Group Support: Caring For One Another

Did you know that there are over 100+ chat rooms in the 7Cups Group Support? Because they are a way to listen and support members dealing with a variety of concerns.

In Group Support, a group of people gathers to share, discuss or simply vent their challenges, experiences, problems, mental illness, and personal circumstances. Group Support Chat rooms are a significant way to group listening.

Why Should One Participate in Group Support Chat Rooms?

• Group Support is a safe space for anyone to talk about their experiences, challenges, struggles, thoughts, and feelings.
• When someone is going through a rough phase, it feels like he is the sole person experiencing isolation and stigma. Because he may not know many who are going through what he is experiencing. Group Support allows individuals to feel connected rather than isolated.
• Group Support empowers individuals to put efforts to work towards solving their challenges and problems.
• It allows individuals to share their progress and how they are solving their challenges and keeping each other motivated to keep going.
• It allows individuals who are experiencing similar challenges to feel understood and validated. Because there is a unique identification of the emotions and thoughts they are going through.
• Talking to other members in the group support reduces stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem. It improves confidence, boosts courage, better self-awareness, and self-reflection, and gives an improved sense of well-being overall.

Practice Caring For One Another

• Acknowledge and validate the member’s position or emotions. Share your thoughts to acknowledge and validate a member’s challenge and struggle. Use “I” or “We” to start your response which reflects how you can relate to them. For example, “I hear you how things are difficult for you but right now let’s try to figure out the steps that help you handle these hard things.”
• Gently and firmly encourage the member to take small steps. Share your reasons, letting the member know why focusing on small steps will help them to improve their situation even though things look bad at the moment. It will allow them to feel heard and help them feel more comfortable and boost their self-esteem to focus on their well-being and priorities.
• Ensure everyone has a chance to share and talk. In Group Support, some are naturally better at sharing and talking about their challenges than others. Asking open-end questions to make quiet members share and talk about their situation is important to make them feel comfortable and cared for. It is important to gently remind everyone to be on-topic and let others have a turn to share too.
• Emphasize the importance of chat room guidelines. To ensure everyone feels comfortable and safe enough to share in the chatroom, everyone needs to ensure to follow the chatroom guidelines so, in group support, every member’s interests remain protected and all feel heard and supported.
• Share responsibility for the groups. Group support has a committed leadership team that is invested in providing support and keeping the chat rooms safe. But, it is group support, and everyone’s help and support are appreciated. When everyone shares the responsibility to take care of each other in the group, it becomes a group effort and it brings joy, comfort, and inclusivity.
• Keep a realistic perspective. No group support chat room is ideally perfect. Group Support is for the members and members can be of different cultures, backgrounds, experience different sets of challenges or struggles. So, at times, everyone needs to have a balanced approach and communication. For example, the Support Room 24/7 or the Listener Support Room can be quiet at times. You might need to start with lighthearted conversations to ensure the room stays active to provide support.

In Conclusion

Group Support is a way to provide support and compassion to the people of the community by the community people. It is also a way to give back to the community. If you felt better by participating in the group support, you might help someone else in the chatroom feel the same too. Supporting someone is itself a joy and makes you feel better about yourself as well. Finally, participating in group support is just a good thing to do. Because it is an opportunity to learn and grow in a group setting.

Group support showed a significant impact on the lives of people going through a rough phase. It is a place for everyone to join, participate and support each other. You are invited to join and experience caring and support for one another.

Note:

• Here Group Support means both the Listener Chat rooms and Member Chat rooms!
• All texts in blue color are hyperlinked and clickable
• Badges required to unlock chat rooms
• 7Cups Welcome Pack! (Members & Listeners)