Working with Self-help, Support, and Advocacy Groups

The course will review studies showing self-help groups including 12-step groups provide a huge amount of service and involve nearly as many people as professional services. Studies related to the benefits and risks of self-help groups will also be reviewed. Special attention will be given to how providers and their agencies can coordinate their activities with self-help groups. Specific strategies that add value to professional services will be discussed. The focus will be on how self-help can enhance professional services, and in turn how professional services can enhance the self-help experience. Ethical issues related to the autonomy of self-help groups and the propriety of professional involvement will be explored in relation to a variety of groups including 12-step groups. Similarities and differences between online and in person groups will be discussed. Patterns of self-help use by various cultural groups will be examined with a view toward mitigating existing discrepancies. Patterns of self-help use will be examined by age, class, color, ethnicity, family structure, gender, race, religion or spirituality, immigrant or refugee status, and sexual orientation. Presentations by individuals and panels involved with self-help groups will be featured in the course.

Registration for this course is closed. Visit the CE Course Catalog for more offerings.