Purpose and Demographics
I had the opportunity of participating in a support group that cares for people with mental illness. The support group is led by peers and is meant for families. Its purpose is to offer support to caregivers and loved ones of those having symptoms of a particular mental health illness. The support offered follows a very organized model, so the facilitators must undergo training. NAMI expects to help participants to be more empowered through sharing experiences with those that are non-judgmental when listening. The group has about 5500 members monthly, according to their 2021 reports (Nissen et al., 2022). This is a result of a huge percentage of adults experiencing mental disorders from year to year and the services are free. The help offered cuts across different ages and gender since the problem affects all groups of people. Mental illness is usually caused by biological factors like brain chemistry and genetics, family history of such problems, or life experiences like trauma. As a result, NAMI reports that one out of every five adults experiences a mental disorder in America (Nissen et al., 2022).
Role of the Support Group Leader
The NAMI leaders are responsible for ensuring that the organization keeps running. They have various resources, tools, contacts and videos that enable them to offer support and grow their state organizations and affiliates. The board of directors plays the role of providing strategic guidance to help fulfill the mission of the group, which involves providing support, education, advocacy and public awareness (Nissen et al., 2022). This, in turn, helps all families and people affected by mental disorders to build better lives. The leaders help ensure that a supportive environment is available for the group members, share information and make it accessible to members. They assist in facilitating group meetings and gaining awareness of the needs of the group. Leaders must therefore ensure that the group accomplishes its objective to the fullest, provide support and information and keep a safe environment for expressing emotions, initiating discussions, and keeping them focused. Leaders also motivate members and ensure that is a resources that can be reached out to in case help is needed.
Therapeutic Factors
The support group observed various therapeutic factors as recognized by Yalom. The installation of hope is one of the factors I identified from NAMI. Members had a chance of seeing a change in others battling with similar disorders while their small progress and victories were celebrated by other members of the group. This process caused an emergence of hope in them and made them envision how life may turn better for them if they keep participating in the exercise. (Raufman, 2018) A few members mentioned this factor by signifying that change was possible for them. Yasmin who had anxiety disorder mentioned that ever since she joined the group, she has felt a big change in her life and that she is hoping for the better. Universality is described as the goodness of recognizing each other without any form of selfishness. Some members of the group mentioned this factor and how it made them know that they are not on their own in this life and thus had some sense of satisfaction. One of the participants said that he is thankful for the recognition he received from the group.
Altruism is defined as the desire to help and supporting each other when they are in a distress (Raufman, 2018). This factor was mentioned by a few members since it is not easy for those with mental illness to reach out to those in need since most of them focus on their difficulties. The few members encourage others to endure and believe in themselves. Lucia said that she is fortunate to have people around who could help her. Group cohesiveness was so evident as a sense of belonging could be seen among the members. They felt valued and meaningful and this enabled them to embrace change. This was seen in the farewell letters written by members and contained paragraphs describing joyful moments and gratitude as stated by the leaders.
Catharsis is another factor that the NAMI group had since participants had a positive response to life from the insight gained from interacting with others (Raufman, 2018). This process happened since the group had developed cohesion and individuals could freely share emotions since the environment was safe. Group members were given opportunities to express themselves freely and could talk about both their negative and positive emotions. For example, Lina showed her anger and anxiety to others and she states that this helped her lay off the weight that was on her shoulders, causing her to feel much calmer in her head. Existential factors refer to when individuals take responsibility for their lives by accepting all the bad aspects that ever happened in their lives. One of the leaders in that support group mentioned that he realized that with time, participants were learning how to accept the negative emotions that were contributing to their mental illness. He stated that members had become aware of the reality of frustrations in life. Thus, they were able to easily receive help from the support group.
Observation About the Needs
NAMI support group has several needs, according to my observation. The group has to come up with better ways of making members feel safe and comfortable to share their experiences with the group. I noticed that some of the members were so rigid to sharing their thoughts with others may be due to some reasons. They can also ensure that they make all members feel supported and included in every activity taking place. The leaders need to come up with a mechanism to ensure that members do not feel nervous when joining the group. They have to ensure that new members are put at ease by warmly welcoming them, and telling them what to expect, among other things. They need to invest more in the art of listening since it can be helpful and also understand the challenge most people have when it comes to opening up about their mental wellness. Members can also be taught how they can make the most of the support group for the best results.
NAMI needs to practice more the art of bringing in guest speakers for members to get a chance to be educated by professionals on certain topics. This helps in ensuring that the mission of the organization and the expectations of participants are met by eliminating boredom and making the exercise effective. NAMI needs to reduce the size of its group, for it delivers at best (Mallya et al., 2020). The organization is the leading one in the United States; thus, it contains many participants in too large groups making it difficult for all members to share their thoughts and benefit from it. Leaders in this support group need to therefore ensure that the sizes of groups are small for effectiveness to be achieved. NAMI also needs to invest more in encouraging people to join the group by informing them of the importance of attending. This is so since most members of society with mental illness find it hard to ask for help and battle with attending such programs in their minds. (Christensen et al., 2019) They should be encouraged to acknowledge the fact that they are facing the issue and need help since they cannot handle it on their own.
Feelings and Enrichment
I had an amazing experience at the NAMI support group, especially after hearing stories of people who were in bad states but are now recovering. I realized that many people battle with a mental disorder in as much as they are unconscious of it, while others may try to hide it. I realized the importance support groups have in society and that they can be used as an instrument for bringing people together, especially those with similar experiences in life. Through the experience, I understood that it is important to fill the gap that exists between emotional support and treatment and that support groups play such roles. I initially had questions in my mind about how I could help some of my friends battling with such issues. I now had a clear picture of how I would ensure they get the necessary help without feeling judged or isolated since they would be with people who could understand them. I learned the importance of opening up about my feelings to people I trust and how that can offload different weights off my shoulders.
References
Christensen, E. R., Golden, S. L., & Gesell, S. B. (2019). Perceived benefits of peer support groups for stroke survivors and caregivers in rural North Carolina. North Carolina medical journal, 80(3), 143-148.
Mallya, S., Daniels, M., Kanter, C., Stone, A., Cipolla, A., Edelstein, K., & D’Agostino, N. (2020). A qualitative analysis of the benefits and barriers of support groups for patients with brain tumors and their caregivers. Supportive Care in Cancer, 28(6), 2659-2667.
Nissen, R. M., Ikiugu, M. N., Barash, B., Kathol, M., & Oorlog, A. (2022). Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Educators about the Educational Preparation of Occupational Therapists for Designation as Qualified Mental Health Professionals. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 1-14.
Raufman, R. (2018). Yalom’s therapeutic factors were virtually examined. In The Paradox of Internet Groups (pp. 149-167). Routledge.