ABSTRACT
Over the past ten years, self-help groups have spread from coast to coast and have ballooned to a total of about 500,000; they now involve more than 15 million people. Self-help groups are also developing among those with caretaking responsibilities for others — parents of children with handicaps, parents or relatives of individuals who have been institutionalized, those taking care of sick or older parents, and spouses of those who have had strokes or other disabling conditions. A study examining alternative self-help support systems documents the existence of many women-to-women mental health and related services that are meeting a vast array of emotional and physical needs which many women feel are best understood by other women. With the growth of deinstitutionalization, self-help groups are bridging the gap between hospitalization and community living for ex-patients. Controversy over professional involvement with self-help groups should not obscure the fact that professionals have been involved for a long time with many self-help activities.
