ABSTRACT
Recruiting new group leaders will be a different process if the program philosophy demands peer volunteers rather than trained clinicians. Some respondents in the Leader Experiences, Attitudes and Perspectives (LEAP) study insist on trained clinicians to lead groups and only consider fully credentialed mental health professionals. Several LEAP study participants indicated concerns about engaging volunteers from nondominant cultural groups in an effort to serve increasingly diverse communities more effectively. While using standardized formal assessments to quantify the psychological stability of potential leaders may seem extreme, a minimal level of emotional maturity seems to be an important characteristic for group leaders. Collegial networks have always been an important source for program leaders to learn about potential volunteers, whether they are clinicians or lay volunteers open to training. Ethnic communities that are relationship-focused tend to depend on personal, direct communication, and potential volunteers will be most receptive to organizations that seek to utilize all of the skills volunteers offer.
