Resources for Families

Lifelines in the Dark shows you how to communicate with your relatives when they are experiencing acute symptoms of illness. Amdur gives you a "skill map", a range of communication tactics that cover many symptoms, such as the presence of paranoia, mania, hallucinations, delusions, and other manifestations of the illness. With his expert guidance, you will learn to reach out to the person behind the illness. "Words do not cure severe psychiatric illnesses" says Amdur, "but we can choose to speak to the illness or speak to the person who is ill. And when we speak to the person, like a lifeline thrown in the dark to someone in the stormy sea, they have something to hold onto so that they are not overwhelmed by the waves."

Centering: Standing with Strength and Grace in Crisis Situations
Ellis Amdur, M.A., N.C.C., C.M.H.S.

It can be very challenging to preserve a sense of personal pride and confidence while in the midst of the turmoil created by the psychiatric disorder of your relative. This guidebook walks you through effective strategies for maintaining greater self-control in your interactions with your family member. By mastering these techniques, you will develop a closer relationship to an unshakable core part of you; the inner you which is constant, peaceful, and knowing. The self-trust you will develop through this guidebook will, in turn, profoundly improve the quality of your relationship with your ill relative.

In the Eye of the Hurricane: Calming and De-escalation of Aggressive Family Members

Symptoms of psychiatric disorders sometimes include threatening behaviors, aggression, frightening verbal escalations, harsh exchanges, and more. In this guidebook, Ellis Amdur walks you through the steps you can take to reduce the probability of your relative becoming aggressive, explains how to handle tense situations before they deteriorate into chaos, and shows you how to de-escalate once a crisis is in play. Amdur also teaches you about the cycle of aggression — the motivation behind these emotional expressions — and offers some crucial, common sense do’s and don’ts in the face of anger, rage and violence.