Pamela Mott, LMHC

12/23/2025

12/20/2025

No two paths look the same — and that’s okay. Your journey is yours, and it matters. 🌨️

12/20/2025

We know how heavy caregiving can feel — especially when you’re supporting a loved one with a serious mental illness and trying to find the right help along the way.

That’s why we created the NAMI Family Caregiver HelpLine — a free, confidential resource offering peer-led support for people caring for a loved one with a mental health condition.

Much of what caregivers are searching for can’t be found in written resources alone. It lives in the lived experiences and practical guidance of others who have walked a similar path.

Through the Family Caregiver HelpLine, we connect caregivers with trained volunteers who truly understand what this journey can look like.
When you reach out, you’ll find:
• A safe place to talk with someone who listens and understands caregiving
• Validation, reassurance, and realistic hope that small steps forward matter
• Clear guidance, trusted resources, and connections to local programs

Caregiving can be extremely challenging — getting support shouldn’t be.

Call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) and select option 4
Text “FAMILY” to 62640
Available Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET
Learn more at nami.org/family.

12/20/2025

An absent parent can be a blessing in disguise. It's a painful truth, but sometimes their presence does more damage than their absence ever could.

A parent who is physically there but emotionally destructive—who carries trauma, anger, insecurity, or toxicity—can inflict wounds that last a lifetime. Their "care" might come with criticism, neglect, manipulation, or chaos that becomes the air you breathe. Staying in that environment means constantly trying to heal from the very person who should be your safe space.

Sometimes, their absence isn't abandonment—it’s protection. Their leaving creates the quiet necessary for your own healing to begin. It removes the source of the daily harm, allowing you to breathe freely, define your own worth, and rebuild without their shadow over you.

In this light, absence isn't always a loss. It can be the mercy you needed when their presence was the punishment you endured.

12/10/2025

Looking for small, meaningful actions that can support connection, caring, learning, and advocacy in the new year?

Download NAMI’s full series of checklists — all in one place 💚

Visit NAMI.org/NAMI10for10 to access the full PDF and share-ready graphics you can use in your community, at events, in classrooms, online, in wellness programs, or in everyday life.

Small steps make a big difference 💚

Choose a few items, check them off, and share your progress using so others can try them too 💬

12/10/2025

You are not alone. 💙 If you're struggling today, there is support and help available.

You can always reach 988 Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or text TALK to 741741 at the Crisis Text Line – both available 24/7, 365 days a year.

12/08/2025

- Zenda-Lee Williams
- Survivor