Pathstone's workshops are led by highly trained professionals with extensive experience in supporting children, adolescents, and families facing mental health challenges.

Please note that payments for workshops are accepted in cash or by cheque only.

Family Support Provider Program

Enhancing Access and Understanding

Positive outcomes for children and youth accessing publicly-funded mental health programs improve significantly when family members receive a deeper level of understanding and support. Navigating the child and youth mental health systems becomes more effective with increased support, reducing isolation, and overwhelm often experienced by families dealing with mental health challenges in their children.

Role of the Family Support Provider

The Family Support Provider (FSP) plays a crucial role in improving access to services and enhancing the capacity of families dealing with mental illness in their children and youth. This position, filled by a family member with lived experience in child and youth mental health services in Niagara, provides peer-level understanding and functional support, not clinical intervention.

Program Highlights

Non-Clinical Approach: The FSP program is not clinical. Its primary goal is to reduce caregiver strain by working with families to identify and address stressors, enhancing their capacity to support their child.

Tailored Support:

Families are partnered with an FSP to identify goals, strengths, and strategies to reduce strain, drawing on formal and informal supports.

Knowledge Enhancement:

The FSP helps improve families' knowledge of child and youth mental health systems, aiding in better navigation.

Support Areas

The FSP offers assistance in various areas, including finding a primary care provider, providing information on community resources, exploring potential funding sources, and identifying and navigating prosocial activities for children.

Shared Goals

Working collaboratively, the FSP and families aim to enhance support networks, reduce caregiver strain, and empower families to navigate the complexities of raising a child/youth with mental health challenges effectively.

Access Mental Health Support