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for useful books and websites for Just as you benefit from the group
additional study apart from the group experience, you can also help other group
meetings. members as you grow and make
progress. Others will be affected positively
• Improved social skills by hearing about your successes and by
your kind and caring demeanour. You will
By meeting and talking with other group also notice you feel better when you are
members, you also have a chance to able to help someone else.
practice social skills and interact more
effectively with others. Once you’ve determined a group/groups is
a good fit for you, attend regularly. Soak
Often, infertility or childlessness has up information and learn effective coping
contributed to a withdrawal from social strategies from other members who are
situations. Support groups provide a safe doing well.
place to become comfortable around
others once more. When you feel the time is right, share
your story, your challenges, your fears,
• Gaining hope and your successes. Support other group
members with encouragement, validation
It’s very powerful when you see others in and a pat on the back for making progress
the group who are further along their road toward their goals.
to acceptance/healing and who have
made great strides toward having happier Possible risks of support groups
and healthier lives. These positive role
models show you that recovery is in fact Support groups may have drawbacks, and
attainable, which brings renewed hope for effective groups generally depend on the
the future. facilitator to help steer away from these
problems. These problems may include:
• Reducing distress
• Disruptive group members
As you work through various issues and • Conversation dominated by griping
concerns in the group, it’s common that
you will begin to notice a reduced level of • Lack of confidentiality
overall distress and discomfort. This is a • Emotional entanglement, group
positive sign that progress is being made tension or interpersonal conflicts
and that you are feeling better. • Inappropriate or unsound advice
• Increased self-understanding
Also, there can be competitive
As you learn more effective ways to cope comparisons of whose condition or
and handle difficult situations, you gain experience is worse
better understanding about yourself, your
needs and your own unique personality. The above is about support groups in
general be they physical or online, so let’s
You can also gain increased insight about have a quick look at the pros and cons of
the factors that have contributed to your online support groups specifically as most
current challenges and the strategies that of the CNBC groups are online.
seem to work best to help you move
toward your goals. Pros and cons of online support
groups
• Helping others
Online support groups offer benefits and
risks that are particular to that format. It's
The Childless Not By Choice Magazine: Sept/Oct 2018 Issue #05 23
