How to Organize a Support Group

Support groups are usually offered free (but sometimes with a nominal donation requested) and open to all members of a community. But they often have a very particular focus for which they offer support. Organizing a support group takes some time but mostly enthusiasm and energy. You don't need to have special training or advanced degrees to start one. You just have to have a few hours a week and a strong belief in helping people through your support group. The following is a guide to help you begin your support group.

Things You'll Need

• Meeting place
• Free public service announcement advertising
• Refreshments

Instructions

1. Choose the focus of your support group. Find a few friends or acquaintances who want to be a part of your support group and recruit them to spread the word.

2. Pick a weekly or bimonthly time and location. You can hold the support group meetings in members' homes, but if you want it to feel more welcoming to newcomers, you should consider holding it in a neutral public place, such as a recreation center or church facility.

3. Contact local newspapers and public radio stations and ask them if they can do a free public service announcement stating the details of your group and the dates, times and location of your meetings.

4. Delegate responsibilities. When setting up your first meeting, assign duties to your core group. For example, one person should run the meeting, one person can invite guest speakers, one person should bring refreshments and one person can clean up afterward. After the first meeting, you can rotate responsibilities to other members so that everyone is involved.

5. Make introductions. The group leader for the meeting should make the first introduction and ask each member to briefly introduce themselves, stating the reason for their attending this particular support group.

6. Have an agenda. Ask your group leader for the week to come up with a topic to start the discussion. The leader can be the person calling on those who wish to speak while also keeping track of time limits (see next step).

7. Time your member speakers. Some group members will easily talk for half an hour while others are more reticent. Allow your members to volunteer when they wish to speak but have someone time them, perhaps limiting each speaker to 5 minutes so that everyone gets a chance to speak.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to keep your group between 10 to 30 members. Smaller is okay but larger will feel impersonal.

• Start and end on time. If not, the meeting will feel disorganized and members may drop out if meetings consistently run too long.

References

• Self-Help Network
• Organizing a Local Group