Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Self-help and community mental health agency outcomes: a recovery-focused randomized controlled trial
Steven P Segal1, Carol J Silverman, Tanya L Temkin
1School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall (MC 7400), Berkeley, CA 94720-7400, USA. spsegal@berkeley.edu
Objective:
Self-help agencies (SHAs) are consumer-operated service organizations managed as participatory democracies. Members are involved in all aspects of organizational management, because a premise of SHAs is that organizationally empowered individuals become more empowered in their own lives, which promotes recovery. The study sought to determine the effectiveness of combined SHA and community mental health agency (CMHA) services in assisting recovery for persons with serious mental illness.
Methods:
A weighted sample of new clients seeking CMHA services was randomly assigned to regular CMHA services or to combined SHA-CMHA services at five proximally located pairs of SHA drop-in centers and county CMHAs. Member-clients (N=505) were assessed at baseline and at one, three, and eight months on five recovery-focused outcome measures: personal empowerment, self-efficacy, social integration, hope, and psychological functioning. Scales had high levels of reliability and independently established validity. Outcomes were evaluated with a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance.
Results:
Overall results indicated that combined SHA-CMHA services were significantly better able to promote recovery of client-members than CMHA services alone. The sample with combined services showed greater improvements in personal empowerment (F=3.99, df=3 and 491, p<.008), self-efficacy (F=11.20, df=3 and 491, p<.001), and independent social integration (F=12.13, df=3 and 491, p<.001). Hopelessness (F=4.36, df=3 and 491, p<.005) and symptoms (F=4.49, df=3 and 491, p<.004) dissipated more quickly and to a greater extent in the combined condition than in the CMHA-only condition.
Conclusions:
Member-empowering SHAs run as participatory democracies in combination with CMHA services produced more positive recovery-focused results than CMHA services alone.
Related Concept Videos
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Self-Help Support Groups
Accessibility and Cost-Effectiveness
One of the primary strengths of self-help...
Coping Strategies: Problem Focused
For example, consider a student who struggles to understand their...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Treatment Strategies for Psychological Disorders
Psychological therapies focus on modifying emotions, thoughts, and behaviors through talking, interpreting, listening, rewarding, challenging, and modeling. Clinical psychologists, counselors, and social workers commonly practice psychotherapy. Clinical...
Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...