Setting up a support group could be as simple as informally gathering in your kitchen

Support groups offer support, safety, and the relief of common experience

Gathering—virtually or otherwise—with people going through a similar experience or navigating the same disease can make someone feel like they're part of a larger community. Participants can receive and offer support, and potentially learn tips that could improve their quality of life or lead them to other resources.

Support groups are typically free, which makes them widely accessible

The groups are typically run by someone with the same illness or set of experiences and can provide clear, practical knowledge about navigating healthcare resources, bureaucracy, and more. Since they function on trust, however, there are no legal confidentiality prohibiting people from sharing what's discussed. What's more, group leaders may not be uniformly trained or certified.

Accountability can be why some people like support groups

Group camaraderie and peer support encourage people to continually connect through a support group and push participants to reflect, share, and find connection as they navigate through their lives.

Group therapy is not the same thing as a support group

Group therapy, facilitated by a licensed therapist, is typically covered by insurance or involves a fee. Support groups are often peer-led and usually come with no cost.

'Men's groups' may fail if members aren't truly invested in growth

Individuals who are truly dedicated to the mission of personal growth and want to build connections and community are essential for this type of group's success. The groups require an ongoing commitment, and members must be open to feedback, which can be a challenge. The hope in these groups is to build a bond that extends beyond a weekly or biweekly meeting. One such group is The Alliance, which has hundreds of members divided into local chapters.

Danish moms have a built-in support group through the healthcare system

Local Danish health departments put these groups together, assigning mothers into small support groups comprised of mothers in roughly the same area who gave birth around the same time. The purpose of the groups is to create a supportive network of new parents who can benefit from one another's experiences. The group's mothers decide how often to meet and what to discuss.

Private Facebook groups are acting as an entryway to support groups

Many groups are findable via search but only members can see their content. Others are "secret"—meaning an existing member must invite you to become part of it. But they're all free, remote, and potentially accessible 24/7. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Grief cannot be rushed through—it's a process and support groups can help

Finding your way after the death of a spouse can be aided by attending a regular and consistent grief group. The people attending those gatherings are uniquely poised to understand what you may be experiencing.

A mother goes viral for sharing tips for making her home a "hang out" spot for her son and his friends

A mom shared an Instagram reel of her college-aged son and friends hanging out and playing cards in her dining room. She wrote a note explaining how she helped make this happened, and provided tips to other parents hoping to keep their children visiting home for a long time. She encouraged parents to keep snacks in the house, say yes when their kids asked to hang with friends, and to be okay with a bit of a mess, among other things.

Angel investors often come together as a syndicate

Startups raise money in different rounds from investors that include their friends and family, angels, and venture capital funds. These types of investors serve different purposes.

A guide to emotionally preparing to found a company

Founding a company comes with more than just logistical challenges—it's a daunting emotional task, too. In this article, a psychologist breaks down how first-time founders can prepare for the mental pressure of starting a company.

Our kitchen designs are outdated.

Spread the love [ad_1] For decades, kitchens have been centered around the work triangle: the relationship between the refrigerator, stove and sink. But while that basic principle still applies, it’s…

A 'girl group' is an all-female vocal group

It’s not a perfect descriptor, but it’s the one that stuck, due mainly to the definitive girl groups of the late 1950s who sang about teenage love. Since then, though, the girl group sound has evolved, even if the term has remained the same.

Strength training doesn't require fancy equipment—cans, water bottles, and shopping bags work well

The goal with strength training is to stimulate your muscles by straining them a bit, so using any everyday items at home that you can barely lift easily will help you meet that goal. Over time, users can increase the weight they're lifting and their repetitions to provide a greater workout.

American local government comes in five distinct forms

Counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and school districts are each created for a different purpose, operating under different rules, and answerable to the state in different ways. Special districts, the least known of the group, are created for specific purposes, such as transit or fire protection.

Researchers generally group gut bacteria into six different categories

The trillions of bacteria in the gut microbiome can be grouped into six categories: firmicutes, actinomycetota, pseudomonadota, fusobacteriota, bacteroides, and a broad miscellaneous category. The functions of each are complex but range from breaking down food and producing vitamins to fighting pathogens.

How starting a union works

Starting a union within a workplace is a long, complicated process. There are many steps to take depending on how management reacts to each decision workers make during the proceedings. If you’re interested in helping your workplace unionize—or curious about what the journey to unionization looks like—this video can help.

The history of the Linux Foundation, a technology consortium supporting open-source projects

The nonprofit, founded in 2000 by IBM, HP, Intel, and others as the Open Source Development Labs, was established to build the infrastructure needed to scale with the growing development of Linux. Upon merging with the Free Standards Group in 2007, it rebranded as the Linux Foundation and, as of 2024, provides a "neutral home for code and collaboration" to almost 1,000 projects.

A breakdown of gelling agents used to modify a liquid's texture

Gelatin, agar, and other substances form a structural network that traps liquid, making it appear solid and enabling chefs to create stable layers in pastries and confectionery products. In different concentrations, they can also be used to thicken liquids into gels or encase them in gelatinous spheres.

The South prefers the term 'cookout'

A 2016 Eater poll showed that folks from the South generally prefer "cookout" to describe a backyard event centered around barbecued meat. In fact, that preference extends to much of the country, with 65% of Americans saying they prefer the term.

How a Philadelphia soup kitchen taught business students about ethical decision-making

As the St. Francis Inn—a Philadelphia soup kitchen—struggled with decisions about moving its operations to serve more people, a management professor at St. Joseph's University realized his students might have been able to help. Business students used ethical decision-making frameworks to help the soup kitchen serve more people and attract more volunteers.

The two-day marathon meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee follow a logical process of information sharing

In a stately room in the Eccles Building in Washington, DC, the 17 participants of the FOMC and their aides report on economic conditions and decide monetary policy.

A guide to the modern supra

This essay was written by an American who ventured to a Georgian village in search of a modern supra, the traditional communal feast hosted by a toastmaster that has existed for centuries. What he found was a warm, welcoming, and wine-soaked experience.

Many gig economy jobs are easy to sign up for, with a low barrier to entry

That doesn’t mean being a gig worker is an easy career, however. This article provides a framework for how to succeed in the gig economy, such as getting routines in place to streamline workflows, avoiding burnout, and creating a solid network.

Chaos gardening involves scattering seeds without any planning

The trend is intended to produce colorful, dense gardens by mixing various seeds. While encouraging experimentation and lower stakes, the success of these gardens depends on choosing plants with similar needs and incorporating native, nectar-rich flowers.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.