Posted by Lorraine on August 3, 2001, at 13:05:33
In reply to Re: Support Groups » Phil , posted by Lorraine on August 1, 2001, at 10:54:26
I went to a Recovery Inc meeting yesterday. The group basis its approach on a 1952 text by Abraham A. Low entitled "Mental Health Through Will-Training". Although I was put off by the text on first reading (I found it patronizing), I thought the group was worth while. It's basic approach is cognitive therapy oriented. The meetings are highly structured and steeped in a lingo that takes some getting used to. For instance, depression is called "low tones". New comers are asked to attend a few meetings before participating actively in the group.
The general structure of the meetings is as follows: a) a chapter of Low's text is read, b) the participants offer examples from their lives (more on this later), c) there is a Q&A sessions and d) there is an open discussion.
The participant examples follow another highly structured format: a) the participants describe an incident where they got "worked up", b) they indicate the physical symptoms of their distress (e.g. racing pulse or thoughts, sweaty palms, tears), c) they spot particular behavior patterns outlined in Low's text (like "fearful temper" or "going for the symbolic victory") and identify how they controlled them, d) they describe how they would have responded before their recovery training.
In listening to the examples given in the group (there were only 3 other people in my group), it was clear that this was a good approach to cognitive therapy and I could see where it would apply to my life. I intend to go back and my make it part of my regular routine to go to a meeting once a week. There are "tons" of meetings in Los Angeles and I think throughout the U.S. Because the format is the same, you can drop in on any meeting which is convenient if you are out of town.
I wanted to address the issue of the book, which I found fairly offensive initially. The section that I read at the meeting was useful. At the end of the meeting, I brought up my reaction to the book and suggested that it needed to be updated. I think they were really taken aback by this suggestion. Abraham Low is revered in this group (and perhaps he should be--his approach is solid and has survived 70 years of practice). They told me that Abraham Low was himself mentally ill so although some of the text seems patronizing it really isn't. My sense is that you just have to be able to see past some of the archaic notions and language and grab the concepts from the text that are useful.
I recommend this group to anyone looking to work on thought related issues.
poster:Lorraine
thread:7543
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010731/msgs/8653.html