From Clinic to Community: The Evolution of a Group for Women with Postpartum Mental Illness

Abstract

The present paper is based on a keynote address given at the International Social Work in Health and Mental Health Conference in Hong Kong in December 2006. It provides a reflective description of pioneering groupwork practice in a mental health service in the mid-1970s. The paper explores the transition in the unit of attention from the mother's mental illness to the mother–child relationship, and describes the evolution of a therapeutic group into a self-sustaining social network that has continued for over three decades. Four key implications for contemporary social work practice are identified.

Keywords:

• Groupwork
• Social Support
• Maternal Mental Health

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the women who were once members of the group and who are still in contact with one another for their support in commenting on this paper. They continue to inspire me.