FRequently Asked Questions

Grow Mental Health is a community of people drawn together by our first-hand experience of mental health challenges. With over 60 years’ experience supporting people in personal growth and recovery, we provide a space where people can tell their story in a confidential and supportive setting. Using a world renowned, evidence-based program, our members meet weekly, establish friendships, and begin their unique journey towards mental wellbeing.

Yes, absolutely, but people need to be open to making changes in their life. Grow Mental Health and the Grow Program will not work for someone who cannot see they need help. The first step of the Grow Programme is, ‘We admitted we had lost our way and needed direction.’

1. Where harm is threatened on self or others.
2. Where a minor is at risk of abuse.
3. Where serious crime is involved.

1. We admitted we had lost our way and needed direction.
2. We took our courage in our hands and asked for help.
3. We trusted in the greater power of life and love and the world around us.
4. We acknowledged our gifts and our strengths.
5. We also tackled our weaknesses and failures.
6. We committed to the journey even through the tough times.
7. We took care and control of our bodies.
8. We learned to think by reason rather than by feelings and imagination.
9. We developed will power to do the right thing in spite of our feelings.
10. We took our responsible and caring place in society.
11. We grew daily closer to maturity.
12. We carried GROW’s message to others in need.

A Grower is someone who decides to apply the Grow Program in the way they live their life and how they interact with the world around them. Growers can be referred to as Beginning Grower, Progressing Growers and Seasoned Growers depending on how long they have been a member and where they are on their journey of recovery.

Research conducted by Trinity College Dublin in 2017 examined the ‘transformative power’ of Grow’s peer-support programme in assisting recovery from mental illness. The research found that peer and community support, as well as everyday social interactions, play a vital role in mental health recovery.

The research concluded that those engaging with GROW Mental Health Recovery were:

• Less likely to say they were ‘bothered’ by their symptoms
• More likely to be coping well with their mental and emotional well-being
• Less likely to have had a relapse in the last year
• More likely to participate in community activities regularly
• More likely to achieve a personal goal
• More likely to have found it to have a positive effect on employment
• More likely to have a positive sense of their self-esteem
• More likely to feel ‘very optimistic’ about the future
• Unlikely to require hospitalisation for mental health reasons
• More likely to take part in physical exercise