Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Self-Help Support Group

Volunteer with DBSA Northeast Georgia

You can make a difference in the lives of people living with mood disorders!!

DBSA Northeast Georgia is seeking to expand its volunteer base. If you are interested in volunteering, we encourage you to periodically check this page for postings of volunteer opportunities.

When you volunteer, you give part of yourself, your time, energy, skills and feelings. You give to your family and friends, to your neighbors, to your community.

At the DBSA, we know the services we provide, like our support groups, do more than provide comfort and guidance. They save lives.

Our offerings are a great opportunity for students and/or people with mood disorders who are seeking a volunteer opportunities with flexible daytime and evening hours. It should be noted, that any volunteer position with DBSA is not actually field work or directly counseling individuals with mood disorders.

For information about our next volunteer meeting please contact us at dbsanortheastga@yahoo.com  or 770/755-5038. Or you can visit our Calendar page.

Sign up for volunteer updates so that you can be notified when new opportunities arise.


Volunteer Postings

Become a Group Facilitator
Our support groups are not led by professionals or certified “experts.” They are led by patients and family members that are willing to serve as a facilitator. DBSA support group facilitators are not licensed or certified by any authority, but they do have one thing in common: a shared purpose. To improve the lives of people living with mood disorders.

A support group facilitator empathetically guides their peers in a healthy, confidential, and purposeful discussion that strives to improve the participants’ lives and lets them know that they are not alone.

For more information about the role of a facilitator and requirements please click here.

Administrative Support
Assist with a variety of tasks such as coordinating mailings, word processing and data entry into spreadsheets and/or databases. Knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel helpful, but not always required.

Event Support
A variety of tasks that may include volunteering at events with registration, set-up, and general research. Event coordination experience helpful, but not required.

Marketing Communications
Research, copywriting, graphic design and desktop publishing. Some experience required.

Grant Writing and Fund Raising
Research and write grant proposals. Collaborate on fund raising ideas and coordinate events/efforts.


Other Ways You Can Help

1. Our local chapter really needs people to help keep our groups going. You can work to get the word out that the groups exist by creating and distributing brochures or posters and calling the paper. You can start a support group in your community, help run support groups, help with web sites, organize meetings, develop new programs, etc... Click here to find a support group near you.

2. You can support DBSA and make others more aware of DBSA by purchasing items from the DBSA Store.

3. You can promote education about our illnesses by placing DBSA brochures in doctor's offices, libraries, grocery stores, police stations, counseling centers, churches and synagogues.

4. You can contact area schools and offer a supply of suicide cards to hand out as well as copies of our young person's brochure, Is it Just a Mood...

5. You can organize a local event to raise awareness (and money). Just a few ideas for events are: a walk, a comedy club, a dinner, or a "market day."

6. You can work with your public library to stock some of the books our scientific and patient advisory boards recommend on mood disorders.

7. Help support DBSA and make your loved ones feel extra special by making a donation in their name. For a minimum $25.00 donation per gift, we will send the recipient one of our signature quilt note cards announcing your thoughtful donation.

8. You can write letters to the editor of your local paper when you read something that encourages the stigma of mental illness to continue.

9. You can ask your local hospital to host a DBSA support group.

10. You can ask your local cable access station and your hospital to use our videotapes to educate others about depression and bipolar disorder.

11. You can write to your legislators to support insurance parity and other issues of concern. You can track legislation and send an e-mail or fax to your legislators from the DBSA Legislative Action Center.

12. You can ask your local paper and radio station for coverage of mood disorders.

13. You can encourage friends and neighbors to go online and take a confidential depression and/or bipolar disorder screening test. If the screening indicates that he or she may have a mood disorder, you can encourage them to seek treatment, so that no one is suffering needlessly.

14. You can donate financially and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.

15. If you are a professional, (e.g., attorneys, accountants, computer experts, etc.) you can volunteer your professional services.


Volunteer Facilitator Roles, Eligibility, and Responsibilities

The Role of the DBSA Northeast Georgia facilitator is to:

• Arrive before the meeting starts
• To educate and share information about the disorders
• To model healthy self care and self awareness about their mental health
• To listen, validate, show empathy, and affirm hope and recovery
• To provide a safe environment for group members to share
• To establish and be able to set limits for group members
• To have healthy boundaries when interacting with group members.
• To be able to accept feedback from others
• To follow a treatment program of recovery involving psychotherapy and making life adjustments such as exercise, diet, reducing stressors
• To provide resources for group members
• Respond in an unbiased and non-judgmental way
• Be able to know when they are having a bad day and should step aside from primary group facilitation

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Facilitator must be on time to the group
• Facilitator must read an opening statement and inform group members of DBSA Northeast Georgia’s confidentiality policy
• Monitor the time, giving each person who wants to share a chance to do so in the time allotted
• Keep the discussion on track, on an appropriate subject matter, in an appropriate tone and behavior
• Model appropriate behavior for group members
• Participate as an equal peer
• Facilitator should attempt to have every group member sign the Group’s sign in sheet
• Facilitator must enforce ground rules in the group
• Facilitator must take the lead in a crisis situation and follow DBSA crisis plan listed in the manual
• Facilitator must act ethically and demonstrate sound judgment when addressing a group member’s problem or crisis and remain calm
• Facilitator must follow the rules and regulations of the facility where the support group is held
• Lead facilitators need to have contact with the Chapter President at least once a month to report needs, problems, and concerns
• Facilitators are responsible for finding a substitute if they plan to be absent from group by calling another facilitator or the Chapter President

For information about our next volunteer meeting please contact us at dbsanortheastga@yahoo.com or 770/755-5038. Or you can visit our Calendar page.

Sign up for volunteer updates so that you can be notified when new opportunities arise.

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