Discussion 01: Introduction to Group Support
Before we dive into the Group Leadership & Development aspects, it is important to know what 7Cups Group Support.
As per Merriam Webster Dictionary, Group is a number of individuals assembled together or having some unifying relationship. While group dynamics are the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of a group. It is focused on how groups form, their structure and process, and how they operate. More specifically, why and how groups develop.
This is what you will notice in the 7 Cups Group Support. 7Cups started with providing support 1-1s. But as we grew up, we realized that 1-1s are not enough. There is a need for group interaction as well. To meet the community's needs and demands, we added group support. We created and used chat rooms to structure a safe environment to facilitate group support. We have dedicated chat rooms for both listeners and members to provide support as per their needs.
Currently, we have more than 150+ chat rooms to serve different purposes and needs of both members and listeners community for both adults and teens. Amazing! Right?
We are a vast community and we recognize our diversified members and their needs and demands. And, these chat rooms became safe spaces to connect, interact, engage, learn, share, and grow collectively. These rooms are not only used for support reasons but also to brainstorm and problem solves, celebrate small and big achievements, and gain a sense of belonging to this community.
Moving forward, we identified the needs of moderating these rooms, so we introduced the chat room moderator role, figured out we need facilitators to lead different sessions in the chat rooms, so added Support Session Leader and On-spot Host as the recent addition to it. We figured out the safety issues in the chat rooms, and we badge locked the rooms. So as we learned more about the needs and demands, we kept iterating and evolving group support for better experiences and support for everyone. We are on a journey to build the best group support. And, we will continue to progress …
Discussion: Share 3 highs and 3 lows you experienced in the group support chatroom!
Activity: Respond to at least two of your fellow trainees' comments with thoughts on their share.
After fulfilling the requirements of this post, please check out the next discussion here! Ensure to implement the learning from these discussions in the chat rooms to build and support the group. You must take part in the brainstorming/activities given in all of these discussions to successfully complete the program.
@ASilentObserver
3 Highs:
- I started as a member and everyone welcomed me as a newbie.
- When you participate alot, you become like a lil family, get to know eachother.
- Support,encouragement and safety was seen in most rooms i joined.
3 Lows :
- The chat goes really fast, sometimes especially when you are new you can feel a lil bit left out
- Members fighting or listeners and it goes on even when warned about community guidelines.
- Questions are sometimes ignored or not seen
@jasmineishereforu I totally agree with you. The highs you mentioned are the best part of cups. Talking about the lows, i understand the chat might go too fast or you feel left out, i guess we have all been through that here
@yourbuddy30 We almost have different experiences 😊❤️
Highs for listeners rooms
1 how supportive and friendly the people all.
2 different events that can happen like. Lci , lsc , listener events or listener powered discussions and icebreakers
3 behind the sciences higher up leadership team
4 crms ps cs lrs
lows for listener rooms
1 quiet rooms
2 drama or not following the rules
3 hosting when no one’s there
members rooms
high
1 sc
2 discussions like 50+ mindfulness ect
3 com mods volunteer mods room supporters
4. The teen side member rooms😀
lows
1 drama multiple accouts
2 mod hate
@Goalsforlife
I love how many points you listed! All your highs and lows are so true. It's sad that we sometimes see quiet rooms, drama, and disruptive behavior. It's important to realize too, though, that it balances out with the highs and creates that beauty of the community chatrooms. So many discussions, meeting new faces, and of course the different sides of 7 Cups that foster a variety of environments that differ from other chatrooms and the other age group side of 7 Cups. Thoughtful post, I've seen you around in the Listener Chatrooms as well as the Academy Orientation and look forward to seeing you go forward on this journey within GLDD.
3 Highs
- Meeting a really supportive and compassionate community. I started my journey as a member on the teen side, and that was a lovely way to get involved.
- Learning there are others facing the same struggles as me, and that I wasn't alone.
- Engaging in discussions and educating myself on topics I am not knowledgeable on, to better understand them.
3 Lows
- People purposefully ignoring newcomers as they have their own little cliques. I experienced this for a while, but learned that it isn't my fault and it's okay. It takes some time for people to warm up to others.
- Receiving a warning on my member account, when I was really, really upset. I'm glad I did, honestly, as it let me reflect on the type of behavior that crosses the line from getting support in the support rooms from needing to connect on 1-on-1 as it was getting a bit too triggering for others.
- When the listener rooms were unattended at one point where I really needed assistance, and ended up drowning in a chat I couldn't handle, get chat support, peer supporter, or refer out to.
@HopefulBambi bambi I am glad you felt that you weren't alone in what you were going through and I understand..fast paced chats can be really difficult to get support...I can relate with that.
@ASilentObserver
3 Highs
1) Was welcomed by everyone even when they didn't know me
2) Going in the room has so many people who are supportive and loving
3) We realise that FINALLY, we are not alone and someone UNDERSTANDS US - Which is a huge deal.
3 Lows
1) I have at times been ignored when entering or speaking
2) Arguments between members happens and I have found it hard at times to find a moderator to cool down the problem.
3) Sometimes, I feel talking in chat rooms and by text doesn't help, sometimes, that affects willingness to participate which can cause a barrier for both members and listeners.
Highs:
It's good to support people, especially because in the forum it shows the community that we try to support everyone.
Lows:
Sometimes the velocity of messages is too much and it's hard to follow the conversations.
@ASilentObserver
3 highs:
1. People are being inclusive and welcoming.
2. In support rooms, people showed support and encouragement to each other.
3. There are always people around in chat rooms whenever we feel like talking.
3 lows:
1. In some rooms, when it's crowded, chats can be so fast that it's difficult to follow the convo.
2. LGBT/mogii room is almost always quiet with less than 5 people in it. Though some said it used to be more lively.
3. Some things can be triggering as I chatted with people in the rooms.
@ASilentObserver
Please allow me to add something I found.
I have observed sc room for quite a while.
In SC room there are rules and guidelines to follow to create a safe environment for everyone. Advice is surely not allowed, however, supportive comments are okay.
Without comments or responses to sharers, it might feel like they are sharing to the void. But some people might interpret 'no advice' as no comments at all which I do not think what 'no advice' mean. Sharers are struggling, they need support, unless they specifically say that they do not want comments at all.
@ASilentObserver
Three highs:
*A member arrived at the chat extremely distressed and disruptive, and after being provided with information, affirmation and validation from the group, had feathers back in place and actually was able to reach out and support other members.
*remembering someone who was struggling with taking exams, and then seeing them after two years and realizing they are now in medical school, witnessing that growth was definitely a high.
*the kindness of mods, experienced hosts and others in guiding the sharing circles along, just so touching sometimes, the radical kindness.
Three lows:
*intrusive interruptions to the point that a member gets "turned off" and stops sharing.
*getting "sucked in" to hosting because of being intrigued by the sharing and not following my own personal boundaries for time limits and doing other work.
*explaining rules over and over again; it's an entry point for members so this is necessary, but I found the need for continuous explanation reduced once the rules were posted, and member had to click on "I agree" prior to entering the sharing circle.
@VioletVeritas
I am so grateful you brought up the guidelines, I have also experienced better chats since this was implemented.
@VioletVeritas I know you posted this last year. Finding a balance between personal life and being on 7 cups can be challenging. For me I don't wanna leave I come on when I wake up in the morning. I started my program today March 13th 2023. I understand how frustrating trying to handle a group when someone is being distracting. In fact that I have in this morning I was in general support and someone was being rude so I put them on mute. I did not block them because they have a right to their own opinion.
@VioletVeritas
I love how in tune with group support you are. As a community I know us working together can solve the problems we face in the rooms.
Discussion: Share 3 highs and 3 lows you experienced in the group support chatroom!
- 3 highs I've experienced:
1. Feeling supported by my peers
2. Learning from other's experiences and perspectives in a group support session
3. While feeling inspired by others, there's been times when my contributions have inspired other participants
- 3 lows I've experienced:
1. Sometimes feeling heightened anxiety by the number of participants
2. Participant conflict deterring me from the discussion
3. Getting personal anxiety while typing because I'm in a rush to send the message and don't want to take too long typing
@SirenOfSerenity
Hello 🙂 It was awesome to read your answer.
I'm so glad you feel supported by your peers, are able to learn from others perspectives, and are inspired by others in chatrooms. These are some wonderful things 🙂💓
Thankyou for sharing your negatives too, it can be really difficult when there are many participants in chat and can become overwhelming, I understand that. And conflict in chats can affect everyone, such as yourself from being able to participate .
Tabby
@SirenOfSerenity you are very good answers. It is also very rewarding when you get replies from different people end it is received well. Also the coin is flipped at times as well. Meaning you will always find the person that wants to disrupt
@ASilentObserver
3 highs:
I don’t remember when I joined in the group supper chat room but I remember so many people were kind and welcoming me. Everyone said hi to me and asked how I was. I made some amazing friends in there and they always remembered my name and said hi to me so enthusiastically which made me feel so sweet.
As much as I love 1-1 support I feel like that isn’t enough. With the group chats I could talk to other teens and get their opinion on things or just talk to them. Sometimes it helped knowing that there is someone else your age also going through the same thing. With this group chat I could talk to so many people at once instead of just one.
I love that there are so many group chats available to us. Sometimes I want to talk to someone about something but not just one person. I love that there are different rooms for different purposes. Like Somedays I just want to talk light hearted and so I love how there is a room where you can do that. Some days there is something more heavy I want to talk about and I can go to a support room where you can really focus in on the chat and focus your attention to supporting people.
3 lows:
One of the very first thing I noticed though about these group chats were the rise of conflict. While it get resolved it comes back pretty quickly. There are arguments and disagreements which lead to fights. Since everything is open and more people are joining there is just more conflict and it can take a while sometimes to get a mod in.
Another thing I did notice was sometimes people don’t follow rules. Again there are mods on duty but there not always available during there whole shift and so with a more open space there are more people trying to push the system.
This was something that I feel like a good people go through is feeling ignored. Especially when the chat is really fast I feel like sometimes people including myself sometimes are overlooked and not really noticed. This is because there are a lot of people and so a lot of things are being said at once but I know what it feels like to be ignored and it’s not the best feeling.
- Feeling of community and belonging with others who share similar experiences or struggles.
- Receiving emotional support and encouragement from others in the group.
- Gaining new insights, perspectives, and coping strategies from the experiences and advice of others in the group.
- Feeling overwhelmed by fast-paced rooms and not realizing I could stop and take a break when needed.
- Encounters negativity, criticism, or toxic behavior from others in the group.
- No person was available to support or chat.
