support

Self-Help And Support Group Information

Focus on ADD Adult Groups:

Support groups, Therapy Groups, Self-Help Groups, Skills Groups and more! The group approach to problem solving, stress management and changing behaviors, is producing a solid history of success. In this article we will look at some of the many types of groups, the purposes they serve and some of the techniques used by both participants and facilitators.

One of the most widely known and respected formats for groups is the approach used by Alcoholics Anonymous. This is still one of the most successful approaches ever created to deal with alcoholics and the destructive behaviors resulting from abuse of alcohol. One of the distinctive aspects of AA groups is their lack of reliance upon a facilitator to provide the structure for the meetings. AA meetings rely instead upon a system which provides rules, structure and a sense of order during the meetings.

Other types of meetings, such as more traditional group therapy rely on a trained mediator, facilitator or counselor to provide the direction and structure for the meetings. Neither type of group is superior to the other, but both serve different needs and populations and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

So what purposes do we believe can be served by Adult ADD Groups? The first and most common one is the need to associate with people who have a similar challenge and learn that you are not the only person in the world with this type of problem.

Other groups may serve to educate parents, teachers, employers or others to the needs and challenges of Attention Deficit Disorder. These groups are often run by a health care provider or facilitator who can present accurate and helpful information and keep order in the meetings.

So in looking at group types we might see informational groups that are focused on education and helping parents learn how to better work with their ADD child. These could be facilitated by health-care related providers or similar professionals. We might also see groups that teach parenting or family skills, and/or provide counseling for those dealing with ADD behaviors. These groups most often require a trained facilitator.

Another type of group is one which focuses on compensation techniques and skills training. This can be facilitated by either a health care provider, or by using a structured system implemented by an ADD adult who is a member of the group.

A number of groups use a 12 step model which has been modified to fit the needs of the ADD adult in much the same way that AA supports Adult Children of Alcoholics and various other related problems.

Much of my experience in the ADD Adult Group environment has been in the development of systems to help the person who is not a psychologist, therapist or doctor in facilitating a group to teach compensation skills and techniques. In doing this I work with a system which uses prepared materials and exercises that can be presented by nearly anyone in the ADD group environment. I have been working to develop this method since starting my first group in 1989.

To summarize, so far we have discussed the various purposes served by ADD Adult groups, and that they tend to fall into two categories.

1. The "professional" group, usually facilitated by a trained health care professional.
2. The support group or Self-Help- groups, such as AA which relies more on the non-heath care service provider, and use various systems to provide the structure and content to the meetings.

While any group can have a facilitator who is active as a "health care" provider, the support or self-help group does not have to have such a facilitator in order to function. The primary need of the support or self-help group is to have one or more "organizers" or "contact" persons, and a reliable source for contact and program materials.

Which group is best for you? Perhaps all of them at one time or another, as our needs and abilities change, so does the type of group that may best serve your needs. When you are first learning about your ADD, or your spouse or child's ADD, perhaps you will need a medically trained person to help you with proper diagnosis, medication, and approaches to successfully work with ADD behaviors. You may feel you need to spend some time just talking about how you feel with others with ADD and a more "open" format such as a support or discussion group fills that need for you. Later, as you become more effective at compensating you may want to focus on developing better compensation techniques, or even want to take responsibility for organizing your own group.

No matter which approach you use, it is clear that both types of approaches, are necessary to meet the growing needs of the ADD Adult population.

To Structure Or Not To Structure,

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