support group locator

[misty]

Charlie Girl..............Thread Started on Jun 14, 2006, 12:02pm


www.dbsalliance.org/info/supportgroups.html

This is a support group locator for anyone who is dealing with bipolar. They can help you locate a support group in the US or other countries.

[misty]

misty....................Reply #3 on Jun 16, 2006, 1:27am


How Peer Support Can Work for You

Peer Support is about sharing life experiences that build mutually supportive relationships, foster personal growth, promote wellness and strengthen our community.

1. You are not alone. Other members of our community are also in the process of moving beyond similar challenges.

2. Although concernes of others may not be exactly the same as yours, they are in fact similar, in that we're all working towards a better quality of life.

3. Take time to seek out and talk with others who have similar concerns and explore how they are similar and different.

4. We are all survivors who have been dealing with this for a long time. Professionals and peers alike have taught us the most current strategies in dealing with problems like ours. However, you are the professional in applying strategies you have learned to your personal circumstances.

5. we challenge each other to go beyoud what is necessary for "recovery" and encourage each other to realize and strive for our greatest potential.

6. We share our knowledge with others who have similar concerns and emcourage them to share their knowledge with us. By listening to what works for them we learn new strategies that could prove to be helpful to us.

7. Think about all that you have learned thus far and identify strategies that have helped---even if just a little bit.

8. Consider adding some of those strategies one by one or a little at a time into your current lifestyle. Although this may seem difficult at first, it does in fact become easier. Healthy affirming change can occur more easily in a supportive environment.

9. We try to develop our own Wellness Recovery Action Plan based on the book by Mary Ellen Copeland.

10. By working on these problems with people who share similar challenges we are helping others and are thereby helping ourselves. By helping one another we tend to feel better about ourselves and when we feel better about ourselves we tend to take better care of ourselves.

by John S. Caswell