The groups of mutual self help: how to help to help themselves?

"I feel guilty, maybe I am not doing enough for my sick ..."
"I do not feel understood by anybody ..."
"I feel only to address problems larger than me ..."
"I can not accept the bad thoughts that come to my father ... I am a monster, because I know that is sick!"
"How can I decide to devote more time to my sick mother when the time sottraggo it to my children?"
"I can not never tell what I feel because I feel that others judge me"
These are some of the screams of aid collected in interviews with family members suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
What is the help asking?

Ask to be heard and to be able to speak ... Not to be judged ... You can express emotions and feelings, sometimes negative ... To be supported in finding solutions and personal "potercela do" to address fears and anxieties of which we can not or you can not talk to anyone.
All these demands are a real emotional and psychological needs that make the life of the family of the patient so dramatic that of the same patient. These needs range from emotional and moral support, to the need for family counseling, need to be supported in the most critical steps to be accompanied to the time of the loss of their beloved; dall'imparare to recognize their needs, namely to have time in itself, all'imparare to look and listen.

The groups of mutual aid of auto alzheimer Pordenone arose in seeking to respond to these needs by involving himself in precisely the providers of family support. The groups of auto mutual aid are a valuable tool to support the family during the course of the disease, follow the various stages and help to address some of the most dramatic of this disease as the acceptance and understanding of the disease, the change of roles, the development of mourning, the analysis of the sense of guilt ... of the reasons ... choices ...
What are the groups of auto loan help?

* There are groups of therapy and are led by a conductor and an observer who is to "facilitate communication" between the participants, to provide incentives for the comparison and regulatory meetings
* They are often small groups (eight to ten families) who meet every two to four weeks to set a course of 10 meetings
* Tackle issues closely related to Caregiving alzheimer's disease

What are the family in self-help groups?

• within the groups of self-help family members find friendship, solidarity and sharing of problems, as well as the necessary expertise to deal with issues "so difficult".

Family members of Alzheimer patients often come to self-help groups after several individual meetings with the volunteers of the preparations: their is a take-over total, a step by step with deadlines, which helps them to feel just ahead of this disease. It 'very important that those who participate in self-help groups is really motivated to do so, for each participant is asked to share their feelings and their own emotions and be able or want to hear those of others.
What results?

* Improving the perception of the self (the family)
* Ability to express emotions
* Knowledge of the disease and of course
* Decrease in feelings of guilt and inadequacy
* Control of negative feelings
* Best communication with the patient
* Best responsibility in helping
* Improvement of social relations: the group becomes important part of life and relationships.

The aim of the group is "to treat those who care" by easing the isolation and stress, the environment, increasing the opportunity to look at their problems from different angles through the comparison with others and leading to bring on itself a part of all the attention devoted to the sick, all in order to teach them to regain or maintain the energy and health.
The second group who leads ...

Who leads the self-help groups is not "the expert" who recognize the problems of others, consider the feelings ... and criticize, the task of collecting all that is clear, giving space to any new idea safeguarding rules bases of the group:

* Times
* Attendance
* Mutual respect
* Attention to weaker

The operator must ensure the identity of the group, trying to do as much as possible to remain a point of reference stable and secure for people to seek help and support.

I conclude with a sentence of Martin Gray says that "what man has certain needs in times of distress is not a cry of pain, but a more powerful voice of his return that the courage"

The self-help groups give voice and courage to these families and give them the opportunity to continue to fight without feeling the sun ...