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Call the self-help/support group clearinghouse for your area. These are nonprofit organizations which help people find or form support groups of all types. There are more than 100 clearinghouses across the United States, Canada, and around the world; however, not all areas are served by a clearinghouse. Click here to find a thorough list of clearinghouses in the USA, in Canada, and in 19 other countries. Note: this link will take you away from our site. Hurry on back now, ya hear? |
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Call your local United Way "First Call for Help" or "Information
and Referral". These organizations list nonprofit agencies in
a given area; call your local United Way to check if they know of the support
groups you are seeking. If you need to find a United Way office outside
of your area, call 1-800/411-8929 and enter the 5 digit zip code for the
area you wish. They will connect you with the local United Way for
that area.
For folks who live in North Carolina.: Call CARE-LINE of the NC Bureau of Citizen Services; amongst other things these friendly folks track nonprofit agencies all over NC and have information on the larger support groups in every NC county. Reach them at 800/662-7030 or 919/733-4261 weekdays 8-5. |
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Check your local newspaper calendar of events for support group meetings. If you live in Cabarrus, Chatham, Durham, Gaston, Orange, Rowan or Wake counties, click here to see lists of specific newspaper listings. |
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Check with nationwide or international organizations which address the problem which interests you to see if they have a local chapter in your area. Click here to find listings of international and nationwide support groups. As in #1, this will take you away from this site. Do come back. |
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Check with support groups in your area which address an issue similar to the one(s) you are seeking. For example, if you are trying to find a group which deals cocaine addiction, you might call your nearest chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, or Overeaters Anonymous. |
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Check with organizations or professionals in your area which treat the problem at hand. In the case of cocaine addiction, you might call a drug education center, a treatment center, a hospital, a church with a homeless outreach program, or a psychologist who specializes in addiction. |
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Refer to the telephone book if you know the name of the group you are seeking. Try both the business "white" pages or the yellow pages under support groups, human services, or another similar category. Most groups are voluntary organizations whose phone contacts are volunteer members of the group and are thus not listed in the phone book under the name of the organization. |
| Before starting out on the trail looking for
a specific support group, we suggest that you first identify what kind
of group you need.
Here are some examples. For medical disorders including disorders such as asthma, arthritis, AIDS, or anorexia, the group usually addresses issues of that specific disease or group of similar diseases. For addiction, mental health, or educational issues, it isn't always so clear. For example, you might feel depressed and logically conclude that you need a depression support group. It may turn out, however, that you are in a terrible marriage and are a victim of domestic violence. That would lead you to a domestic violence group. To resolve this problem, we suggest that you identify the problem with which you want to deal rather than the name of a specific group. Then do you search looking for groups that might help you deal with that problem. |
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