A national survey was used to explore the potential fo r resilience among family members ofpeople with mental illness. The sample included 131 family members: mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and extended family members. Responding to open-ended questions, participants were asked to describe any family, per sonal, or consumer strengths that had developed as a result o f the mental illness. Family resilience was reported by 87.8% o f participants. Personal re silience was reported by 99.2%; and consumer resilience by 75.6%.Components o f these composite scores were identified. Implications o f these findings are discussed, and suggestions fo r professional practice are offered.

This article discusses the family experience of serious mental illness, including subjective and objective burden, potential for family resilience, family roles, and personal and family variables that can mediate the impact of the illness. Following a specification of essential family needs, a number of effective family interventions are presented, including family support and advocacy groups, family consultation, family education, family psychoeducation, and psychotherapy. Finally, the authors examine ways of resolving potential conflicts related to confidentiality and offer suggestions that can enhance the effectiveness of psychologists who work with these families.The serious mental illness of a close relative is a catastrophic event for families. In the words of one family member, "This terrible illness colors everything-a family cannot escape." Because mental illness is often severe and persistent, psychologists are likely to have many opportunities to meet the needs of family members themselves and to assist them in supporting their relative's treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. In fact, with their broad biopsychosocial perspective and wide range of expertise, psychologists are uniquely suited for meeting the needs of this highly stressed population.In this article, we assist practitioners to build on their existing competencies, to acquire new knowledge and skills, and to develop more effective intervention strategies. We begin with a discussion of the family experience of mental illness, sharing vignettes from our research with family members (vignettes without citations are from Marsh & Dickens, in press). We then present a number of family interventions that can be modified to meet the needs of individual families and can be offered in a variety of settings. The Family Experience of Mental IllnessMental illness has a profound effect on all members of the family, as the following woman asserts:All family members are affected by a loved one's mental illness. The entire family system needs to be addressed. To assure us that

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The MMPI and MCMI were administered to 163 former opiate addicts who were being maintained in a methadone program affiliated with an urban hospital. Highest group mean MMPI scores were found for Psychopathic Deviate, Depression, Hypomania, and Hysteria. For the MCMI, highest group mean clinical syndrome scores were found for Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Anxiety, and Dysthymia; highest personality disorder scores were found for Antisocial, Narcissistic, Histrionic, and Paranoid. The MCMI Drug Abuse Scale identified only 49% of subjects as having a recurrent or recent history of drug abuse. Frequency and factor analyses documented the heterogeneity of the population with respect to clinical syndromes, as well as the prevalence of personality disorders (86% had elevations on MCMI Personality Scales). Factor and correlational analyses did not provide strong evidence of similar factor structure or convergent validity of the MMPI and MCMI with this population.