Substance Use-Focused Self-Help Groups: Processes and Outcomes

Abstract

(from the chapter) Twelve-step self-help groups, often also called mutual help or support groups, are an important component of the system of informal care for individuals with substance use disorders. Individuals make more visits to self-help groups for help with their own or family members' substance use and psychiatric problems than to all mental health professionals combined. Self-help groups offer a forum wherein members can express their feelings in a safe, structured setting, improve communication and interpersonal skills, better understand the reasons for their substance abuse, learn self-control, and identify new activities and life goals. Accordingly, the American Psychiatric Association and several other professional and health care organizations recommend referrals to self-help groups as an adjunct to the treatment of individuals with substance use disorders. A longer duration of participation in self-help groups predicts better substance use outcomes indicates that self-help groups are most beneficial when they become a long-term supportive aspect of individuals' lives. Extended 12-step group engagement may initiate and maintain the personal and social changes needed to solidify stable remission, especially abstinence-specific and general support, goal direction and structure, involvement in rewarding substance-free activities, and enhanced self-efficacy and coping skills. Self help groups represent an important part of the array of effective interventions than can change the enduring aspects of individuals' life contexts and increase the likelihood of a long-term course of recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)