Making Care for
Your Loved One
More
Manageable
Manageable
Making Care for
Your Loved One
More
Manageable
Manageable
Caring for someone with serious mental illness (SMI) can feel like a full-time job — often done without a manual. Care Coalition helps families find their footing with practical tools, clear structure, and steady guidance so you feel less alone and more equipped at every step.
Caring for someone with serious mental illness (SMI) can feel like a full-time job — often done without a manual. Care Coalition helps families find their footing with practical tools, clear structure, and steady guidance so you feel less alone and more equipped at every step.
Caregiving for a Loved One with SMI Can Feel Like…
Overwhelm, managing mental health symptoms, crises, and daily care logistics
Isolation, feeling misunderstood by friends, family — even healthcare providers
Burnout, juggling appointments, medications, housing, and daily responsibilities
Confusion, navigating the mental health system with no clear care coordination
Fear, worried about missing something important, waitng for the next crisis, and feeling alone in the process
You’re not imagining it.
Care Coalition is here to change that. Led by Michael Mackniak, we equip families with the structure, support, and clarity they need to navigate complex mental health systems — all grounded in the evidence-based Guardian Model™.
Your Guide Through Complex Care
Michael Mackniak & the Guardian Model™
Michael Mackniak, JD, draws on decades of personal experience and professional expertise to guide families through the challenges of serious mental illness care. Using the evidence-based Guardian Model™, he offers a clear, practical framework that strengthens family involvement, reduces stress, improves outcomes, and empowers you to be an active partner in your loved one’s care.
Here’s what families gain from implementing Mike’s Guardian Model™:
- Practical tools and clear structure to manage caregiving with more ease, confidence, and clarity
- The language and system know-how to "talk the talk" and navigate care with authority
- Recognition as valued members of the treatment team, with stronger partnerships and communication
- Support for the whole family, reducing isolation and building confidence in shared caregiving
- Strategies to anticipate challenges and feel prepared throughout the mental health journey
How We Support Families
Care Keeper Journal
A digital journal designed to help you track care, organize important information, and prioritize self-care — making day-to-day management of SMI easier.
Join the waitlist.
One-on-One Coaching & Consulting
Personalized coaching and consulting with Michael Mackniak — offering expert guidance tailored to your family’s unique care journey.
Resource Library
Access toolkits, guides, and practical resources to empower your caregiving and your understanding of SMI care coordination.
“They helped the mental health center he was at understand that they had to work with him in a different way.”
whole family.”
“We tried very hard trying to work through the state system, and we just came up with blanks. Guardian was there just at the right time.”
Changing the System Together — Families Can’t Do It Alone
The complexity of the mental health care system shouldn’t fall on families alone. Providers have a responsibility to support caregivers and improve the system from within. Michael Mackniak offers tools and training to make that possible. Through shared responsibility and clear communication, we can build a more compassionate, coordinated system for everyone.
Care Coalition strengthens the systems of support around people living with serious mental illness (SMI). Through The Guardian Model™, we equip providers and families with the tools, training, and guidance they need to navigate care more effectively and collaboratively across complex systems.
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