Followed eight male smokers with chronic pulmonary or cardiac disease through a smoking cessation program of gradual nicotine withdrawal, self-management, and relapse prevention. At one year, half remained abstinent, while relapsers smoked substantially less than before treatment. Reductions in carbon monoxide and thiocyanate levels were…

In recent years, mutual help groups have been formed to address problems in substance abuse, chronic physical illness, mental illness, marital disruption, and child abuse. Despite the proliferation of these groups, little research has been conducted to assess their efficacy or what happens in them. The nature of mutual help groups (N=32) was…

Supplementing a national survey of self-help group members, a study examined the functioning of an epilepsy self-help group in order to identify communication patterns establishing mutual aid. An examination of eight tape-recorded sessions was combined with an observer's field notes to develop a profile of the group. Analysis revealed a loosely…

People seeking help for personal problems usually turn to family, friends, and relatives first and then to sources such as neighborhood support systems, self-help groups, and community helpers such as physicians and clergy. These natural support systems need to be used and supported more by mental health professionals. One relationship which could…

Since objective data on the effectiveness of self-help groups are not available, participants' views of a program's value are instructive. A study was undertaken to contrast participants' (N=232) evaluations of their self-help meetings with independent observers' (N=11) evaluations and to describe the components of their respective views in terms…

Recent smoking treatment programs have shifted emphasis from initial cessation rates to long-term abstinence, with aversion therapy and coping response training having had the most success. A smoking cessation treatment consisting of rapid smoking and behavioral counseling was supplemented with two maintenance treatments. After completing the…