title: Empowerment and self-help agency practice for people with mental disabilities.
abstract: During the past 15 years, there has been tremendous growth in the number of self-help groups and agencies for mental health clients. This article examines the self-help perspective in relation to problems with traditional mental health services and the need for client-run services. Self-help agencies see their goal as empowerment on an individual, organizational, and societal level. They strive to accomplish this by helping members obtain needed resources and develop coping skills; providing means of enhancing members' self-concept and lessening the stigma of perceived mental disability; giving members control in the agencies' governance, administration, and service delivery; and furthering member involvement in social policy-making. The goal of this article is not to endorse the self-help perspective but to use it as the basis for raising research questions that will further the mental health practitioner's understanding of this service modality.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of California at Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Temkin
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012657:Self-Help Groups