Taking Steps to Recovery
Our DBSA Greater Baltimore Chapter is a local affiliate of the national nonprofit The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, DBSA.
Our mission is to improve the lives of people with mood disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder, and of their families and friends.
Are you or someone you know touched by these issues?
We can help.
We currently provide four support groups in the Greater Baltimore area. At these regularly scheduled meetings, participants share experiences and challenges related to our mood disorders. Other group members may ask a clarifying question or give brief feedback. Each attendee has an opportunity to speak or may choose to simply listen. A DBSA-trained facilitator follows DBSA guidelines and moderates each meeting. These facilitators must have first-hand experience as a person living with a mood disorder or as a family member of one who does.
Our goal is to provide hope, help, education, and resources related to living well and thriving while living daily with a mood disorder.
Our group creates a sense of community, as we learn and rediscover we still have the creativity and humor we thought we may have lost.
DBSA’s diverse and caring community of peer support groups can help you feel heard, understood, and empowered.
We will accept and support you no matter where you are in your recovery journey.
There’s a place for you at DBSA. Mood disorders are a manageable condition. You can live a fulfilling life and positively impact others living with the same condition(s).
Join Us!
We maintain a safe space for people living with Depression or Bipolar Disorder to reveal our concerns. These peer support meetings begin with a brief welcome. A member reads the eight DBSA guidelines about confidentiality and tolerance.
Each person is invited to say something from their own experience.
You don't have to talk if you don't want to.
Comments usually include your first name and what is happening in your life and what strategies you are using to cope with bipolar disorder or depression.
We do not give advice...
We simply share what has worked for us. We limit comments to five or six minutes each to avoid anyone dominating the discussion.
The group may split into smaller discussion groups depending on size.
Overall, the meetings are friendly, upbeat, and life-affirming.
The peer support group is for adults with depression and bipolar disorder.
For more information about the national DBSA organization, visit www.dbsalliance.org
Support Group Guidelines for Participation
We share the air.
Differences of opinion are o.k.
What is said here stays here.
We are all equal.
It’s o.k. not to share.
Use “I” language.
One person speaks at a time.
It’s everybody’s responsibility to make the discussion groups a safe place to share.
Family and Friends Support Group
These group members share mutual feelings, experiences, and strategies to reduce stress and promote self-care. They will learn more about mood disorders and caring about their loved ones..... an important process for caregivers, family members, and friends to sustain their own physical/mental stability. Family members and close friends can feel intense stress in coping with another person's depression/ bipolar disorder. Group attendance, while not therapy, can have a positive effect on its members. Group attendance is free to all who are 18 years old and above. This group meets twice monthly in North Baltimore City.