[3][4] NAMI holds regular events which combine fundraising for the organization and education, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks.

In 1997, the legal name was changed to the acronym NAMI by a vote of the membership due to concerns that the name National Alliance for the Mentally Ill did not use person-first language.

Although originally focused primarily on family members, in more recent years NAMI has moved toward trying to include people diagnosed with mental illness as well (although activists have criticized these efforts).

[14] NAMI National is the umbrella organization; state and local affiliates operate semi-independently, in an attempt to more accurately represent those in the surrounding communities.

Originally offered as a twelve-week program, but updated to a shorter model in 2020, the courses are taught by a NAMI-trained family member of a person diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.

The programs cover mental illnesses including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, etc., as well as the indications and side effects of medications.

According to the NAMI website, Family-to-Family program states its goals as teaching coping and advocacy skills, providing mutual support, how to "handle a crisis", "information on mental health conditions and how they affect the brain", and locating resources in the community[30] The NAMI Family-to-Family program has initial research evidence; one randomized clinical trial showed gains in empowerment, increases in problem solving and reductions in participant anxiety scores following the class;[31] these changes persisted at 6 month follow up.

[32] These studies confirm an earlier finding that Family-to-Family graduates describe a permanent transformation in the understanding and engagement with mental illness in themselves and their family.

[33] Because a randomized controlled trial is at risk of poor external validity by mechanism of self-selection, Dixon and colleges sought out to strengthen the evidence base by confirming the benefits attributed to Family-to-Family with a subset of individuals who declined participation during initial studies[34] The NAMI Family-to-Family program was found to increase self efficacy in family members involved in caring for a family member with schizophrenia while reducing subjective burden and need for information.

The NAMI Peer-to-Peer program describes the course as a holistic approach to recovery through lectures, discussions, interactive exercises, and teaching stress management techniques.

The program is also available in Spanish[38] Preliminary studies have suggested Peer-to-Peer provided many of its purported benefits (e.g. self-empowerment, disorder management, confidence).

[41] The program was based on the idea that those successfully living with mental illness were experts in a sense, and sharing their stories would benefit those with similar struggles.

NAMI In Our Own Voice involves two trained speakers presenting personal experiences related to mental illness, in front of an audience.

Unlike the majority of NAMI's programs, IOOV consists of a single presentation educating groups of individuals with the acknowledgement many are likely unfamiliar with mental illness.

The NAMI Basics Program is a six-session course for parents or other primary caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illness.

Because of the development of the brain and nervous system throughout childhood and adolescence, information regarding mental illness biology and its presentation is fundamentally different from with adults.

The NAMI Basics program has a relatively short time course to accommodate parents' difficulty in attending because of their caregiver status.

[55] NAMI also launched the Frontline Wellness program to support healthcare workers, funded by the American College of Emergency Physicians, Harvard T.H.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent letters to NAMI and about a dozen other influential disease and patient advocacy organizations asking about their ties to drug and device makers.

[58] Dr. Peter Breggin, a leader of the anti-psychiatry movement and opponent of COVID-19 lockdowns,[59] refers to NAMI as an "AstroTurf lobbying organization" of the "psychopharmaceutical complex.