Depression and Bipolar ​Support Alliance
​National Capital Area Chapter

Weekly Update

February 5, 2023

Hello and welcome to the weekly email! If you have a suggestion or news item to share please send to [email protected] by 5:00 pm on Fridays.

Be sure to check out the chapter website at www.dbsanca.org.

Support Groups

As always, a calendar of all meetings, including zoom links, is on our site. https://www.dbsanca.org/supportgroups.html

In Person Support Groups

Tuesday

  • Silver Spring Group, first and third Tuesdays at 7:00 pm​
    Silver Spring United Methodist Church
    ​8900 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Thursday

  • Southern PG Group, weekly at 6:30 pm
    Oxon Hill United Methodist Church
    ​6400 Livingston Rd, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
  • DC Peer Group, weekly at 7:15 pm
    Foundry United Methodist Church
    ​1500 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Virtual Support Groups

Sunday

  • Sunday Peer Group, weekly on Sundays at 6:00 pm

Monday

  • Beltsville Peer Group, second and fourth Mondays at 7:00 pm

Tuesday

  • LGBTQIA+ Peer Group, first and third Tuesdays at 7:00 pm
  • Women's Peer Group, second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:00 pm

Wednesday

  • Mid-Day Peer Group, Wednesdays at 12:00 pm
  • Montgomery County Peer Group, second and fourth Wednesdays at 7:00 pm

Thursday

  • Thursday Peer Group, weekly on Thursdays at 7:00 pm

Zoom Link for Virtual Meetings

If the provided link is used online, a password should be unnecessary. Please let us know of any difficulties via [email protected].

Invite link for all ZOOM PEER groups: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6625874960?pwd=TU5SZ3lkV3o4TDhDdi9lZU1jZDZMQT09

Meeting ID 662 587 4960 Passcode: dbsanca

One tap mobile +13017158592,,6625874960#,,,,,,0#,,3858633#

Dial in 301-715-8592 Meeting ID: 662-587-4960 Passcode: 3858633​

Google Calendar Links

Special Events | Peer In Person | Peer Virtual

These are the links for our Google Calendar. Our Google Calendar is the most up to date source for meeting information, including links, specific locations, and meeting policies. Let us know immediately if you have any difficulty by emailing [email protected].

DBSA NCA Meeting News

The Oxon Hill meeting has resumed and will continue to meet weekly at 6:30 PM on Thursdays.

The Silver Spring meets in the Chapel of the building. It is accessed via the office entrance, which is 20 feet to the left of the main doors to the parking lot. The start of meeting weekly has been delayed to March.

DBSA National & DBSA Virginia Support Groups 

DBSA National offers New Groups for Parents & Caregivers

DBSA Virginia

There is a virtual family group meeting each Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 PM. Please contact John Gulka of DBSA Virginia (dbsava.org) in advance to arrange attendance: [email protected], 703-967-5642

Webinars, Events, & Programs

Families for Depression Awareness webinars "Building a Treatment and Support Team with Your Loved One Series", Thursday January 26 and Thursday February 16 at 7:00 PM ET: https://www.familyaware.org/webinar/building-treatment-team/

MHA webinar "Sharing and building power with youth mental health leaders" - Thursday February 9 at 2:00 PM ET: Sharing and building power with youth mental health leaders

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OSSiBD Overcoming Self-Stigma in Bipolar Disorder (OSSiBD) is a one-of-a-kind program designed to help reduce self-stigma in individuals living with bipolar disorder. Sign up to see if you qualify.

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PARENTAL SUPPORT FROM P2P & DBSA

NYC’s Robert Louis Stevenson School's P2P Network is proud to partner with DBSA National on these online meetings. The P2P Network offers parent-driven resources and support. Personal and intimate, this monthly meeting, hosted by the school, is free and open to parents and primary caregivers nationwide who are raising emotionally complex children and young adults. Attendees offer resources and share parenting experiences. P2P scheduled meetings in 2023: January 26, February 16, March 30, April 27, May 25, June 29. To participate please call Jerry at the school, 212-787-6400. All meetings are on Thursdays at 1:00 PM ET. https://www.stevenson-school.org/blog/p2p

DBSA NCA Member Eric Scharf Testifies Before DC Council Committee on Health

Our DBSA chapter was represented this past Wednesday, February 1st by DC Advocacy Chair Eric Scharf when he testified before the DC Council’s Committee on Health. Each year the Council conducts “Performance Oversight Hearings” over each DC government agency, Eric was there to discuss the Department of Behavioral Health. In his testimony he called on the Department to improve the process for the training and certification of peer support specialists; encouraged the further improvement of the mental health crisis response system and in particular the need for mental health respite programs staffed by peers and called upon the Department to ensure a smooth transition to the inclusion of behavioral health services in the Medicaid managed care programs. Later this spring DBSA will also testify at the department budget hearing calling on the need for more peer based services in the city. Feel free to reach out to Eric at [email protected] if you have any questions.

To view Eric's testimony, see below the link for this week's newsletter on our Newsletter page.

Weekly Reading Links

Where's The Rest of the Newsletter?

We have been making changes to the newsletter in order to give you more timely, relevant content, without superfluous or outdated information. However, if you may wish to access past newsletters, all of our newsletters are now archived at our Newsletter page. Unfortunately, these are not currently searchable by content.

Are We Serving Your Needs?

We aim as volunteers to provide you with relevant and easily accessible content. Please let us know if we are successful, and especially if you think there are any changes to our newsletter or website that could better serve you by emailing [email protected].

Contributions to DBSA

Donations to the National DBSA may be made through the website. https://www.dbsalliance.org/

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us via email or our dedicated voicemail line, 240-780-8706​.

The DBSA NCA Web Team