I've had a few patients attend these groups. I have been consistently impressed with the quality of the skills taught there. I often refer my clients to the group in the hopes they will use it as a place to practice the cognitive skills learned in my individual therapy sessions, learn new skills above and beyond what our sessions have covered, and gain social support. I also refer individuals who are not attending therapy but would like some free-of-charge group support.
Recovery International, in short, teaches people tools to help cope better with situations that provoke unpleasant feelings and emotions. They call these tools "Recovery Language."
One typical example: Many people experience significant anxiety walking into a support group for the very first time. Anxiety that, for so many, is anticipated ahead of time to such an extent that they fail to go to the group at all. Typical thoughts are, "I won't know anyone and I'll feel stupid." "I won't know what to say." "I'll be too nervous to talk and then I'll look ridiculous." "What if I walk into the room and everyone stares at me?"
I had many of the feelings that Dr. Andrews describes when I attended my first meeting. We all had this experience, this is average. I pushed myself to go to a meeting partly because I had been through the experience of waiting for my symptoms to pass for years, and I knew that this wasn't helping. I figured anything would be better than another day of intense anxiety and depression spent by myself.
Trying new things is hard and attending your first peer support meeting can be extremely difficult for many people. We understand this. We don't ask that new members answer questions or take part in any meeting activities that they are not comfortable with. There are many opportunities for new members to learn about Recovery and participate in meetings, however nothing is required other than your attendance.
To see Dr. Sandy Andrews' full blog post check out the following link:
