 for more information or send an e-mail to kbaker@camh.net.

FOR offers the following programs:

Family Mental Health Recovery Series — A free, eight-week innovative family education and support series on mental health recovery, giving families an opportunity to learn about the mental health recovery vision and assisting families to learn how they can be most helpful in their family member's recovery process. Families also explore ways to grow in their own recovery process.
Partners of Lesbian/Bisexual Women Program — A biweekly support group offered for lesbian or bisexual women who are in a relationship with someone with a mental health issue.
MIDAYNTA: Somali Family Mental Health Support Program — A partnership between FOR and the Somaliland Canadian Society of Metro Toronto. For more information, call MIDAYNTA at 416-544-1992 or FOR at 416-535-8501 ext. 2011.

Family Association for Mental Health Everywhere
www.fameforfamilies.com
FAME offers self-help for family members of a relative with a mental illness. Support groups meet monthly in Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Mississauga and Orangeville/Caledon. FAME also facilitates Kidshare, a support program for children who have a parent or other family member with schizophrenia or another serious mental illness, as well as an abused women and children support group in the Peel Region. Call FAME at 416-207-5032 for more information or visit the website for group schedules.

Family Mental Health Alliance
FMHA works to develop a stronger voice for families in the mental health system, to strengthen the supports provided to families and raise awareness of issues from a family perspective. Members are agencies providing family supports and services and individual family members (both immediate members as well as friends or neighbours) who support the mandate of the alliance in working to address a number of needs, including formal recognition of families' role within the mental health system, increased funding for family supports and services, reduction of stigma and more recognition of special needs and issues in diverse ethno-racial communities, among others. For more information call 416-653-2545.

Family Resource Centre of the Family Council, CAMH
www.thefamilycouncil.ca
The Family Resource Centre is operated by the Family Council, an independently governed body funded by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), advocating on a systemic level for supports on behalf of the interests of families at the Centre. The Family Resource Centre is located at the Clarke site of CAMH and is staffed by volunteers who have experienced the impact of mental illness on their own families and friends. The centre offers education, emotional support and information about resources. For more information call 416-535-8501 ext. 4015. The Family Outreach and Response Program offers telephone and group support, and holds educational events for anyone who has a relative, spouse or friend receiving services at CAMH. For more information call 416-535-8501 ext. 2011.

Family Support Program, Centenary Health Centre
www.excellentcare.com
The Adult Mental Health Program of Centenary Health Centre provides services to meet the needs of clients and their families. For more information call 416-281-7319. The Shoniker Clinic at Centenary offers mental health services for children, adolescents and their families from Scarborough, Durham and southern York region on an outpatient basis. For more information call 416-281-7301.

Family Support Program, Toronto East General Hospital
www.tegh.on.ca
The Family Support Program offers an eight-week educational course for family members and friends of people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, ongoing support groups for those who have finished the course, and short-term supportive counseling and psychoeducation for individual families. Located at Community Outreach Services, 177 Danforth Avenue, Suite 203, Toronto. For more information or to register, call 416-461-2000 ext. 223.

Family Support Program, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network
www.uhn.ca
The program offers family support services in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. For information call Toronto Western Hospital, Clinic Administration, Family Support Program at 416-603-5800 ext. 5747.

Freedom from Fear Outreach
Support group meetings for people with anxiety disorders and phobias and for their significant others who want to be supportive. For more information call 416-761-6006.

Hong Fook Mental Health Association
www.hongfook.ca
Hong Fook offers a range of mental health services for East Asian communities in Toronto, including the Cambodian, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese communities. A support group for family members of a relative with a mental illness is conducted in Chinese (Cantonese) in the Spadina office (260 Spadina Avenue, Suite 408) every other Monday afternoon. For more information, call 416-493-4242 ext. 250. Family members may also join consumers/survivors in the Khmer Angkor Group, conducted in Cambodian and held every first Monday of the month in the Spadina office. For more information, call 416-493-4242.

Lance Krasman Memorial Centre for Community Mental Health
www.krasmancentre.com
Serving the York Region, the Krasman Centre provides a range of services for consumer/survivors and family members, including self-help and professional support groups as well as resource services and supportive counseling for family members. Located at 10121 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario. For more information call 905-780-0491 or toll-free 1-888-780-0724 or e-mail kristab@look.ca.

Mens Sana, Families for Mental Health
www.facethecrowd.com/menssana/
Mens Sana provides professional education and weekly support groups for Italian family members, friends or relatives of individuals with schizophrenia. For more information call 416-747-6018.

Mood Disorders Association of Ontario
www.mooddisorders.on.ca
MDAO and its chapters across Ontario provide a range of peer-based, self-help support groups. Some groups are for the person with the mental illness alone, others include the person with the mental illness and his or her family members. The Toronto location also offers a group for family members alone. For the location of groups in 32 communities across the province, call 416-486-8046, toll-free 1-888-486-8236, e-mail info@mooddisorders.on.ca, or visit the website.

Mood Disorders Clinic, Education and Support Group, CAMH
www.camh.net
The Mood Disorders Clinic of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto provides a program to support the special role of partners, relatives and caregivers and meet their unique needs for support and education. The relative with the diagnosis may not attend. Several series of sessions are run each year, with the focus of each series alternating between depression and bipolar disorder. Weekly sessions run for 90 minutes at the Clarke site of the Centre (250 College Street) and include such topics as navigating the mental health system, stress management for caregivers, problem management, crisis intervention, community resources, understanding mood disorders, treatments, medications and legal issues. To find out the dates of the next group series and to attend a required appointment prior to registering, call the inquiry line at (416) 535-8501, extension 4085.

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
www.nativechild.org
Range of services for Native people, including individual and family counseling and children's mental health program. 464 Yonge Street, Suite 201, Toronto. For more information call 416-969-8510 or e-mail info@nativechild.org.

Schizophrenia, Relatives and Friends Program, CAMH
A free support group for family members and friends of people with schizophrenia, provided by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Groups meet at the Clarke site, 250 College Street, Room G21, every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. For more information call 416-535-8501 ext. 4015.

Schizophrenia Society of Ontario
www.schizophrenia.on.ca
The Schizophrenia Society and its many local chapters offer self-help support groups for family members of individuals with schizophrenia. To find support groups in another area, visit the website, or call the Society's Ontario office toll-free at 1-800-449-6367.

Self Abuse Finally Ends (SAFE), Scarborough General Hospital
Support group for family and friends of people who cause harm to themselves. For more information call 416-431-8200 ext. 3016.

Somaliland Canadian Society of Metro Toronto
Support services provided in English, Arabic and Somali. Oriole Community Resource Centre, 2975 Don Mills Road West, North York. For more information call 416-496-2588 or e-mail somalilandcommunity@yahoo.com.

Person-to-Person Support and/or Educational Groups

Across Ontario

If you do not find what you are looking for below, visit Inform Canada (www.informcanada.ca) for a list of links to online community information centres across Ontario, or the Community Information Online Consortium (www.cioc.ca).

Algoma Family Support Network
A self-help group of family members of people who have a mental illness holds scheduled meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7:00 p.m. For more information, call the CMHA, Sault Ste. Marie Branch at 705-759-0458 or e-mail general@cmhassm.com.

Association of Parent Support Groups in Ontario
www.apsgo.ca
APSGO is a volunteer organization with chapters throughout Ontario, providing weekly self-help meetings to support and assist parents of 'disruptive youth.' For a list of local chapters visit the website, send an e-mail to mail@apsgo.ca, or call the 24-hour information line at 416-223-7444 or 1-800-488-5666.

Bereaved Families of Ontario
www.bereavedfamilies.net
Bereaved Families of Ontario's online resource centre provides the locations of its affiliates in communities across Ontario with contact names and phone numbers. Trained volunteers supported by health professionals facilitate family support programs. Facilitators have also been bereaved. For more information, visit the website or call the provincial office at 416-440-0290 or 1-800-236-6364.

Brantford General Hospital
www.bchsys.org
The Brantford General Hospital Mental Health Day Program offers support and information for family members and friends of people with chronic mental illness, a family education program for schizophrenia, support groups for partners and spouses. For more information, call the program at 519-751-5530.

Canadian Mental Health Association
www.ontario.cmha.ca/branches/
There are 33 local CMHA branches in Ontario providing mental health services for people and communities across the province. Please call your local CMHA branch or visit their website for information on education, support programs, and/or groups for family members offered by CMHA or other local organizations. Search the Branch Services database for family support services.

Eclipse: Depression and Manic Depression Support Group
comdir.bfree.on.ca/eclipse/
Serving the Brant County area, Eclipse provides support for those with a mood disorder and their family and friends. For more information, call CMHA, Brant County Branch at 519-752-2998. Groups held in the Community Mental Health Building, 225 St. Paul Avenue, Brantford, Ontario. See the Eclipse website for a listing of other support groups in the Brant County area.

Emotions Anonymous
www.emotionsanonymous.org
Both face-to-face and online peer support groups are offered for people working toward recovery from emotional difficulties, including those that accompany being a family member or caregiver of a person with a mental health issue or mental illness. Visit the website to find locations across Ontario or send an e-mail to info@emotionsanonymous.org.

Healthy Ontario.com
www.healthyontario.ca/english/community_resources.asp
Search the Healthy Ontario database of community support groups by region and by illness. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care launched HealthyOntario.com in October 2002.

Homewood Health Centre
www.homewoodhealth.com
Provides residential inpatient and outpatient services, assessment, counseling, customized behavioural programs and community outreach. Offers psycho-educational support groups for family members of those in treatment at the centre. For more information call 519-824-1010.

Mental Health Grey Bruce, Family Support Initiative
www.mhagb.ca
The Family Support Initiative (FSI) of Mental Health Grey Bruce provides a Family Coping Skills Program in communities throughout Grey and Bruce counties to assist family members of relatives with a mental illness. Groups run from four to six sessions long. Additionally, Family Support Meetings offer opportunities for exchange of information, coping strategies and resources. 1139 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, Ontario. For more information call 519-371-4802 or e-mail fsi@gbchc.org.

NAMI Ontario Family-to-Family Education Program
www.namiontario.ca
A 12-week course developed by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) in the United States for relatives and friends of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The course is taught by NAMI-trained family member volunteers, focuses on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, and emphasizes clinical treatment and family coping skills. In Ontario, some mental health agencies sponsor the NAMI Family-to-Family courses. For the course schedule, visit the NAMI Ontario website or contact the program director, Judi Rollo, at 613-273-7077 or rrollo@rideau.net.

Ontario Self-Help Network
www.selfhelp.on.ca
Search the OSHNET database for various self-help support groups in Ontario.

Parents' Lifelines of Eastern Ontario
www.pleo.on.ca
PLEO holds regular peer-based support group meetings at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario for parents of children, adolescents or teens with a mental illness. Visit the website for information on the next meeting or send an e-mail to info@pleo.on.ca.

PEPP Parent Support Group
www.pepp.ca
Started by parents involved in the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses (PEPP) to provide peer support to parents with a child receiving treatment for psychosis at the London Health Sciences Centre, 392 South Street, London, Ontario. For more information, call 519-667-6777 or e-mail info@pepp.ca.

Recovery Inc.
www.recovery-inc.org
Recovery, Inc. is an international, non-profit self-help mental health organization founded by the late neuropsychiatrist Abraham A. Low, M.D. There are 19 local Ontario chapters of Recovery Inc., which host self-help groups dedicated to the aftercare of people suffering from nervous and emotional stress, panic disorders, depression, etc. For information about the philosophy of recovery that underlies the program, and to locate meeting in Ontario, visit the website, send an e-mail to inquiries@recovery-inc.org, or call 312-337-5661.

Schizophrenia Society of Ontario
www.schizophrenia.on.ca
The Schizophrenia Society and its many local chapters offer self-help support groups for family members of individuals with schizophrenia. Contact local chapters for information on support groups in your area. Visit the website for a complete list of local chapters, contact names and phone numbers or call the Society's Ontario office at 416-449-6830 or toll-free 1-800-449-6367.

Support Group for Parents of Children with OCD (Ottawa)
www.ocdottawa.com
A self-help group for parents of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. For more information, call Barb at 613-831-3222 or e-mail barb@ocdottawa.com.

Online Support and Discussion Groups

Anxiety Disorders — The Caregivers
www.pacificcoast.net/~kstrong/
Two e-mail-based support groups for caregivers and/or people with an anxiety disorder. A Canadian site.

Bipolar Significant Others
www.bpso.org
A closed, e-mail support group for significant others of individuals with bipolar disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder Central
www.bpdcentral.com
An open, moderated bulletin board for family members and friends of people with borderline personality disorder.

Borderline Personality Sanctuary Group
www.mhsanctuary.com
An unmoderated, public board exclusively for family members and significant others of those with borderline personality disorder. Hosted by Mental Health Sanctuary, which also provides bulletin boards exclusively for the family members and friends of individuals with other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Depression Fallout
www.depressionfallout.com
A message board for partners and spouses of people with depression, hosted by writer Anne Sheffield, author of Depression Fallout: The Impact of Depression on Couples and What You Can Do to Preserve the Bond.

Harbour of Refuge
www.harbor-of-refuge.org
Find and provide peer-to-peer support through forum discussions for those with bipolar disorder and those who love them. Special hosted chats for Parents of Children with Bipolar Disorder and for Spouses and Significant Others.

Healthy Place Communities
www.healthyplace.com
Dozens of scheduled, hosted, online support group meetings organized into communities of people concerned about a particular diagnosis, disorder or mental illness. Although most groups are targeted to people with a mental illness, some are appropriate for significant others, such as the Family and Friends of Alcoholics and the OCD and Relationships groups. Click on the name of the disorder or illness and then the link to related support groups.

Kids Help Phone
www.kidshelp.sympatico.ca
As well as the telephone distress line for kids at 1-800-668-6868, this site offers weekly online chats for kids in distress. Chats are scheduled, topic-based, moderated by a counselor and include a guest expert on the selected topic. Includes an 'Ask the Counselor' forum with answers to questions on categorized topics posted within 48 hours.

MentalEarth Community
www.mentalearth.com
A clinical psychologist hosts this bulletin board for consumers, family members, friends and mental health providers.

Mood Disorders Society of Canada
discussions.mooddisorderscanada.ca
An online forum for people with mood disorders, their family members and friends.

OCD Partners
www.ocdpartners.org
An open discussion forum for partners of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Search Engine Groups
Most search engines, such as Yahoo, Google, and MSN, support a wide range of bulletin boards and discussion forums on many mental illnesses. Groups are directed to consumer/survivors and/or their family members and friends.

SupportPath
www.supportpath.com
A list of online, support-based message boards and forums.

World Association of Young People Who Have a Mentally Ill Parent
nnaami.org/forums/chat_phone_or_write_to_nnaami.html
The WAYMI forum is hosted by the National Network of Adult and Adolescent Children Who Have a Mentally Ill Parent/s (NNAAMI) in Australia. This is a moderated forum for young people to discuss feelings about living and coping with a parent who has a mental illness.