This paper stems from an ongoing effort to work toward a mental health system that truly empowers those it serves. Central to this effort is using anthropological methods to understand the experiences of people with serious mental illness (SMI), and of the individuals directly involved in their lives. The latter includes the family members, who struggle to meet society's expectations of them as parents and siblings while simultaneously dealing with the stigma that suggests that because a member of their family has an SMI, they must be doing something wrong. The research process itself, however, led to an exciting programmatic outcome in which the families, initially validated through the interview process, then came together and developed an education program run by families for families that has now been disseminated statewide.