Strengths and weaknesses of self-help groups in mental health : the case of Grow

Grow is a self-help movement of ex-mental health patients which is well established in Australia. Participant observation of two groups over six months suggested strengths, difficulties and weaknesses. The strengths concerned intense commitment to mutual aid among members, a great deal of sharing and an unusual form of rotating leadership. The difficulties centred on the unstable sources of finance and the unmanageable caseloads of workers. The weaknesses related to the quasi-religious ideology, which might have inhabited the expression and exploration of negative feelings.Department of Applied Social Science