title: Self-help groups: the members' perspectives.
abstract: The emergence of self-help groups as an important source of help-giving for persons with psychological problems has occurred without a systematic attempt to tap an important source of information about this phenomenon: the members themselves. Eighty members of nine self-help groups were surveyed. The results of this study suggest that self-help groups serve a different population than do professional therapists, that the help-giving processes are mainly supportive in nature, and that an optimistic attitude toward increased collaboration between professional care-givers and self-help groups is justified. Questions for further research are discussed.
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires