Effectiveness of Mutual Support Groups
In stressful times we can all do with a little help from our friends. Sometimes, though, our friends cannot provide - or we do not want to ask for - the kind of support required. Mutual support groups based around shared topics such as cancer or addictions have grown rapidly to meet this need. But, can mutual support groups really help people recover from mental health problems? A small but growing body of research suggests they can.
Depression
Some of the best evidence comes from a randomised comparison of mutual support group with cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) (Bright, Baker & Neimeyer, 1999). This study found that mutual support groups were generally just as effective as trained therapists at alleviating moderate levels of depression.
Chronic mental illness
People with serious mental health problems taking part in a mutual support group were examined by Roberts et al. (1999). They found that participants showed improved psychosocial adjustment over the course of the study. Not only this, but those who helped others were more likely to improve themselves. This is a demonstration of the 'helper therapy' principle - the idea that it is therapeutic for us to help others.
Bereavement
A study by Marmar et al. (1988) looked at women suffering from unresolved grief from the death of their husbands. It compared a mutual support group with brief dynamic psychotherapy. The results showed that both of these treatment were similarly effective.
Importance of mutual support
While this is only a sample of some of the published studies, there is certainly good evidence emerging for the effectiveness of mutual support groups. Why is this important? Mutual support groups are generally much cheaper than one-on-one therapy with a trained professional. The fact that outcomes are equivalent suggests they provide a great alternative.
These types of studies are also particularly important as they tend to show how much helping others can be beneficial. We might assume that the benefits of mutual support are in the receiving, but it does seem that giving support is also a healing activity.
References
Bright, J.I., Baker, K.D., & Neimeyer, R.A. (1999). Professional and paraprofessional group treatments for depression: a comparison of cognitive-behavioral and mutual support interventions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(4), 491-501.
Marmar, C.R., Horowitz, M.J., Weiss, D.S., Wilner, N.R., & Kaltreider, N.B. (1988). A controlled trial of brief psychotherapy and mutual-help group treatment of conjugal bereavement. Am J Psychiatry, 145(2), 203-9.
Roberts, L. J., Salem, D., Rappaport, J., Toro, P. A., Luke, D. A., & Seidman, E. (1999). Giving and Receiving Help: Interpersonal Transactions in Mutual-Help Meetings and Psychosocial Adjustment of Members. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 841-868.
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These results may also speak to the value of professional training in psychotherapy, eh?
It makes me wonder if a) people suffering from these problems need sympathy and nurturing (from one or more people) more than they need expert help; b) the "wisdom of crowds" in terms of helping someone get through difficulties is nearly equivalent to expert-level training; c) the success of the support group can be attributed to its methods and format being designed by a professional; or d) some other factor that I've overlooked.
Will, yes, this is exactly the thing that these types of studies have to tip-toe around. It might be argued that there's no need for trained therapists if lay people can do the job just as well - but this is (probably) wrong.
It will always depend what type of mental distress people are in. These studies cover some moderate depression, bereavement and some other types of mental illness. This is far from the whole panoply that a professional therapist deals with.
It's probably better to think of trained therapists working in tandem with mutual support groups.
For a summary of over forty rigorous outcome research studies of self-help (i.e., member-run) mutual help groups, you can see a copy of the chapter from the last 7th Edition of our "Self-Help Group Sourcebook" at:
http://www.chce.research.va.gov/docs/pdfs/KyrouzHumphreysLoomis2002.pdf
There we also provide:
a keyword-searchable database of over 1,100 national, international, and model self-help support groups for most any specific illness, disability, addiction, bereavement situation, parenting, caregiver concern, abuse, or other stressful life situation;
listing of local non-profit self-help group clearinghouses worldwide http://www.mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/selfhelp.php?id=859
suggestions for developing both community and online mutual help groups.
* Ed at the American & N.J. Self-Help Group Clearinghouses, Saint Clare's Health System, http://www.selfhelpgroups.org
"Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to participants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health... The psychological and physical health importance of this diffuse community is striking... The self-help movement, both in face-to-face and virtual arenas, has tremendous therapeutic potential."
from American Psychologist feature article "Who Talks?: The Social Psychology of Illness Support Groups" by K. P. Davison, J. W. Pennebaker, & S.S. Dickerson, (55) 2, pp. 205-217, 2000.
Ed, thanks very much for pointing out these resources - really interesting. I will take a look.