Helping Disorders: The Benefits Of Volunteering

Volunteering can play a major role in ones health and happiness. It doesn’t have to take much time nor effort in order to leave an impact on someone by either helping them out or even volunteering. However you want to do it, there are many different ways to go about it. Early in the chapter Svoboda mentioned herself getting involved in a mentoring program with at-risk children. The time spent with a child can have great affects on not only them, but you as well. Svoboda states “a mental shift that had a way of putting my other work and life concerns in perspective” (91). No one knows exactly what someone is going through or what he or she has been through, so having the ability for them to open up and share their story with someone who cares …show more content…
Otherwise known as “Helper Therapy”. “In the 1960s, the social psychologist Frank Riessman noticed that in self-help groups, people seemed to derive substantial benefit from providing support to others in the group” (Svoboda 94). Studies show that Helper Therapy can increase someone’s physical qualities and characteristics. Having an individual who understands your situation because of maybe having been in their shoes before, could help guide that person in ways that of a bystander who may know nothing about the situation or haven’t had an experience in the subject of the …show more content…
Being that there are many different places where you can volunteer, it gives you different opportunities. Maybe certain ones sound more appealing than others. There are a vast majority of them and many different ways. “It’s critical to try a variety of helping opportunities to see which one suits you best” (Svoboda 102). “There’s probably at least twenty hours in everyone’s week that are a total waste of time. Make it a commitment. The benefits that you get from it are unreal” (Svoboda (103). Everyone has time in his or her day to give back or help out. It doesn’t take much for something small to go along way. The lasting impression will be well worth it and your overall wellness. Svoboda made a lot of really unique and uplifting statements regarding the benefits of volunteering and giving back. You’ll never know the outcome or how an individual could benefit from your advice or even just a little but of your time without evening giving it a try. The health and happiness is a small fraction of the benefits. Be the change in someone’s life because a little piece of your time/effort could be someone’s