We offer peer-to-peer support for parents whose teens and young adults are dealing with mental health issues. Attend one of our three monthly virtual meetings and discover a caring and comforting community.
Upcoming Support Groups
SPECIAL FREE EVENT
Topic: How Mentoring May Help
Tuesday, March 31, 6:00PM - 7:00PM (Virtual)​
Please join us for our next special event for parents of teens/tweens and young adults
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Parents of Teens, Tweens, and Younger Children
Monthly Parent Support Groups
​​Saturdays: 2:00PM - 4:00PM (Virtual)​
Next Meeting Dates (click dates to register):
Parents of Older Teens and Young Adults (18 to 38 years)
Monthly Parent Support Groups
Tuesdays: 7:00PM - 9:00PM (Virtual)
Next Meeting Dates (click date to register):
From Our Founder
Special Event: How Mentoring May Help
Hello Everyone,
I am hoping all parents of teens/tweens and young adults will join us for our next special event on How Mentoring May Help. It will take place at 6pm on Tuesday, March 31 and it will be FREE.
Mentoring is something my young adult has engaged in for several years now. They are a person who rarely goes outside, but their mentor takes them on outings about once a month. For the meetings in-between, they usually talk on the phone. When we lived in the East Bay, they met in-person almost every week. The mentor has influence over them that my husband and I do not.
Most impressive about their relationship with the mentor is that our young adult finds the mentor as helpful if not more than their therapist.
If your teen/tween or young adult will not go to therapy, a mentor is someone you may consider. We will have two young people who are mentors for the March 31 online meeting to explain the in’s and out’s of mentoring. A one hour Family Sanity meeting will follow. I encourage you to sign up now: March 31 Special Event
Lisa
We usually suggest a $10 donation for Family Sanity Meetings to help cover our administrative costs. Please contact founder Lisa Scimens to request financial assistance lisascimens@gmail.com.
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Family Sanity is truly a volunteer run organization. Our facilitators, our parent coach, and our founder all work without compensation. Our operating costs have increased dramatically this year, so please donate whatever you can.
To donate via check, contact founder Lisa Scimens at lisascimens@gmail.com for the mailing address.
Bay Area Parent Support Group Forum
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If you would like to communicate with parents like you about special programs,RTC’s, schools, etc. in between our Family Sanity meetings, there is a San Francisco-based group that provides a listserv that is very helpful. It is run by Lisa Eltinge (lisaeltinge@aol.com) and it is tied to NAMI. Just click on this link http://www.tinyurl.com/Bay-Area-Parent-Forum" or use the following QR Code to sign up:
Parenting Blogs
The Dinner Table
by Lisa Scimens
Do you have a difficult teen or young adult child who lives with you? Do you have a hard time getting them to talk to you or engage in any way? Do they spend most of their days in their rooms on the computer? Do you really have very little idea of what they are up to?
My next question: Do you have family dinners?
If not, you are not alone. YouGov’s (https://yougov.com/) research showed that about 29% of families report eating together every night and 23% eat together 4-6 nights per week.
In our Family Sanity groups, we often hear that challenging teens never come to the dinner table. Parents prepare meals for them and bring them to their rooms which they eat in front of their computers. Sound familiar?
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I grew up in Sacramento in the 60’s and 70’s in a very traditional family. We ate dinner together every night. The food wasn’t great, but we learned the art of conversation. We talked about everything: school, politics, religion, even sex. Once my youngest sister, who was quite precocious, asked my mother during dinner if she was a virgin when she got married. Of course my parents told her that question was not proper dinner table conversation (and they probably sent her to her room.)
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Do you need to talk to someone ASAP?
Caregiving isn’t easy.
Providing care to someone with a mental health condition comes with unique challenges: Seeing someone you love in pain, navigating red tape through confusing systems, fighting stigma and myths about mental illness, and advocating for your loved one when no one else will.
To be a caregiver is to practice resilience, strength, and compassion, braving challenge after challenge. With the new NAMI Family Caregiver HelpLine, you can find support rooted in lived experience and designed to help you access resources and find hope. If nothing else feels easy, finding experienced support can be. Take a moment today to connect with the NAMI Family Caregiver HelpLine available Monday through Friday, 7am to 7pm Pacific.
Call: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or Text:  62640 
https://www.nami.org/support-education/nami-helpline/family-caregiver-helpline/
In The News:
Photo by Stephan Lam
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From the San Francisco Chronicle:
How California mental health laws failed the Reiners - and all teens who have a serious mental illness by Rachel Howard
Testimonials
"Family Sanity has been a lifesaver for me raising 2 teenagers and now young adults as a single mom. I don’t have a great support system, and my siblings / acquaintances really have no idea about raising neuro-divergent kids."