Support Groups

[passover]

I would like to know how you can make a support group lively? How do you remove stigma? I am leading a faith based group for our church members. Any web sites that could be useful? The group includes positive and negative members.

[Matty the Damned]

Faith based? Perhaps you could tell us a little more about this group. Just so we can tailor our answers to your particular needs.

Welcome to the forums.

MtD

[passover]

Sorry i did not explain.. faith based it is a group of Christians composed of both males and females, including youth. Is it clear

[Matty the Damned]

Passover,

I figured it was christian. I'm presuming that it's an open minded and accepting group that welcomes people irrespective of their lifestyle/social-cultural group etc with a view to promoting friendship and fellowship in a supportive environment. Am I right?

If so, then the best way to addressing stigma is to encourage the members to take leadership in the group. Having an HIV positive person lead the group would be an excellent start. If you're not positive (Matty the Damned doesn't presume about these things) then maybe you can find someone in the group who might take on this role.

Also you might want to have guest speakers from local community based organisations come and talk with your members. The coordinator of the regional ASO (AIDS Service Organisation), representatives of the Gay and Lesbian communtiies and so on.

Does this help?

MtD

[passover]

yes it is an open group which accepts members from all walks of life but we  have rules that members must adhere to e.g. respect, prayers before sessions, going for VCTetc.

Your ideas help thanks.

[Matty the Damned]

Passover

yes it is an open group which accepts members from all walks of life but we  have rules that members must adhere to e.g. respect, prayers before sessions, going for VCTetc.

Your ideas help thanks.

You're a bible based group, yes? Perhaps you should tell us about your rules and how they work, what is VCT and so on. So that we can see if your group is compatible with th AIDSMEDS standard for dealing with these things. Is your doctrinal basis scripturally focussed. How are positive members from say the drug injector community viewed? How are gay and bi-sexual men (who still may be active) included?

MtD

[Andy Velez]

In order to get more responsive answers I suggest that you give more of the history of the group and what the meetings are like. What do you discuss? What kind of help do you need.

And perhaps most importantly what is your idea of what you would like to have from this site?

Please be specific as that will increase the likelihood of getting informed replies. Right now your request is very general and unclear.

I usually find when leading groups that when people feel genuinely safe they start opening up with their concerns. You might ask group members what would make the group interesting/useful/valuable for them. If members are being quiet it means something is keeping them from speaking up. You might say you have noticed that some people don't speak very often and ask them (if you are the leader) what you might do differently to encourage more talk and/or ask them if you are doing something wrong.