Self-help groups and mental health/substance use agencies: the benefits of organizational exchange.

Self-help groups benefit clients by linking them to people who have "been there" and are successfully coping with their situations. Mental health/substance use agencies can increase access to evidence-based benefits of self-help groups by engaging them in organizational exchanges. Organizational theories are used to frame beneficial exchanges with self-help groups. Adaptational theory is used to frame exchanges with self-help groups and various service agency subunits, e.g., board, practitioner, and client units. Institutional theory is used to frame joint agency/self-help initiatives to promote community acceptance of self-help groups, which in turn may enhance the credibility of the professional agency.