WHat is Mutual Aid?

Mutual aid is the process of giving and receiving non-clinical and non-professional help to achieve long-term recovery from addiction. There are mutual aid groups for people seeking, initiating and sustaining their recovery and for their families and significant others. Sometimes they are called self-help groups, but we prefer the term mutual aid groups because most people seeking help have exhausted efforts on their own to achieve enduring recovery.

Mutual aid group members voluntarily support one another by providing social, emotional, and informational support. People who participate in mutual aid groups typically increase the likel ihood of sustaining their recovery as well as improving their physical and emotional health and well being. Approximately 5 million Americans (2% of the population over the age of 12) attend mutual aid/self-help group meetings each year. 1

The growing variety of mutual aid groups increases the choices that people in or seeking recovery and family members have to find a support network that will work for them. This Guide was developed to inform the recovery community and service providers about these critical recovery resources.

It’s not easy to capture the value of mutual aid groups through quantitative, empirical studies. Scientific studies of the effects of participation in mutual aid on long-term recovery outcomes are based on studies of adult members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and to a lesser extent, Narcotics Anonymous (NA). There are more recent studies of other mutual aid groups, but they primarily describe programs and don’t include information on long-term recovery outcomes. Some of these non-12-Step groups that are described in the research literature include Women for Sobriety, Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), Rational Recovery, LifeRing Secular Recovery, SMART Recovery® and Moderation Management.

There have also been a limited number of studies on family member mutual aid groups such as Al-Anon and Alateen. While more research is needed, when family members participate in mutual aid groups, their understanding of addition and recovery increases, their emotional health improves and family functioning improves after sustained participation.

All studies suggest that long-term recovery success correlates with more intense mutual aid participation. For more information on the scientific evaluation of participation in recovery mutual aid groups, see pp 113-144 of Peer-based Addiction Recovery Support.

1 Office of Applied Studies (2008) Participation in self-help groups for alcohol and illicit drug use: 2006 and 2007. The NSDUH Report, November 13, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.