Growing road to recovery

A VOLUNTARY Australian mental health movement continues to help re-shape people’s lives in Berwick after setting up in the community 15 years ago.
GROW is a mental wellbeing program that enables the participants, who are suffering from a range of mental illnesses and anxieties, to run the weekly two-hour meetings themselves.
The Berwick GROW group meets at the Berwick Neighbourhood Centre for two hours every Wednesday.
But GROW, which was originally called Recovery, was first set up in Australia in 1957, and now operates internationally.
The weekly meetings are run by group members and based on a 12-step framework, concluding with a written evaluation involving all participants.
GROW meetings don’t include professional counsellors or psychologists, with one field worker noting that the meetings are understood as “complementing professional mental health services”.
The sessions are also open to all adults and only first names are used.
The field worker said there was no intake procedure, client files or fees.
For more information about the Berwick group, contact the GROW Community Centre on 1800 558 268, or visit www.grow.net.au.
Those in need of immediate assistance, or who need to talk to someone they can trust, can phone Lifeline on 131 114.