When GPS launched a support group, the goal was simple: Create a structured space where people navigating perimenopause and menopause could talk openly, reflect together, and feel less alone. What quickly became clear is how deeply needed that space is.
I recently had the opportunity to join a conversation with midwives and health workers from Midwifery Exchange in Ghana, a group of midwives, doctors, and physician assistants based in Ghana and the US, who are beginning to explore what it might look like to bring peer support more intentionally into their maternal and community health settings. To help jumpstart this journey, GPS provided free facilitator training to the healthcare team in Ghana.
Many participants shared that before joining GPS support groups, they rarely had structured opportunities to talk openly with colleagues about the emotional impact of their work. Unfortunately, this experience isn’t unusual. In many helping professions, the expectation is to stay composed and move on to the next task.
Recently, MASStrong partnered with New England Life Care (NELC) to offer a structured GPS support group for their home infusion nurses. Their responses to post-support group surveys tell a powerful story about what happens when caregivers are given space to slow down and connect.
By Liz Friedman, Co-Founder and CEO of GPS Group Peer Support Doulas —trained professionals who provide physical, emotional, and informational support before, during and shortly after childbirth— hold some of the most intimate, emotionally charged moments of a person’s life. They walk into labor and delivery rooms where joy, fear, trauma, power, and vulnerability collide,…
Loneliness is a silent struggle that affects countless individuals every day. It can have a profound impact on mental health, leading to increased feelings of sadness, stress, and isolation. However, there is a powerful antidote to loneliness: connection. Peer support groups can offer a way for individuals to break free from isolation and find comfort, healing, and understanding.
Some people have a way of making you feel settled the moment they enter the room. Not because they have all the answers, but because they are fully there. Listening. Breathing with you. Holding space without judgment. That is the kind of presence Jigyna Patel brings to every support group she facilitates, trains, and coaches. And it is the same presence that first drew her to GPS.
Nursing is a profession built on care, and is one that often asks people to carry enormous emotional, ethical, and relational weight. For nurses navigating recovery from substance use disorder, that weight can be compounded by stigma, fear, and isolation.
When people work in recovery, peer support, and community care, they often spend their days holding space for others. But where do they go to pause, reflect, and be supported?
Recently, staff from Choice Recovery Coaching from Greenfield, MA came together for a focus group to share their experiences with GPS training and GPS support groups. What emerged was a powerful picture of connection, safety, and healing, not just for individuals in recovery, but for the people who support recovery every day.
Across the country, healthcare is straining under the weight of demand it simply cannot meet. No amount of individual appointments can address the scale of loneliness, chronic disease, behavioral health needs, and workforce burnout that continues to grow. Yet right in front of us is a solution that is both ancient and innovative: bringing people together in groups.
