Try these free peer support groups. Peer support groups can be a great way to get free support from other people with a similar experience, without long waits. All groups listed below are facilitated by and for members of the BIPOC community who have personal experience with the mental health system, with trauma, or with getting support themselves. Contact us for more support options.
NAMI Connection is a free, peer-led support group for people who are concerned about their mental health. Groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who’ve been there. Connection groups allow you to talk about your experiences in a safe and confidential setting. The groups encourage empathy, productive discussion, and a sense of community. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others.
NAMI Massachusetts hosts free Zoom and call-in Connection support groups for BIPOC on Tuesdays. Learn more: https://namimass.org/nami-connection-recovery-support-groups/
Fireweed Collective Support Groups are unstructured spaces where folks can connect to, and offer mutual aid with others who share similar life experiences and struggles. Groups run for a month. They meet once a week online for one hour. All support groups are free and are facilitated by members of Fireweed Collective (donations welcome). Learn more: https://fireweedcollective.org/support-groups/.
Groups that are regularly offered:
- QTBIPOC (Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, People of Color ) Support Space
- Healing Verses: A Healing Justice Approach To Collective Poetry Crafting For BIPOC & Latinx Folks
- Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: Black people leaning into media and creativity to vision a better world
- Spooned Out & Plugged In: A Group For BIPOC Disabled/Chronically Ill/Neurodivergent Folks
A closed support group for young adults (ages 18-28) with mental health and substance misuse challenges.
Free Zoom group hosted by the Southeast Recovery Learning Community on Fridays. Learn more: https://www.southeastrlc.org/brockton.
Check out these resources!
Finding a mental health professional that meets your needs can be hard. These websites can help you find a therapist that works for you. A therapist is someone you can talk to about what you’re experiencing and get support.
These free services can help you find a therapist (for people in Massachusetts – may be limited by city or town).
Check out these online communities for more support!
QTPoC Mental Health empowers the community through knowledge and compassion, with the ultimate goals of creating online & offline spaces for LGBTQ2IA people of color to be comfortably, unapologetically our whole selves. The volunteer-led group uplifts QTPoC in our intersecting identities, understanding that this means different things to different people.
Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/QTPOCsupport/.
A mental health collective of Black/brown women, femmes, and nonbinary folks that offers yoga, mental health check-ins, discussion groups, socializing events, and more.
Learn more: https://www.yougoodsis.co/
Check out these self-help resources!
The Safe Place is a mental health app geared towards the Black Community. The purpose of the “Safe Place” is to bring more awareness, education, and hope to this serious issue. App features include inspirational quotes, self-care tips, articles, open forum discussions, and more.
Download for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.he6ecb72aef1.
Download for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-safe-place/id1349460763.
In this fiercely inspiring book, psychotherapist Christine Gutierrez welcomes women to join her in healing the wounds from past hurt or trauma to reclaim their worth and come back home to their true self and soul. Check it out: https://www.christineg.tv/iamdiosabook.
Written by a Latina who’s lived it, this book is an invitation to overcome your familial and cultural expectations, fears, and limiting beliefs, while remaining true to yourself and your roots!
Check it out: https://www.sandrahinojosaludwig.com/new-book.
Contact the NAMI Mass Compass Helpline. Compass is available Monday through Friday, 10 am – 6 pm. Call us at 617-704-6264 or email us at compass@namimass.org.