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Parenting the Second Time Around
Imagine you are at work and the telephone rings. It is the Department of Social Services. You hear the worker on the other end of the telephone say, “Please come to the courthouse immediately. Your grandchild is being removed from the care of her parent and may be in jeopardy of being placed in...
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NAMI Westchester Family to Family Program Helps Caregivers
As a parent of an adult child living with Bipolar Disorder, I am all too aware of the stress that mental illness places on caregivers. I have struggled with the highs and lows and the overwhelming grief and the sense of loss for the life that my child could have had. When I was first pulled into...
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Me First? A Personal Account of Self Care
When flight attendants give their safety talk at the beginning of each flight- where everyone listens to their iPod or begins to read a magazine- they state: “If there is a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will fall from above. If you are traveling with a child or someone who needs your...
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Helping Caregivers Understand the Challenges of End-of-Life Decision Making for Those with Mental Retardation
Birth is a beginning and death a destination. Those of us who are considered to have capacity to make decisions for ourselves are nevertheless often unprepared as we face the end-of-life. We live in a death denying culture, which frequently prevents many of us from considering our options when we...
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Guardianships for Incapacitated Persons and The Limitations on a Guardian’s Ability to Consent to or Refuse Psychiatric Treatment
Many times, people lose the capacity to make personal and financial decisions on their own behalf. Often times this occurs as a result of declining mental faculties, such as when the person reaches an advanced age, suffers from mental illness, or experiences traumatic or unexpected injury....
