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An alternative to standard day programs, the Life Skills Program provides a variety of four and eight week seminars as well as individual training to build confidence and proficiency in all phases of daily life. Life Skills is offered during the day, evening and on weekends, and includes Friday night and weekend social and recreational activities. The Life Skills Program has expanded to include Greenhouse, computer lab, photography, diabetic management, Spanish, and a consumer newsletter.
One of the emerging trends in work with people with mental illness is the need to empower them to be informed health care consumers and to develop “natural supports” on which they can rely, regardless of the level of services they are eligible to receive under managed care. St. Luke’s House staff helps clients learn to depend less on paid staff members and more on family, friends, neighbors, religious communities and people with whom they share common interests. Life Skills Program courses have been designed to assist consumers in how to access community resources and develop friendships both with other St. Luke’s House clients and with others they meet in the course of their lives in the community. St. Luke’s House also supports consumers in becoming advocates and spokespeople for the needs of people with mental illness. For some clients, these activities are therapeutic. Together with specific residential program staff, Life Skills staff are currently conducting skills training based on Dialectical Behavior therapy, for a group of individuals coping with Borderline Personality Disorder.
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