Support Group Start Up Tips

by Brenda Penepent

If you are interested in starting a support group in your area, you will need to do a little research first. First of all, check around with local hospitals, doctor’s offices, mental health facilities and the Chamber of Commerce in your area to see if a group already exists. If not, then try the Internet. Check on groups under the guidelines of what you are interested in (like bereaved parents) to see if there are any nearby groups that you can join with. It is always better to have resource personnel available to help you.

It is very hard to start a group alone, but it can be done. Decide where and when you would like to have your meetings. Now you’ll need to get the information to the media, radio stations, cable TV stations, newspapers, post a flyer in waiting rooms (with permission of course), to social workers, doctors, and mental health care providers. If no one knows about you, they can’t attend. Be reasonable. It will take time to build up a large group. Even then, remember people will come and go often. Don’t let this hurt your feelings.

You will need to have a plan for the meetings themselves. Do you want them to be informative or just people sharing their experiences?

How long should they last? I’ve found that more than two hours is too much.

There will need to be one person who is the facilitator of the group. That is the person who makes sure everyone gets to talk without dominating the whole group time. Often, this person doesn’t really tell much of their own story. They are there to watch over and keep things moving along.

During the meeting, a small 5-10 minute break will be needed to stretch legs and lighten up the atmosphere a bit. You can also serve refreshments if you like.

You will need to get some basic information for the type of group you are running. If it is a bereavement group, handouts on grief, stress management, what to do when you are sad, and things along those lines gives people something concrete to take home with them. I encourage my members to bring things to the group that have helped them in any way. I also encourage them to bring pictures of their loved ones. It helps the others to put a face to their story. I call this show and tell.

The main Healing Hearts group in Covington, WA is available to ask questions, and provide a notebook for a guideline. If you decide on an individual name, be sure you are not compromising a trademark. It can cause legal difficulties. You may want to contact Healing Hearts, Bereaved Parents USA, or one of the other groups such as Compassionate Friends to get help in setting it up. Of course, if your group is for general grief, you will need to get help from like sources. You can still get a lot of good information from these groups, but use only the generalized grief material.