A FREE WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS OF ADULT CHILDREN WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

NAMI Fox Valley is excited to offer a free, empowering workshop for parents of adult children with mental illness. The workshop helps parents of adult children with mental illness gain skills and knowledge to build trust and create a sense of partnership—so you can better understand your child’s experiences, stressors, and goals. From that place of connection, you’ll be in a much stronger position to support change, increase engagement, and help your child move toward a more stable and meaningful life. Participants will learn and practice new skills using real-life situations.

Saturday, June 27 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: NAMI Fox Valley | 211 E. Franklin St., Appleton

Lunch will be provided. Registration is required, and space is limited for this program. Spots are filling quickly, so be sure to reserve yours today by clicking the button below!

Register Today!

Questions? Contact Vivian Flanagan, NAMI Fox Valley's Family Program Coordinator, at vivian@namifoxvalley.org.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Recognize the role of relationship and emotional safety as the foundation for influence, and use simple strategies to repair trust in times of disconnection.
  • Adopt a partnership-mindset, grounded in curiosity, humility, acceptance, and respect for autonomy.
  • Use core communication skills to improve connection, including active listening, empathy, and normalization.
  • Reduce conflict and respond confidently to challenging thoughts, emotions and behaviors—validating their experience, without reinforcing delusions.
  • Understand what really motivates change and why common approaches like arguing, persuading, and correcting often increase resistance.

About the Instructor

Shanen Sadowski, MSE, LPC

Shanen Sadowski, MSE, LPC, is a licensed therapist, parenting coach, and mom to an adult with serious mental illness (SMI). She combines clinical training and lived experience to help parents reclaim their lives—even when their child's life feels uncertain. Her work is grounded in evidence-based approaches and focuses on two key areas: strengthening parents’ emotional regulation and self-care, and building parenting and communication skills that preserve connection, support autonomy, and reduce enabling patterns—without abandoning their child.