Support Groups

2025 – 2026 “LEGACY” SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

For individuals managing major mental health challenges and those that are chronic in nature, as well as for family members and friends offering support, it is important not to navigate these challenges alone.

Support groups provide a valuable environment where people encountering similar issues can engage in meaningful dialogue, gain mutual understanding, and access educational resources.

Healing-recovery is about whole-person health and wellness. It emphasizes a holistic recovery process that considers the interconnectedness ofan individual’s mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. It supports individuals in leading their lives, even with ongoing symptoms. The term “recovery” can sometimes be misconstrued to imply a complete return to a “pre-illness” state, which isn’t always attainable with chronic conditions.

Tim and Nancy Reside, operating under the auspices of Bright Tomorrows, have long led these groups and support programs, drawing on their own experience with mental health challenges in marriage; Tim has bipolar disorder.

As a couple they have learned to not only survive but thrive through adversity, developing resilience, empathy, and self-discipline. They now use their experience to guide others toward healing-recovery. Click here for biographical and credential information.

2025 – 2026 “LEGACY” SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

Tim and Nancy will continue to facilitate support group meetings as part of the “BREADCRUMBS LEGACY PROJECT” in recognition of their twenty-fifth season, which will take place from September 2025 through May 2026.

The board of Bright Tomorrows has chosen to document the contributions of Tim & Nancy through a series of installment videos. Eighteen videotaped episodes focusing on life lessons will be made available online as a resource for individuals interested in encouragement, information or coping-skill guidance related to mental health recovery and healing, now and in the future.

THE BREADCRUMBS LEGACY PROJECT

Over nine months at Asbury Church, Tim will present eighteen life lessons from his and Nancy’s experiences managing bipolar disorder. He will share his story with psycho-educational resources on mental health, emotional well-being, and spiritual processes to promote understanding and equip individuals and their support networks with effective coping strategies.

WHY BREADCRUMBS?

In “Hansel and Gretel,” the children leave breadcrumbs to find their way home after being abandoned, but birds eat them, leaving the siblings lost. Their plan shows their ingenuity but also their vulnerability amid the forest’s dangers.

Metaphorically, the breadcrumb story highlights the significance of establishing markers to facilitate a return path to mental and emotional well-being and stability when experiencing a breakdown in coping mechanisms or a full relapse.

This Hansel and Gretel story reminds Tim and Nancy that, after years of facing challenges and learning from them, it is their responsibility to leave useful “breadcrumb” guidance for others to help them find their way.

BREADCRUMBS LEGACY VIDEOS

Two monthly “Legacy Support Group” meetings will be held at Asbury Church in Tulsa for adults with mental health challenges, their supporters, and anyone else who would be interested.

The presentation will be recorded but NOT the audience. The presentations will be published on the Bright Tomorrows’ website and other media platforms. Each session includes a seminar and a Q&A period. Curriculum will be provided.

MONTHLY SCHEDULE

The videotaped meetings will take place on the 1st and 3rd Thursday evenings, September through May, from 7–8:30 p.m., except January, which meets on the 2nd and 3rd Thursdays due to the New Years Day holiday.

PARTICIPANT HEALTH REQUIREMENTS: Those with mental health challenges DO NOT need a doctor’s release to attend, however, they must: (1) have a mental health care provider (psychiatrists, therapists, medical doctors, etc.) that they are working with; (2) be current with their providers’ treatment prescriptions; and (3) be sufficiently stable for such an event.

TOPIC THREADS ADDRESSED: It Is Not Your Fault – It Is Your Responsibility / Identity / Stigma / Medication / Holistic Recovery / Healthy Thinking / Rest, Relaxation and Joy / Coping / Cycles & Triggers / Christian Mindfulness / Community Support / Staying Resilient / Building Your Faith / Stigma / Communication / Medication / Grieving & Grace / Support Giver, You’re Not the Hero (self-care) / Crisis & Problem Solving / Negative & Destructive Behaviors / Boundaries / Enabling Vs. Empowering / Staying Ahead of the Game (prevention planning)

PRIMARY CURRICULUM RESOURCE:

“Grace Alliance” materials are available FREE in digital format and can also be purchased in hard copy. The GA resources utilized in Bright Tomorrows support group programs are Living Grace and Family Grace materials (https://mentalhealthgracealliance.org/free-resources).

COST: We are supported by the freewill tax-deductible donations of those who benefit and/or appreciate the work and ministry services offered under the auspices of Bright Tomorrows. This includes welcoming churches and para-church organizations to consider including Bright Tomorrows in their benevolence budget.

In addition to donations given in person or by way of postal service, donations can be made online. Simply click on the blue and yellow DONATE button on this website for instructions. In order to ensure that cost is not a prohibitive factor, we do not charge for our services.

DISCLAIMER: Although the results of attending Bright Tomorrows educational support programs are often found to be therapeutic, these are not therapy sessions. The objective of the Bright Tomorrows support program is not to resolve the deeper mental health-related issues that require one-on-one professional therapeutic assistance.

The focus of Bright Tomorrows’ programs is two-fold: (1) to provide a safe environment that is informally structured, faith-affirming, hope-inspiring, and educational; and (2) to promote supportive communication among brothers and sisters in Christ who share common experiences, challenges, and concerns.

Bright Tomorrows does not recommend or endorse the use of any specific treatment or medication. Individual group participants must assume responsibility for consulting with their physicians and mental health care providers (psychiatrists, therapists, medical doctors, etc.) regarding medications and treatment protocols.

While all information offered by Tim and/or Nancy Reside, including discussed and suggested coping strategies and skills, are offered in good faith, each recipient is advised that they need to assume personal responsibility for verifying the validity and applicability of such information and/or suggestions. Again, individual group participants should consult with their medical and mental health care providers.

RESEARCH-BASED EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE VALUE OF SUPPORT

The group, Peers for Progress: Peer Support Around the World, observes that research-based evidence supports the assertion that peer support is a critical and effective strategy for ongoing health care and sustained behavior change for people with chronic health challenges. ¹

The Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) has more than 450 support groups for people with depression or bipolar disorder. They have discovered that…

• DBSA support group members for over a year had lower hospitalization rates in the past 12 months. ²

Bright Tomorrows has been facilitating a support group for adults with bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder since 2001. During these years we have observed the same trend identified by DBSA.

Grace Alliance (Mental Health Grace Alliance), whose materials Bright Tomorrows utilize, in their preliminary research through Baylor University Psychology Department, demonstrates that faith-based, psycho-educational, tool-providing, and community-style support groups like those sponsored by Bright Tomorrows inspire hope, reduce symptoms, enhance recovery, and restores personal faith. ³

Sources: (1) Google: Peer Services and Supports – NAMI; Google: Science Behind Peer Support | Peers For Progress; Research Analysis: Google: Sustained Outcomes of a Peer-Taught Family Education Program on Mental Illness and Google: Peer Support for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders and Community Tenure: A Survival Analysis; and (2) Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (https://www.dbsalliance.org/); and (3) Mental Health Grace Alliance (https://mentalhealthgracealliance.org/)

The Bright Tomorrows Support Group Mission Statement:
We are dedicated to promoting mental health and assisting those who are struggling with mental illness and/or mental health-related concerns toward healing-recovery as a lifestyle.

Our mission is to offer ongoing support that reflects the compassion of Jesus Christ to individuals struggling with the bipolar or unipolar disorder by…

• INVESTING help
• INSPIRING hope
• INFORMING understanding
• INSTRUCTING in ways that EQUIP and EMPOWER