It is clear to those involved in psychosocial rehabilitation that consumers inherently have the ability to effectively communicate with each other and to be supportive of those who have experienced life in psychiatric hospitals. This article will describe an innovative model for consumers providing into-hospital reach-out and will discuss why participants in self-help clubhouse programs are ideally suited for involvement in the hospital discharge process.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. 20 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal disrupting problem, and bringing about desired social and/or personal change. (Gartner & Reissman, 1982)The Virginia Alliance for the Mentally Ill (the support and advocacy organization for Virginia's relatives of the mentally ill, affiliated with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) and the Commonwealth Clubhouse Association (consisting of mental health service consumers) are good examples of mental health self-help organizations in Virginia. Elsewhere, the Community Network Development Project at the Florida Mental Health Institute demonstrates the efficacy of a mutual aid network within a state hospital (Gartner & Reissman, 1982).Support for the premise of using self-help as a method of reducing hospital recidivism is also mentioned by Fraser, Fraser, and Delewski (1985) is a study on how club members in Salt Lake City had expanded social networks and greater community support as a result of their participation in the clubhouse program. The study further suggested that the role of the clubhouse staff had a direct relationship to reduced rehospitalization. The authors felt that "staff and clients developed qualitatively different ties in clubhouse program. . .these ties appear to be more informal and normative than those established in clinical outpatient programs. In comparison to the kind of ties developed in clinical settings, such ties may actually be more influential in affecting client behavior and may account for the marked success of clubhouse treatment programs" (p. 41).The attitudes that clubhouse staff have are fundamental to the success and expansion of this model. Their willingness to engage with and view the strengths rather than the pathology of the club members cannot be overemphasized. "Most critical to client involvement is the practitioners' commitment to the goal of client involvement and their belief that rehabilitation is done with clients and not to clients" (Anthony, Cohen, & Farkas, 1982, p.87). Another example in Florida of a self-help group, which also focuses on staff and client collaboration, is Project Return (PR).

He formerly worked as a community support system supervisor, during which time he provided clinical and programmatic consultation to a community-based residential alternative. This paper is based upon a presentation by the author during the 1984 Statewide Community Support Systems conference at Wintergreen, Virginia.

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W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . : A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n . 1 9 9 9 , 3 5 6 p a g e s . * Hare, R.D. (1991) The revised psy chopathy checklist. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.

recognize purely emotional responses, and integrate these ideas into a total life experience. This program supports the recognition of messages for what they are and gives practical techniques for correcting the resultant negative inner thoughts. The concepts in this book are interactive and build upon each other with frequent self checks to validate un derstanding. Rather than being encour aged to take evasive action, readers are supported in taking control of their lives, giving up the victim mentality, and learning to be a part of their culture without being dominated by it.