May is Mental Health Awareness Month and there is growing need to promote mental wellness for ourselves and others. Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) is a multiservice agency that provides for basic needs and psychological needs of individuals, families, and the community, so that they can reach their self-fulfillment needs.

NAM supports the psychological and mental health of our community through providing no-cost quality therapy and counseling to our client members. NAM clients have access to professionals who can help them to process past hurts and traumas, to explore topics like boundaries, relationships, and self-esteem, and to discover their own unique strengths and talents to work towards achieving their goals and potential.  

The NAM Behavioral Health program also has several events scheduled this month to help magnify and expand upon the strengths of those we serve.

May 9^th – In partnership with The Harris Center, NAM will host a Community Learning Circle – one of various meetings throughout Houston with the purpose to connect, learn from, and equip existing lay leaders in the community and also inform them of, and provide them with, mental health resources for referrals when individuals and families need professional support.

RSVP here to the event.

May 13^th – We invite you to join us for a film screening of “The Wisdom of Trauma,” featuring physician Dr. Gabor Mate. This film is described as a journey to create a more “trauma-informed society in which parents, teachers, physicians, policy-makers and legal personnel are not concerned with fixing behaviors, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviors and diseases spring in the wounded human soul” (www.thewisdomoftrauma.com/about-the-film).  

There will be three opportunities to view this film on Friday, May 13^th – 9:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m. Please plan to join us at the Harrell Family Opportunity Center (HFOC) building directly behind NAM – seating is limited. RSVP at [email protected]

May 24^th – NAM Behavioral Health and Santa Maria Hostel have collaborated to offer a Parenting Skills group in Spanish, beginning May 24, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This 8-week group will provide basic parenting skills (topics like communication and discipline) and teach and support caregivers through STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting), a structured curriculum designed to help strengthen and enhance parent/child relationships and family mental health. 

NAM Behavioral Health y Santa Maria Hostel han colaborado para ofrecer un grupo de habilidades para padres en español, a partir del 24 de mayo de 2022 desde 9:00 a.m. a 10:30 a.m. Este grupo de 8 semanas proporcionará habilidades básicas para padres (en temas como comunicación y disciplina), y enseñará y apoyará a los cuidadores a través de un plan de estudios estructurado, para fortalecer y mejorar las relaciones entre padres e hijos y la salud mental familiar.

Through the month of May – The development of a dedicated Child Play Therapy room.

Play is the language of children and they are better served when mental health professionals meet them at their level to process what they don’t yet have the words for. While our therapists are currently making use of this approach, a dedicated play therapy room where children know that this space is just for them, opens up more possibilities for a sense of security and healing.

With plans to offer Yoga for Children during the summer – Stay tuned 😊

NAM Behavioral Health is proud to bring these offerings to the community and look forward to joining with you in this effort to improve the mental health of communities, families, couples, and individuals, across the lifespan, which includes seniors, adolescents, and children.