ABSTRACT
In 1977 the German Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Youth, Family and Health, began a research project at the University Hospital for Psychosomatic Illness and Psychotherapy at Giessen. The purpose of research project was to obtain more precise knowledge of the way self help groups work, and to test possible ways of encouraging the formation of such groups and supporting them. The project developed into an important early nucleus about which the 'new' self help movement crystallized. This term refers to those collective attempts at self help which came into being outside established welfare organizations, traditional associations for the disabled and pattern of groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous. The research team had direct contact with the groups and persons concerned, and its activities led to the setting up of the first support service for self help groups on a local level.
