 What has become of the self-help groups? That I held so close and loved so much 
The article first presents the definition of French self-help groups (GEM) and the standards of their functioning as specified by the ministerial circular of August 5, 2005 which founded them and gave them legal existence, and by complementary regulations. Then the author, who has also carried out theoretical research on the subject, presents the place from where he speaks. He was one of the founders of Convivial Citizen’s Spaces, initiated before the legislation and regulations were passed, and which served as a model. The author was inspired in this process by the movement of disabled people, in particular that of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. The article endeavors to show the paradox of implementing a self-help group in an authentic way for the users, acknowledged and regulated by the psychiatric system which, at the same time, aims at social control of users. But can we do without this social recognition?