Top Ten Question From Self-Help Group Leaders

by D. Steven Ledingham

Top 10 Group questions:
1.    What if I have no members?
2.    What if I have no topics?
3.    What if I am a terrible facilitator?
4.    What if I have no money?
5.    What if I don't have ADD?
6.    What if we have no place to meet?
7.    What if my parents will not let me have a meeting in my room?
8.    What if I lose my meds?
9.    What if I forget when we meet?
10. What if the group members hate me?

These may seem like joking questions and concerns, because they are, but really consider the basis of these ideas, some of them are real. Let's look at the questions one by one...

1.    What if I have no members?
This is something everyone faces. All groups start with no members, or have to deal with loosing membership. What would you suggest if you are just starting, or if you are having trouble getting commitment?

2.    What if I have no topics?
Very common situation and scary for many of us. What would you suggest if you are just starting, or if you are not aware of where to turn for accurate info? What if your information is not objective, such as some so called "alternative" treatments that are not yet proven?

3.    What if I am a terrible facilitator?
One of the most scary things for may people is speaking in front of a group. For our Self-Help groups to be successful, we must be able to facilitate without having to be professional speakers. What can we do to overcome our fear of presenting. What can we do as group members to help our facilitators be more comfortable?

4.    What if I have no money?
This is always an issue for our groups? Reality is, you need to cover the expense of having a meeting. If you prepare materials, do some research, make a few calls it will cost you. For a group to be healthy and solvent you must either charge a fee per meeting, have a paid membership or a sponsor. How would you recommend handling this issue?

5.    What if I don't have ADD?
Good question! Many times a non-ADD spouse or companion will want to attend our meeting. What do we do? Also our facilitator may not have ADD, are we comfortable that they really understand our issues?

6.    What if we have no place to meet?
This can be a killer problem for many groups. The idea of finding a place, making the arrangements, paying the rent and all that goes with it can stop an ADDer dead in their tracks. What suggestions do you have for this situation?

7.    What if my parents will not let me have a meeting in my room?
All joking aside, what about adult only ADD meetings? Where do you draw the line in age, 18, 21, who decides? In addition you will have spouses who want a meeting, teens who want a meeting and others who are for some reason not happy with what the facilitator or the group is doing. So how do you handle these challenges?

8.    What if I lose my meds?
This represents a much larger problem, one not only of missed medication, but also missed diagnosis. You will have some participants who not only forgot the medication, they forgot to get the diagnosis. What impact does this have upon the content, goals and organization of your meeting?

9.    What if I forget when we meet?
How do you remind your participants about the meetings? Is one mailing every 6 months enough, or do you need to mail reminders each month? What about phone calls, are they really necessary?

10.     What if the group members hate me?
Again, this can be a problem if your facilitator gets in to trying to please everyone in the group. You may also have disruptive behaviors to consider. How do you handle these. What about facilitator burnout?

As you can see, what began as a funny list, actually shows some of the challenges that can face the ADD Adult Self-Help group. We invite you to give us your feed back on these questions.  Write to us at mail@add.org