Redefining Self-Help: Policy and Practice (JOSSEY BASS/AHA PRESS SERIES)

The statistics are staggering: eleven million people in the United States suffer from psychological depression, one in four have been abused as children, and ten million Americans are alcoholics. It is vital to deal with these problems in a responsible manner. Yet, the sheer numbers of people who need help have long ago outstripped our health care, human service, and educational systems ability to cope.

Redefining Self-Help shows how those in the educational, health care, and human service fields can reclaim a sense of power by focusing on the vitality of individuals--individuals who gain their strength from a community of people who share common experiences. Highlighting the success of thousands of self-help groups, the authors offer professionals and nonprofessionals a new paradigm, one that views people with problems as resources.

Using illustrative examples from hundreds of self-help groups--MAnded Hearts, Alcoholics Anonymous, Stroke Clubs, Recovery Inc., school-centered peer groups, Compassionate FriAnds, SHARE, Mental Health Consumers Association, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and M.A.D.D--.the authors demonstrate how educational, health care, and human service organizations can be transformed by tapping into the power of self-help organizations. Riessman and Carroll offer up-to-date information on the activities of self-help organizations around the country; describe how individuals, such as diabetics and smokers, helping themselves are part of the movement; explore the implications of the enormous increase of professionals working with self-help groups and make practical suggestions for improving performance when working with these organizations; and examine a number of self-help organizations, outlining the organization model and principles that have contributed to their success.