Mental Health - The Grow Program
What is the Grow Program?
The Grow Program is a roadmap to Mental Health and Wellbeing.
The key to the Grow Program is the sharing and exploring of people’s lived experiences and recovery stories alongside the 12 Steps to Recovery and Growth. The Grow Program provides the tools to help you get your life back on track and is the foundation for our weekly Free Support Group meetings.
The pillars of the Grow Program are;
- Understanding
- Acceptance
- Confidence
- Control
- Love
With these pillars in mind, we can examine and change:
our thinking, our behaviour and our relationships.
The hope is that when we share our own experiences, we begin to help others in the meetings. This idea of mutual help, or peer support has fostered endless personal growth and recovery throughout the over 50 years of the Grow Program.
In action, the Grow Program guides us each week to focus on:
- One Person (ourselves)
- One Problem (big or small)
- One Part of the Program (wisdom gathered)
- One Practical Task (with the support of your group members)
By completing a task each week, we start to see small positive changes take place.
Grow's Unique and Proven Mental Health Support Program
Every group meeting has a clear structure and follows a group method in a safe and confidential setting
One Person
- Every member of the group has the opportunity to present a problem each week.
- It can be a problem of coping or it can be a problem of growth.
- Every individual faces different challenges
- Peer Support is when people use their own lived experience to help each other.
Problem
- A problem of coping - where you are struggling to deal with the basic realities of your life right now.
- A problem of growth is one that if you can overcome it – you will move forward in aspects of your life, example starting a new career or further your education.
Practical Task
- Once you have identified the area of your life that you want to work on, the group will help you to set a practical task for yourself
- When you have agreed to a task, you have the rest of the week to work on it.
Part of The Program
- Share your week's progress and what part of the program helped you with your task and take a task for the next week.
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SHARE A PERSONAL STORY
Everyone has a story and it is unique.
When you are ready - you can share your story in a safe & confidential space.
The 12 Steps of Recovery and Growth
The 12 Steps of Recovery and Growth are the framework behind the Grow Program.
Each person attending the meeting works through the 12 Steps of Recovery and Growth at their own pace and with the help of their Group.
The first step is focused on having the courage to ask for help – to admit that we need help. The first step towards changing anything is in admitting we need to change. Often this looks like walking into your first Grow Meeting or logging on to our Introductory Session. As we progress through the Steps, we can find that it is not a linear journey. We might be on Step 4 – acknowledging our gifts and strengths – and find we have to revisit Step 1 again to ask for help.
Ultimately, we learn to implement the 12 Steps into our daily lives. You can be on any step at any given time. The process is ongoing but it eventually becomes a way of living the Grow Program each day.
The Program Book and Method card:
The Program book is our guide and reference throughout the meetings. In it, there are many wisdoms and affirmations to help when we face a new challenge or issue or simply cannot complete a task. It gently prompts us and gives us courage.
The method card – is like a schedule for our weekly 2-hour meetings and keeps us on track so that everyone has the chance to share, and identify their weekly task for the following the week to work on.
It can be intimidating for someone to share any part of their story in a Grow Meeting. For that reason, we encourage someone to just listen for the first few meetings. To get used to the flow and learn to trust the group before opening up and when you are ready you can then choose to share your story.
Grow Support Group Meetings
All meetings are carried out in a welcoming and supportive environment whether the meetings are in-person or online. The groups are small and take place in every county in Ireland. They are not facilitated by professional healthcare workers, but rather by people have gone through the Grow Program themselves so they have a deep understanding of the Grow Program. The meetings are supported by an Area Coordinator who is available to answer any questions and to point you toward a group that is right for you. Meetings are free and open to anyone over the age of 18. There are no waiting lists and you do not need a referral to join a group.
We have to make efforts every day to maintain our mental health and not just when we are at risk of feeling down or anxious. It is a lifelong goal and consists of slowly building more and more positive habits. Good mental health is needed to function effectively in all aspects of life. Mental health is the foundation for overall well-being which is what the Grow Program strives to deliver.