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Dealing with burn-out

Sometimes, when the group gets to be a lot of work and too much of an energy drain, support group leaders may find that leading the group has become too much, but they are reluctant to quit. It is at this point that tempers may become short and the leader may need to step back and reassess the situation.

As leader, the question to ask is, "Do I still feel good about what I'm doing?" As long as the answer is yes, go for it. Again, members should be realistic in their expectations.

A self-help support group is really supposed to be just that—a body of indi­viduals who have come together for a purpose and ideally, are working together in achieving mutual goals.

It may be helpful to spend a meeting discussing exactly what the objectives of this group will be and new members should be informed about these as they join the group. At least people would. know what they could expect from. this particular group.

Group leaders would be general­ly expected to supervise the main functions of a group, such as conducting the meetings, guiding the discussion, distribut­ing information, being able to listen and receive feedback, and generally overseeing that the meeting is running as smoothly as possible.

These general functions should be broken down into numerous, individual duties and be shared by all the members. We recommend co-leaders wherever possible to help reduce the burden on volunteer leaders.

Realistically, it becomes very hard for one person (the group leader) to take care of all the needs of the group by him/herself. No group should be dependent on "one" person.

Members often tend to forget that the group leader is also sick and for some reason, it is common that members do not offer to help, even when asked. After a while, this will negatively impact the group leader.

However, when being the leader has become an onerous and stressful obligation, then it's time to re-evaluate the leadership role or scale back.

There is a big difference between running a group by choice, and finding yourself trapped in the leader's role.

Behavioral attitudes may be a clue if you are not sure what is happening to you. Do you find yourself avoiding group duties because you have "something better to do?" Do you resent time spent on group activi­ties or preparation for meetings? Do you feel the group is interfering in your life rather than helping it? You may have "burn out."

This atti­tude overflows into the meeting as the leader asks for but doesn't receive help. Growth of the group can falter as new attendees come away from such meetings with a bad impression, deciding not to return.