Over the years, The Royal has hosted many support groups at its Ottawa and Brockville campuses. This year, both locations came together for the first time to design and host a virtual group for individuals who have loved ones in the forensic system.
“Our forensic families need very specific education and information given the unique circumstances their loved ones are in,” says Richard Robins, a social worker in Ottawa and one of the clinicians who developed the group.
The group grew out of a needs assessment in 2019.
“Speaking with families, we really identified the need for a specific group for forensic families,” says Katy Eaton, a social worker in Brockville who was involved in the group. “There’s a double stigma that's often associated with folks supporting their loved ones in forensics and we really wanted to provide that safe space for family members to discuss their experience and also support one another and ask those hard questions.”
A dozen potential discussion topics were generated by staff and then whittled down through discussions with forensic families. Eight topics were chosen for a 10-week run in order to allow for some flexibility including “Forensics 101,” finances, legal matters, the importance of self-care for caregivers, and a photo tour of the inpatient facilities.
In one session, a guest speaker talked about her experience of having a family member in the forensic system.
“Sharing her story allowed everybody else to open up their cameras and just talk and share their experiences,” says Robins. “It was a very powerful session. That session brought everybody together.”
As this group was on Zoom, family members from across Ontario were able to participate. An average of 15 family members attended each session throughout the 10-week period.
Eaton believes peer support is a significant part of the group’s success. When experienced families participate, they help support those who are new to the forensic system. “Some of them are walking beside each other in this process and really leaning on each other. I think that's so powerful and so important,” she says.
Participants filled out surveys before the group began, after it ended, but also after each week’s session. This way, the group could be changed or improved on the fly. For example: one participant expressed an interest about a session about acceptance and forgiveness. Based on this feedback, the organizers invited Virginia Lafond, a social worker, former staff member and author of Grieving Mental Illness: A Guide for Patients and Their Caregivers to address this topic.
Both Eaton, who’s based in Brockville, and Robins, who is in Ottawa at the Carling campus, say that one of the best things about the family forensic support group was the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues at the other site.
“Both Ottawa and Brockville joined together in creating a program, and also facilitating it, and at the end of this we really saw the positive impact this had on families of combining both programs together and being unified in our approach,” says Robins.
The group couldn’t have happened without a team of social workers behind it (including Caitlin Carter, Danielle Hicks, and Jori Armishaw at BMHC), as well as a host of staff psychiatrists, psychologists, and community partners who participated as guest speakers.
Nicole Rodrigues, a senior research coordinator at BMHC, supported the program’s evaluation to determine whether this kind of intervention has a real impact.
Although more analysis is required, based on the survey data her preliminary view is that caregivers who participated in the group saw a decrease in feelings of psychological distress and caregiver burden. In other words, they felt better afterwards.
“These sessions are very informative and well presented,” wrote one caregiver. “There's a nice balance between the education portion and the sharing portion. I also really appreciate your openness to adapt future sessions to accommodate the groups needs and questions. You're all doing amazing! It's truly an amazing gift to those of us who need it!”
In November, members of the team will give a presentation about their experience at the Provincial Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee (HSJCC) 2021 virtual conference, which will advocate for more programs like the family forensic support group.
“This group offered a sense of connection for families but also to the treatment team. There's a lot of isolation that happens for family members who are supporting loved ones in forensics, there's shame, there's guilt, there's misunderstanding, there's fear. But what this group offered is connection and support and validation, and I truly feel like that's so meaningful,” says Eaton.