Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba

Anyone who has a school aged child who may be struggling with their mental health in thePembina Valley! There is no cost associated and no commitment, simply call or text (204) 396-7923 or email Central@moodmb.ca for more information or to sign up. Peer Support is a unique support system where everyone gets to be an equal.

The group will be made up of people who have knowledge from their own experiences, and be facilitated by an individual with lived experience as well as professional training. In the context of this group, Peer Support will look like parents with children who are struggling with their mental health getting together to mutually share what they are going through with the aim that we all might benefit from each other's knowledge.What are the goals of this group?

-To reaffirm that you are not alone in the hardships you face.

-To help you as families make informed decisions in your child's path through the youth mental health services.

-To provide basic education on mental health issues faced by youth, to answer questions regarding mood disorders.

-To create a community where conversation about mental health does not carry stigma and where there are no such thing as dumb questions.

-To learn to take care of ourselves even when trying to care for others.

What is it that we are doing?We are gathering people who are facing similar hardships and sharing our knowledge, our resources, our coping skills, what works, and what doesn't.We are here to find acceptance and a sense of belonging, to be surrounded by a group of people that have some measure of understanding of what we are going through.

We are coming together so that we may learn to take better care of ourselves and the youth that we care for whom are struggling.What will a Peer Support Group Meeting look like?We will aim to meet once a week through zoom. There is no pressure to attend every session but an email will be sent out every week with the link to participate in that week’s meeting. The meeting will be facilitated by myself, we will introduce ourselves and share a little bit about our story, we will identify common experiences between ourselves, and collectively discuss and learn about issues pertaining to our situations. Some topics will organically occur and some will be preplanned by myself for discussion.ConfidentialityWhatever is discussed is kept confidential - MDAM asks that each attendee not share things they've heard within the group, such as personal information about other participants. The only times a facilitator will breach confidentiality are if we believe someone is in danger of harming themselves, others, or someone is harming them, as well if a law enforcement officer requires information to be disclosed to them.

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This group will be held over Zoom so there is no need to have your camera on if you do not want your identity known to the group. Certain topics can be sensitive, especially those around Covid, Religion, and LGBT2s+ issues. Respect in regard to these topics is expected as not everyone will have the same beliefs within the group. Some parts of these topics can be covered but respect to others must always be the goal.What are some topics that may be covered?

• Common Mental Health Issues

• Resources in the Pembina Valley

• Mental Health and School

• Medication

• Treatments and Therapies

• Covid and it’s impacts

• Boundaries and Communication

• Safety

• Addiction, drugs, and alcohol

• Managing feelings, challenging thoughts

• Self-Care

• And more!