Issue #1 November, 1989

• Editorial Policy - a brief explanation of the nature of the Hotline
• Different Kinds of Phone Connections - network, hotlines and conference calls
• The First Tell-A-Group - reporting on the first time a social worker led a telephone group for a population of veterans who had a common problem - blindness
• Caretakers' Tell-A-Group: A First? - describe a telephone group for parents of blind children
• The Telephone Amplifier - how more one than facilitator can facilitate a meeting, while they are together in one room, without needing two telephones
• Special Journal Issue To Deal With Technology - announcing plans for a special issue of a journal - an idea that never came to fruition
• Tell-A-Group For Person With AIDS - reference to telephone groups for persons with AIDS

Issue # 2 August 1990

• Editorial Policy
• Tell-A-Group #4: Adults With Leukemia - a report of a group for six women, in various stages of the disease - includes a script of a portion of the group's last meeting in which they discuss the meaning the group had for each of them
• Other Tell-A-Groups formation - describes plans for six telephone groups with very different populations.
• Booklet Available: How to Create a Tell-A-Group - announces availability of a manual the describes the process of starting and running a Tell-A-Group, written by Harvey Bertcher, editor of the Hotline. This Manual is now available on the Internet, along with these issues.
• Tell-A-Group Institute - announces plans for an institute on telephone groups at the annual symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work With Groups.
• The Tell-A-Group Song - to the tune of Camelot
• Article - references a recent article (in 1990) on family therapy by phone.
• Other Electronic Programs - describes telephone activities at the Stanley M. Issacs Neighborhood Center in New York City
• Self-Help Clearinghouse - describes the use of computers for group meetings

Issue # 3 January 1992

• Hemophilia Tell-A-Groups - an article by Susan Bigari, M.S.W. about groups for people with hemophilia
• Editorial Policy
• Costs (in money, that is) - a discussion of issues in paying for telephone groups
• Anonymity - a discussion the effects on group participants of not being able to see one another

Issue # 4 May, 1993

• Editorial Policy
• Tell-A-Group Program Helps CF Patient Parents - an article by Kathleen Park, then a masters student in the University School of Social Work, about a group for mothers of children with cystic fibrosis.
• Variety: The Spice of Something! - mentions the variety of telephone groups that had been begun in Ann Arbor.
• The Very First Tell-A-Groups - 1977! - describes telephone groups in Australia
• Telephone Support Group Manual: New and Available! - describes a new 108 page manual about telephone group for people with AIDS, produced at the University of North Carolina's School of Social Work.
• The Newest Article on Group Work by Phone - describes an article about a telephone group for men with end-stage AIDS.
• Peer Facilitated Telesupport Groups - Susan Bigari, M.S.W. writes about groups for people with hemophilia, co-led by people with hemophilia.
• The 'Anonymity Factor' in Group Work by Telephone - report of a survey of 30 participants in different telephone groups, focusing on their response to being unable to see one another during group meetings.
• Bibliography - lists 20 references pertinent to group work by telephone
• Inter-State Tell-A-Group - report of a telephone group for people with a rare disease, polymyocitis.

Issue # 5 August 1994

• Editorial Policy
• The Invisibility Factor - the effects on communication (by telephone) of being invisible to one another
• Manual Appendix Issued - describes an appendix to a 103 page manual concerning telephone groups for persons with Aids; the appendix describes what could be done with an eight session telephone group. The Manual itself is described in Issue #4.
• The Conference Bridge - describes a process in which group participants call in to a central number on a particular day and at a particular time, and are linked to one another
• Recent Readings
• (Not) Shy But Retiring - announces the Hotline editor's plans to retire from his position as Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan, while continuing to publish the Hotline
• Leadership Tips - discusses leadership issues when facilitating a Tell-A-Group

Issue # 6 December 1996

• Editorial Policy
• Different Strokes - an introduction two the two guest articles the comprise the bulk of this newsletter
• VISION - describes a telephone group project conducted by a support group for support group leaders of groups for the visually impaired elderly
• The ABC's of Telephone Conference Support Networks - guest article #1, by Joal Fischer, MD
• with particular focus on "Meet Me" calls, facilitated by a conference bridge
• "Voice Mail" Support Groups: A New and Inexpensive Kind of Telephone Group by John Craig - guest article #2, describing a different kind of telephone group, using voice mail
• P. S. Low Low Low Cost Telephone Groups - how to reduce the costs of a telephone group to a near-zero figure! A new approach!

Tell-A-Groups Manual

Tell-A-Group History

For questions or comments write to bertcher@umich.edu