Mutual Aid Groups (GAM): what are they and what values do they promote?

These spaces encourage people with disorders to stop seeing themselves as ill.

Mutual Aid Groups in mental health have positioned themselves as one of the most effective strategies to accompany and improve situations of psychological suffering related to different experiences.

Taking as a reference different guidelines for Mutual Aid Groups in mental health, developed by the associative collective in first person Activament (2014; 2018), we will explain below some of the main characteristics and functions of these groups.

Collective help strategies: Mutual Aid Groups.

The Mutual Aid Groups (GAM) are where different people share life experiences related to a particular problem or difficulty. or difficulty in concrete. People come together and share their experiences with the intention of improving their situation, learning collectively and providing mutual support.

These are groups that have been around for a long time and can vary according to the specific experience being shared. For example, there are groups for people who are going through a situation of addiction, or for people who are in a process of grief, or for those who share a common illness, or for family members of those who have a diagnosis, among many others.

In the specific case of Mutual Help Groups for people who have in common the experience of a diagnosis of a mental disorder, these are generally informal spaces where people share their experiences in an open and reciprocal manner.

In addition, they they aim at abandoning the role of the sick personThe meetings are designed to help respond to the various difficulties generated by the stigma and self-stigma that accompany diagnoses of mental disorder. Although the central theme is the experience related to a psychic distress (which may or may not include a diagnosis), the meetings also address issues of one's daily and personal life.

5 characteristics of a GAM

There are a number of elements that are necessary for a collective to be considered not only as a group of people who meet and talk about their life experiences, but also as a Mutual Help Group, where beyond sharing these experiences, it is a matter of to ensure that its members improve their situation together and reciprocally.. Some of the main characteristics of the GAM are the following:

1. Sharing experiences and needs

Given that the main objective of the Mutual Aid Groups is, as their name indicates, to provide reciprocal help to each other, it is essential that the help be based on the same experience, it is essential that the help is based on the same experience.. The latter can connect with other experiences, which will be different from those of others, however, there must be one that they all have in common.

2. Participation by choice

Another characteristic of the Mutual Help Groups is that the person who has the experience decides voluntarily to attend the meetings and to be part of the group. No one is obliged to participate, nor is such participation by forced prescription of someone external. The aim is to ensure that the person who has the experience actively positions him/herself to the experience.

The above is important in the case of people who have a mental health diagnosis or an experience of psychic suffering, as they are often assigned and assume passive and disempowering roles.

3. Regular meetings

It is necessary for Mutual Aid Groups to meet with a certain frequency, so that their objectives are achieved. In other words, Mutual Aid Groups do not meet only once. It is very important for members to bond with each other and to recognize their own and each other's needs. recognize each other's needs and those of others with sufficient trust and complicity for the meetings to have some continuity. so that the meetings have a certain continuity.

4. Small groups

In order to foster a climate of trust and complicity, it is important that the GAMs be made up of a small number of people. This makes it easier for all members to participate and exchange their experiences with a sense of closeness.

In addition This facilitates the organization of the group in other ways, ranging fromThe group should not be too small either. The group should not be too small. Between 5 and 10 members is a recommended number.

5. Horizontality (no hierarchies)

One of the most important characteristics of Mutual Aid Groups is that there are no role differences among members. They are based on the principle of horizontality, which means that there are no distinct hierarchies. In this sense, the rules related to the moderation of the group are the responsibility of the whole group..

The principle of horizontality makes it possible for a climate of trust and complicity to be established, and, unlike what happens in therapeutic sessions, the people who are part of the GAM acquire an active role in their own experience.

The main values of a GAM

The voices of all people are recognized as equally important. One of the most important values for Mutual Aid Groups in mental health is respect, which involves valuing diversity and encouraging that each person can make his or her own voice heard, with his or her own ideas andwith their own ideas and life experiences. In the same sense, the value of inclusion is very important, which ensures that all people can share their voices in equal opportunities. And also the other way around: no one is forced or pressured to speak during the sessions.

It is also important to maintain confidentiality, i.e., not to explain the participants' experiences to people outside the group. In this line, it is also necessary to to maintain commitment to the group, i.e. to make sure thatThis means ensuring regular attendance at the sessions and dedicating the necessary time to them.

Finally, people who participate in a GAM come with the intention of expanding their social networks, interacting with people who have similar experiences, and also to avoid the rejection that can occur in other spaces.

Are mental health GAMs the same as group therapy?

The difference between a GAM and a group therapy is that, although the GAM can benefit the mental health and well-being of the participants, it is not considered a psychotherapy. This is because there is no psychotherapist mediating the group sessions. And they are also different from group therapy because GAMs are not situated in the logic of treatment, in that the participants are not expected to assume sick-therapist roles.The participants are not expected to assume the roles of patient-therapist. Experiences are shared and worked on from first-person knowledge, not from external "academic knowledge".

Bibliographical references:

• ActivaMent Catalunya Associació (2018). Guia per a Grups d'Ajuda Mutua de Salut Mental en primera persona. Activat x la salut mental. Retrieved June 20, 2018. Available at http:And they are also different from group therapy because
• GAMs are not situated in the logic of treatment, in that the participants are not expected to assume sick-therapist roles.