%0 Journal Article
%T Consumers¡¯ Experiences in Dual Focus Mutual Aid for Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
%A Harlan Matusow
%A Honoria Guarino
%A Andrew Rosenblum
%A Howard Vogel
%A Thomas Uttaro
%A Sadiqua Khabir
%A Martin Rini
%A Thomas Moore and Stephen Magura
%J Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.4137/SART.S11006
%X Mutual aid fellowships have been shown to improve outcomes for those with co-occurring substance use and mental illness disorders. Processes associated with usefulness include helper therapy (the assumption of a helping role to foster commitment) and reciprocal learning (the sharing of problems and solutions among members). The present qualitative investigation used focus groups comprised a subset of participants in Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR), a 12-step mutual aid group for those with co-occurring disorders, to gather their subjective perceptions of the groups. Participants emphasized that in linking them to others with similar problems, the DTR groups played a vital emotional role in their lives and provided a needed venue for information sharing that might have been otherwise unavailable.
%U http://www.la-press.com/consumers-experiences-in-dual-focus-mutual-aid-for-co-occurring-substa-article-a3574