Self‐help groups viewed by mental health professionals: A survey and comments

Abstract

This paper presents a summary of a national survey of the utilization and evaluation of self-help groups by outpatient mental health facilities making and receiving referrals from self-help groups. Evaluations of self-help groups' effectiveness tended to be favorable, and respondents generally believed that they could play an important role in a mental health delivery system. Only 30. 7%, however, believed that the probability was high that their agencies would be interested in exploring how their activities might be integrated with those of self-help groups. Although self-help groups are becoming increasingly recognized as a potentially important resource in dealing with the mental health needs of society (Caplan & Killilea, 1976; Dumont, 1974; Gartner & Riessman, 1974; Levy, 1976), the attitudes of mental health professionals toward the efficacy of these groups will significantly influence their utilization as a community resource. This paper presents the results of a national survey of the attitudes of professionals toward self-help groups. Self-help groups are so diverse in their organization, structure, and mode of functioning, that it is difficult to capture their essence in a simple definition. For the purposes of this study, however, a self-help group has been defined as one which meets the following five conditions: