Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 8: Support groups
Being with others rather than being alone can bring some comfort. Hearing others speak about their experiences can help you think about your own. For example, when parents who know the grief of losing a child lead a support group, sharing the hard experience they have gained can help other participants feel less alone and overwhelmed.
A group can also address specific problems together. This increases the possibility of creating change and increases the benefits of the healing companionship of working with others.
Support groups help in many ways
Recognize feelings. People often hide their feelings or do not even recognize they have them because they think their feelings are bad, shameful, or a sign of weakness, or because in their family or culture, people tend to hide or ignore feelings rather than talk about them. Hearing others talk about feelings can help people recognize and think about their own.
Know you arenât alone. Sharing with and listening to other people, in person or online, often shows that others have faced similar situations, provides relief and comfort, and can give you ideas about what to do next.
Get support. Feeling bad can make you feel drained and discouraged. Meeting as a group gives people energy and ideas, helping everyone cope with their daily problems. Group members can also check in with each other between meetings.
Understand the causes of problems. By talking together, we come to realize that many people share problems that need a common solution. This helps identify root causes in society and stops us from just blaming ourselves.
Identify solutions. Groups can come up with possible solutions to problems, evaluate them, and decide what to do. They can also help us think about the obstacles that might get in the way of a solution and how to overcome these.
Recognize strengths. The group can ask: âWhat are you most proud of?â and âWhat do you think you handled well?â As people get to know each other, they will also be able to remind each person of all their strengths and skills and how they have handled distressing feelings and overcome challenges before.
Build power together. Acting together is always more powerful than acting alone. When a group identifies a community problem to improve, knowing that some or all of you can work on it together makes fixing it seem more possible.
Celebrate, commemorate, and have fun. Build community by celebrating birthdays or other occasions, and do other activities besides talking. Change things up! Bring in someone to lead a healing technique, or have members take turns organizing games and energizing activities. A group focused on personal goals, for example, staying sober, might mark reaching a milestone with a song, food, or a simple gift.
