Specialized Peer Support Groups

Almost as soon as my dementia care journey ended, I committed a bit of my time to supporting others. In the years since, I have facilitated or co-facilitated over 500 hours of peer support groups, including several virtual groups that I helped found.

Please note that peer support groups are not a substitute for mental health services. They are intended as a space where community members who share an identity and/or experience converse freely about their challenges. The facilitator's role is not to guide them to any specific conclusion, but to support participants' openness and de-escalate any tensions that arise.

Support groups tend to meet 1-5 times a month for 1-2 hours at a time; they can schedule a set number of sessions or continue indefinitely. Community institutions who are interested in sponsoring a support group will find it is a very affordable and rewarding program: you provide the regular meeting space (virtual strongly preferred) and help get the word out and a competent facilitator or two can handle the rest.

I am also available to train and advise peer facilitators, identify existing resources for community members in crisis, or strategize outreach for your new support group.

"I don't know how I would have survived caregiving burnout if I hadn't had a support group." - G.J. Hodson

Past support group topics:

• Dementia care by and for LGBTQ+ folks

• Caregiving by young adults (Ages 18-35)

• Caregiving for a loved one in long-term care

• Coping with COVID-19 lockdowns

• Convening former coworkers after a layoff

• Job-hunting in care-adjacent professions.

• Relationship modeling