Self Help Interest?

[DrMartinRussell]

Hi,

I'm looking to get in contact with people who have an active and knowledgable interest in self help.

I look forward to finding out who that might be here.

Cheers,
Dr Martin Russell

 

[HA]

:welcome2: DrRussell,

Can you give us more details of what you are looking for in the self help area?

Cheers

 

[DrMartinRussell]

I'm a medical doctor who now does counseling so my interests tend to be in psychology, medicine, mental health etc.

I'm looking more for people and their ideas so can you recommend anyone worth getting to know more about, or any place that's actually useful. I'm trying to sort through the stack, but it's big and lots of hay.

 

[HA]

I'm sure you know about self help support groups. Support groups dealing with any illness but especially mental illness, because of stigma/lack of knowledge and getting little support from society, are a vital key to healing. Peer facilitated support groups are the best.

Are you looking for professionals that use and develop self help material or self help resources on particular subjects that may be helpful to your clients?

Or, do you want to support us supporting ourselves? :dimples:

 

[Halo]

Welcome to Psychlinks Dr. Russell :welcome2:

I am glad that you decided to join us and I hope to see you around the board :wave:

 

[braveheart]

Welcome!

I recommend the UK Mind site highly. They have lots of online information and articles.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Welcome, Dr. Russell.

 

[Retired]

Welcome to Psychlinks Dr. Russell! What is your medical specialty and in what part of the world is your practice?

Looking forward to your participation in the Forum.

 

[DrMartinRussell]

I'm sure you know about self help support groups. Support groups dealing with any illness but especially mental illness, because of stigma/lack of knowledge and getting little support from society, are a vital key to healing. Peer facilitated support groups are the best.

Are you looking for professionals that use and develop self help material or self help resources on particular subjects that may be helpful to your clients?

Or, do you want to support us supporting ourselves? :dimples:

I am a medical doctor in Adelaide, Australia, who since 2000 has worked as a solo practice exclusively in counseling.

However I set up a self help website to make my patient work available online.

It's at Self Help Blog From Dr Martin W. Russell - A Medical Doctor Turned Counselor

My 'clients' in this sense are international.

So I'm now more extensively checking out what else is available so that I can make sure that I am not duplicating what is already out there, and also so that I can recommend the best resources to my readers.

I appreciate the help and feedback.

 

[DrMartinRussell]

Thanks for the welcome Halo.

I'll see what catches my attention to comment on.

Welcome!

I recommend the UK Mind site highly. They have lots of online information and articles.

Thanks. Checked them out. I'm more international, but it's a good site. The stuff on hypnosis is very standard ie very waffly, but I like the overall approach.

David & TSOW. Thanks for the welcome too.

My specialty by training is GP ie family doctor. In Australia the MD degree is called MBBS, and the follow-on degree for general community front-line medicine is called General Practitioner. Physician means something different.

Therefore my website doesn't talk about these labels much because I will either be confusing (as above), or be accused of mis-labeling myself.

I'm a medical doctor who works exclusively in counseling these days.

 

[HA]

Hello Dr. Russell,

I Like your blog. I have been very involved in support groups and education courses for family members with loved ones with severe and persistent mental illness. What I found the most helpful is a self help organization that we have here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that operates province wide and gives free training to people who want to start or run support groups or activities. As I said I feel that the best support comes from peers because the wealth of experience is never found in a book and nothing heals better than being with others who are going through similar things. It is also very healing as a way of giving back or feeling like you may be somehow helping a global situation that seems hopeless. But, people with life experience do not always have the skills in group facilitation etc. So this Self Help Resource organization provides the training for individuals or organizations interested in any aspect of self help.

I found one in Australia that serves the same purpose. It may not be in your area but they would have the information of something that is closer to you.

The Western Institute of Self Help (WISH) Inc is a unique not-for-profit, community-based organisation that provides support and assistance for individuals and self help support groups with start-up, ongoing development, advocacy and networking.

Since 1983, WISH has provided practical assistance to both new and established groups to support their effective management and role in the community.

WISH aims to help people help each other by providing self help and support groups with:

• Links to community networks and information.
• Assistance with group development and management.
• Support with community resources and services.
• Individual and group skills training.

WISH promotes the philosophy and practice of self help throughout Western Australia. Fostering empowerment among self help and support groups allows people dealing with stressful life problems and situations to share their experiences and to offer emotional and practical support to one another.

WISH - About us - Western Institute of Self Help (WA). Self help groups Perth, Australian self help, self help Perth, self help WA.

While searching for this resource I came across some others that you may be interested in if you have not already seen them. They are listed below but in case you have not already found this self help resource listing on our site here this is the link: Resources, Self-Help Exercises, Readings - Psychlinks Psychology and Self-Help Forum.

Another important piece of information for your clients is information on how to evaluate health information on the internet. There are some good articles in that section of our site here. All of the best resources are usually placed as "stickys" and will be at the top of posts in all of the sections. The articles above are in the sticky section.

Health Information on the Internet - Psychlinks Psychology and Self-Help Forum

Australia self help resources:

• Self Help Tools for divorce, separated and blended families
• Self-help tools - CSA Australia
  
• Self help quiz for separated parents (looks like a relationship self help website)
  http://www.relationships.com.au/quizzes-surveys/self-help-quiz-for-separated-parents
  
• Self help addiction resource centre
  Sharc - Self Help Addiction Resource Centre - History
  
• Download Australian self help toolkits
  http://www.lifeline.org.au/find_help/info_service/toolkits

 

[Retired]

Martin,

Thank you for the additional information. We'll be looking forward to your participation in Psychlinks.

Physician means something different.

In what sense does the term mean something different from a "medical doctor" in Australia?

 

[DrMartinRussell]

Thanks for all the resources David. You are prolific.

I feel that the best support comes from peers because the wealth of experience is never found in a book and nothing heals better than being with others who are going through similar things.

I agree. In AA they also talk about having a mentor which is also a different sort of self-help.

Unfortunately I can be none of those.

All I can be is someone with a medical background ie some background training, who has been helping people with these issues. For what it's worth.

Peering inside a doctor's consultation

TSOW. There is a 7 year degree to be a doctor in Australia. The front line out of hospital doctors then have 3 years more training to be General Practitioners.

Physicians are a longer, more intensive, hospital-based training for secondary referrals of non-surgical issues.

"Medical doctor" is about the only terminology that is interpreted the same worldwide.

 

[HA]

Unfortunately I can be none of those.

All I can be is someone with a medical background ie some background training, who has been helping people with these issues. For what it's worth.

Dr Russell,

I was not thinking that you would be the support person but rather refer to support resources. Sorry I did not make this clear.

My son was in hospital for the 1st 3yrs of his illness with schizophrenia. Not one person had mentioned that I should join a support group or gave me information for the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario or Canada. Not one. After finding my way to this organization through a pamphlet that I happened upon, I found that there was not an education course or a "support group" running at that time. I knew nothing about support groups so when I started a support group because the need was high, I went to the Self Help Resource organization and took their workshops in starting and facilitating support groups. I thought this might be something you could refer your clients to. They aslo have a listing of support groups of every kind (not just mental health, new immigrants etc)for people to look into.

 

[DrMartinRussell]

Dr Russell,

I was not thinking that you would be the support person but rather refer to support resources. Sorry I did not make this clear.

That does clear it up for me.

Congratulations on what you have done. Commiserations on the failure of the health system to acknowledge that the support for the supporters is important too. Self help more along the lines of personal development and growth, although with a therapy / medical angle.

My self help emphasis is more personal for people just as they would get if they came to me for "therapy", or "life coaching", or "skills training", or whatever name they might call the help they want.

Being so international I don't expect to recommend particular resources, but knowing who to recommend who can recommend them may well be important.