Self-help groups: further description including their history, various types, characteristics, how they function, and frequently asked questions about self-help groups.

History of self-help groups.  In order to understand the nature of self help groups it is useful to know a bit about their history.  The first and the most successful self‑help group is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded in 1935 by two recovering alcoholics, a stock broker (Bill W.) and a doctor (Dr. Bob ).  In accordance with AA tradition of anonymity I have not disclosed their surnames.   The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of AA serve respectively as guidance for personal recovery and for smooth functioning of groups.  Today,  AA is the world's largest self‑help group with meetings in many countries, including Singapore, and over a million members and still growing. 

Various Types of self-help groups.  Because of its spectacular success,  AA has become a model for many other self-help groups dealing with a wide variety of problems. One of the first such “12 Step” self-help groups was Alanon which was established in 1939 for the family and loved ones of alcoholics.  Like AA, Alanon has grown tremendously over the decades and has meetings all over the world including Singapore.  There are many other 12 Step groups including Codependents Anonymous (CA), Over‑eaters Anonymous (OA),  Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Alateen for children affected by an alcoholic family member.  A more recent 12 Step group is “Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) which helps people who have an addiction to love and/or sex including cyber pornography which is among the fastest growing addictions in the world today.  Like other addictions cyber porn addiction can destroy lives and families.  The telephone numbers for these self-help groups is usually listed in telephone books of every large city including Singapore. 

Of course there are many self-help groups that have been set up to help people with problems that function in a way similar to 12 Step groups but without using the 12 steps.   There are also support groups which may involve professionals to some extent as well as non-professionals. I will try to describe these other types of groups in a future post.