GROW

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Con Keogh · 1957 · Sydney, Australia

What it is

GROW is a peer-led mutual-help fellowship for people with mental health problems and other life difficulties. It is not a therapy that a clinician delivers. The guide below is written for a clinician who refers clients to GROW, works alongside it, or adapts its principles. A priest, Con Keogh, was…

Format

• GROW has no treatment phases, fixed session count or discharge point. It is open-ended membership, with progression described in the following ways.
• Format of a meeting.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• The Grow Commitment, said together at the start by everyone present. Grow's own description says it includes respecting group confidentiality.
• Leadership path. Members can take on rising responsibility, a path researchers call 'platforms of growth'. This includes rotating chair, welcoming newcomers and becoming organiser or recorder. Beyond the group there are leaders' meetings, Organisers & Recorders (O&R) meetings and committees. Training ranges from leadership weekends to an accredited five-part distance course with a mentor (Ireland, Dublin City…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Anticipatory avoidance. Treat going to the first meeting as a graded task.
• Taking on a role too early and burning out, or tying self-worth to the role.
• Repeated 'no progress' reports. These can lead to shame and dropout (see Section 5).
• Socially anxious clients may avoid the phone task. Rehearse it with them in session.
• Drifting into therapist-centred facilitation, which defeats the mutual-help mechanism.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.