The evolution of self-help

"This book is about the evolution of self-help movement organizations in the U.S. It explores the ways in which the marginal practices of sufferers of chronic conditions like Lupus, Parkinson's, or alcoholism became the common solution for all manner of medical, behavioral, and psychological problems. Since the dramatic growth and ubiquity of self-help during the mid-to-late twentieth century places it high among other social institutions supporting healthcare, the mapping of the steady diffusion of psychotherapeutic support groups, their increasingly broad cultural acceptance, and their hard-won professional recognition provides insight into the processes of institutional change in healthcare."--Jacket.