People with family members who experience mental illness will have several opportunities to learn how to better support their loved ones through several local classes.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is offering its Signature education class, Familyto-Family, weekly on Thursdays at Glenwood Church of Christ, 5210 Hollytree Drive. The meetings, which start this week, will continue through Dec. 13. There is the possibility of a Monday class opening, so prospective participants can ask to be added to the Monday wait list if Thursday does not work for them.

The class is designed to help family members understand the illness of their loved one and the emotional issues that other family members may experience in understanding the illness. In addition, participants will hear about treatment options, communication skills, dealing with crises, medications and how they work, symptoms associated with each mental illness and more.

The class is provided at no cost to participants, but registration is necessary. Call Mildred at 903-245-4231 for more information or to register.

For those people with a family member under 20 who is experiencing mental illness, the six-session NAMI Basics class might be a better option.

That class will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays starting Oct. 15 at First Presbyterian Church, 230 W. Rusk St., in Tyler.

NAMI also will offer a training for Connection Support Group facilitators on Sept. 29-30. People who already have taken the classes may take them again if they desire.