The Power of Support

Several weeks ago I received a call from an elderly woman. She was going through resources in the phone book and came across our number. Her voice was quiet and I could tell that she had been crying.

Her husband of many years had passed away and she was having a difficult time with the loss. She talked to me about him, telling me that he was a good man and a good provider, and that he had taken wonderful care of her throughout their life together. And now she needed a different kind of care and support.

She asked if there was a support group for widows who were experiencing the same devastating losses. She wanted to be with someone who knew firsthand about her sadness, her fear, and her sense of being left alone.

I took her phone number and promised to call her back. When I hung up, I sent a far-flung email to everyone I could think of asking if there was such a group. Almost immediately I got a reply from a friend who directed me to the YWCA. Such a group meets there, I confirmed, and in fact they met the next day. I called the woman back and shared the information.

That was all I did. She did the rest, along with the group of women who meet at the YW. I called her back about a week later to see how it went. Her voice was different, more controled and certainly composed. The group, it seems, was exactly what she needed.

The Mental Health & Recovery Services Board feels strongly that support groups are our first line of defense in helping people live happier lives. I could have offered this woman counseling and antidepressants and lots of formal services. They would have probably helped, but all she really needed was to be with other women who shared her grief and hugged her as she wept out the story of her broken heart, offering her the hope of their experience a little farther down the path.

It's not just our opinion that support groups help. There is solid science behind our commitment to getting people to share experience, strength, and hope with each other. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently issued a report on the role of support and self-help groups in recovery. "What was once considered as an alternative is now considered an element of mainstream services..." the report stated.

We believe that given the right environment, people have an infinite capacity to heal themselves. We also believe that helping others heal brings us a sense of wholeness, joy, and recovery.

Sometimes, all we need to do is get out of the way.

Phil Atkins

[For the full text of the SAMHSA report visit: http://oas.samhsa.gov]