CBT-Informed Caring for Families

CBT-Informed Caring for Families

When someone you love is living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or another serious mental illness, you may feel helpless, exhausted, and unsure whether anything you do makes a difference. The research says you can make a difference!

Family relationships have a measurable impact on the course of serious mental illness. How family members respond to symptoms, manage conflict, and maintain their own wellbeing affects outcomes for their loved one — and for themselves. CBT-Informed Caring for Families teaches practical, evidence-based skills that make those interactions more effective and less draining.

I work directly with families — separately from or alongside individual treatment — to help them understand their loved one's experience, reduce high-stress interactions, set compassionate limits, and support recovery without losing themselves in the process.

This work draws on the same cognitive behavioral principles that underpin CBT-p, adapted specifically for family members who are not themselves in treatment but who want to be part of the solution.

If you are a family member looking for guidance, I am happy to have an initial conversation about whether this approach might help.

Call (415) 297-1016 or email rreiser@cbtsupervision.com.

Who This Service Is For

CBT-Informed Caring for Families is designed for family members and caregivers of people living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and other serious mental health conditions. Many families find that once they understand how psychosis and serious mental illness affect their loved one's thinking and behavior, they are able to respond more effectively and with less distress. Research consistently shows that family involvement is one of the strongest predictors of recovery outcomes in serious mental illness. This program translates that evidence into practical skills that families can use every day — in Marin County and beyond.

Other Resources for Families

This recorded webinar series — hosted by Dr. Douglas Turkington, one of the world's leading experts in CBT for psychosis, and NAMI Marin— is designed to give families and caregivers practical knowledge and real tools.

Click any title below to watch:

• Principles of Recovery

• Making Sense of Psychosis

• Befriending/communication with loved ones with mental illness

• Working with individuals who have reduced insight into their illness

• Managing challenging symptoms

• Negative symptoms

• Effective coping for families and other caregivers

• Talking about medicines

• Working with substance use