Welcome to Sharing Circles

Where: Group Support room called Sharing Circle
When: 24/7 - every hour on the hour a new session begins
Who: all members are welcome to join the queue to share. Listeners are welcome to stay and support. Members and Listeners can host but must have attended 3 hosted Sharing Circles.
Purpose: Sharing Circle is a supportive room where members may join the queue and take up to 7 minutes to share and get support. Each sharer should be given the space and time to share what is on their mind without judgment, questions, or advice.

How it works: A host or community moderator will lead the session. When the queue is opened, you may type the asterisk [*] to join the queue. It is first come first served and will be opened in between shares until the queue is full. Please don’t try and join in the middle of someone’s share. The host will then keep track of the queue.

We have a few guidelines that are different to other rooms so please take a moment to read. Following these guidelines ensures that everyone gets a fair time to share with minimal interruptions and that we create a supportive presence in our circle.

For the sharer:

• Please break your share into short sentences.

• Please send ‘Trigger warning’ and the topic before the share. E.g: TW: eating disorder

• Let us know if you would like an uninterrupted share or encouraging words

• Please limit your share to under 7 minutes so everyone has the opportunity to share. (The host will give you a gentle 1 min remaining reminder)

• Type ‘Over’ or ‘Done’ as a separate message to show that you have concluded your share

For those supporting:

• Please do not ask questions or give advice and keep supportive phrases short.

• Please do not interrupt other shares’ to share your own story.

• Please respect when someone has asked for an uninterrupted share and hold comments until they type over or done.

You can read more about the guidelines HERE

Joining the Sharing Circle for the first time? Here are some top tips:

• When you enter, take a moment to read the room. If someone is sharing, listen and offer support (not advice or your personal opinion). When the share is over you can say hi and introduce yourself.

• Unsure of who is hosting? The blue banner at the top will tell you who is hosting. If there is no name in the banner, it is likely a member-powered session and the Community Moderators will be around to assist.

• What can I share? You can share about your day, about a problem, something that is on your mind and we will listen and offer support and encouragement. Please be mindful about anything that might be triggering to others in the room like an eating disorder and give relevant trigger warnings. Please also be careful not to be graphic and focus on your feelings rather than details of trauma/abuse. If you share that you are in crisis, we will have to direct you to our crisis page so that you can get the best support possible and we aren’t trained here to deal with crisis situations.

• We want to keep this room as a supportive space so please be kind and thoughtful of your words and respect everyone in the room. There is a personal mute button that allows you to stop seeing messages from a user that is causing you distress.

• If you want a less structured chat room space or want to talk immediately and the queue is long/full, you can try the Member Community room or Support room 24/7 or connect with a listener.

• Community moderators are on hand to help keep the room safe - you can fill out the emergency form which is listed in the chatroom rules in the room.

  - Please note that the queue is first come, first served and there shouldn't be any swapping places as it can cause confusion and arguments and unnecessary wasted time.

As the Sharing Circle runs 24/7, sometimes there is no one available to host so we run member-powered sessions. Everyone works together to run the session and ensure that everyone gets a fair turn to share and be supported.

If you would like to learn how to become a host, you can complete the training here.

If you would like to join our hosting team and become an assigned host, you can apply here. If you have any feedback, you can fill in the feedback form here.

Any questions or thoughts, feel free to comment below 😊