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The STAR Center provides Support, Technical Assistance and Resources to assist consumer-operated and consumer-supporter programs in meeting the needs of under-served populations.  Specifically, the STAR Center’s focus areas are cultural competence and diversity in the context of mental health recovery and consumer self-help and self-empowerment.  Although we are a national technical assistance center, the following regions have been designated as STAR Center focus regions/states:  Washington, DC, Rhode Island, and New Mexico.     

In pursuit of this mission we offer a broad array of technical assistance to consumer operated and peer run programs, including technical assistance materials and tools, informative newsletters and listservs, national teleconferences, consumer networking and resource sharing opportunities, and support in the form of mini-grant awards for creative recovery-based activities, scholarships for Alternatives conferences.

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The STAR Center is funded by a grant from the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Please visit our partner TA Centers:

• National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center at Mental Health America
• National Empowerment Center
• National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse
• The Family Café

With grateful acknowledgment to the federal Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS).
CMHS was established under the 1992 ADAMHA Reorganization Act, Public Law 102-321, which mandates CMHS' leadership role in delivering mental health services, generating and applying new knowledge, and establishing national mental health policy. CMHS is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (opens in new window), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (opens in new window).

Partner Links

In Honor of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (July)STAR Center Hosted the Following Teleconferences:

Integration of Recovery and Peer Support Models in Latino Communities

STAR Center consultants Katy Castro and Juan Velez-Court discussed their efforts to integrate recovery and peer support services into community life in Puerto Rico. The teleconference included an open exchange of ideas on community outreach, advocacy, and social inclusion of underserved communities. 

Audio    

Free Cultural Competency Toolkit and Training: Cultural Competency in Mental Health Peer-run Programs and Self-help Groups

University of Illinois at Chicago - National Research and Training: Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy Professor and Director Judith A. Cook, Ph. D, Senior Program Manager Marie M. Hamilton, LCSW, MPH, and NAMI STAR Center Director Stephen R. Kiosk, M. Div., LPC provided relevant background and FREE training for the cultural competence tool available for free download under the resources section at www.consumerstar.org .

Audio     

COMING SOON TO THE STAR CENTER:

Peer Support Skill Training Curriculum and Leader’s Guide:
Responding to Urgent Situations

A tool developed by STAR Center in collaboration with the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation that will help students and peers develop more effective assessment and safety-action skills for urgent mental health-related situations.



Click Picture for More Information 

Guidelines for Mental Health Consumers & Their Supporters Regarding Intense Spiritual Experiences: Findings from the NAMI STAR Center Workshop on Multicultural Competence, Intense Spiritual Experiences, and Mental Health

By Laura Mancuso, MS, CRC

The STAR Center is in the final stages of developing self-help materials and teleconference sessions on mental health and spirituality. The materials are based on a spirituality workshop attended by consumer leaders and spiritual healers who are pioneering this approach in their communities.

CLICK PICTURE FOR INTIMATE AND PERSONAL VIDEO CLIPS OF PERSONAL SPIRITUAL AND RECOVERY WELLNESS JOURNEYS AND PRACTICES FROM WORKSHOP PARTICPANTS

THE RECOVERY WALL OF HOPE

The STAR Center is committed to providing a space where consumers can share their personal recovery stories, recovery-inspired affirmations, messages of self-empowerment and overall encouragement and support.  A fundamental principle of peer support recovery is the mutual sharing, respect, and understanding of diverse personal recovery journeys as well as the sharing of information, education, and wellness practices and resources.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SHARING YOUR RECOVERY-INSPIRED STORY, AFFIRMING MESSAGE, OR POEM ON OUR WEBSITE PLEASE CONTACT pqualo@nami.org

Stephen Kiosk sings "Caro Mio Ben" @ Miriam's House Concert

MJ, a consumer and friend to the STAR Center, shares an inspiring personal account of her struggle to achieve and maintain recovery.

Thank You Twin Rivers!

SAMHSA’s Recovery to Practice Initiative (RTP)

RTP is the most recent of the Federal Government’s efforts to promote recovery for all Americans affected by mental illness/mental health challenges.  It is a resource center and project to develop national training materials for Mental Health Peer Specialists, Social Workers, Psychiatric Nurses, Psychologists, and Psychiatrists.

Also available from the RTP Resource Center are/will be:

◊ Webinars
◊ Newsletters
◊ Listserv updates

If you have questions or would like information, please email recoverytopractice@dsgonline.com or call the RTP Technical Assistance Center at (877) 584-8535

Or visit for RTP Web site at:

http://www.dsgonline.com/rtp/resources.html

You can also receive the Recovery To Practice e-sends by signing up on STAR Center Listserv at

http://www.dsgonline.com/rtp/resources.html



RTP Weekly Highlight  

The Federal Government has spearheaded the SAMHSA 10x10 Wellness Campaign,launched in 2010, to promote the importance of addressing all parts of a person's life in hopes of increasing life expectancy for persons with mental health problems by 10 years over the next 10 years. More than 2,000 organizations and individuals have expressed their commitment to promoting wellness and reducing the disproportionate impact of preventable morbidity and mortality on people with mental health problems by signing the Pledge for Wellness , and the Campaign is guided by a multidisciplinary Steering Committee representing consumers, providers, and researchers.

The Gardens at Saint Elizabeth’s:
A National Memorial of Recovered Dignity

The Gardens at Saint Elizabeth’s is a national memorial to remember once forgotten psychiatric patients. In addition to remembrance, it will also be a place of recovery offering dignity and hope to anyone living with mental illness.

Within this web site you can find out about the plans for a National Memorial , its history , a traveling exhibit , and how you can help .