About
What are SurvivorCircles?
SurvivorCircles are clinically-facilitated chat-based discussion groups for survivors over the age of 18 looking to safely and anonymously connect with other survivors of Child Sexual Abuse to share practical and helpful information relevant to their shared experiences, or to learn from a clinician. Certain SurvivorCircles will be designated for specific populations, such as male survivors, survivors over the age of 50, or loved ones of adult survivors. Please see our calendar for upcoming dates, times, and topics.
Learn and Ask
These SurvivorCircle sessions will be clinician-led and focused on a specific topic. The clinician will present information about the topic and then lead a Questions and Answers session for participants. Sessions will be approximately 30-45 minutes and will be limited to 25 participants. The clinician will be on camera, but participants will only interact via chat messages.
Topical Discussion
These SurvivorCircle sessions will be clinician-led and focused on a specific topic (except for “open dialogue” sessions which will not have a specific theme), but participants will actively dialogue with each other and the clinician via chat. These sessions will be approximately 45-60 minutes and limited to 10 participants.
Survivor-Led
These SurvivorCircles will be topic-specific, led by a survivor, and supervised by a clinician. The survivor’s role will be to offer suggestions, ideas, and support to participants on the topic at hand. Some of these groups will be offered as voice-only chats in which participants can speak to each other anonymously and others will be offered as chat-only groups. These sessions will be approximately 45-60 minutes and limited to 8 participants.Â
Upcoming SurvivorCircles
Shame: The Master Emotion
Writing Your Way Through the Holidays
Previous SurvivorCircles
Getting through the Holiday Triggers: Setting Boundaries, Overcoming Stress & Getting out of Holiday Survival
Poems for Empowerment – Words Can Set Us Free – A Conversation with Kiesa Kay and Special Guest poet Meredith Heller
The Art of Trauma Journaling
Intent vs. Impact in the Healing Journey
The Wobble: PTSD Expression
The Wobble: PTSD Expression
SurvivorCircles Heal
SurvivorCircles were created to encourage learning, discussion, and a sense of community among survivors and others affected by CSA.Â
Highlights
- All SurvivorSpace sessions are free
- Designed for adults (18+) who are survivors of CSA
- Trauma-informed and led by a clinician or CSA survivor
- Sessions are offered at various times to accommodate participants’ schedules
- No specific medical treatment or therapeutic treatment are endorsed
- Confidential and anonymous; participants will register under a chosen, non-identifying username
- Participants are not required to ask questions or participate in discussions; it is okay to just listen and learn
Safety
Our chat platform allows users to register using a non-identifying username and will not store registration information following the chat to ensure the confidentiality of participants.
Purpose
- Learn from and ask questions of a clinician, victim assistance expert, CSA survivor, and/or other participants
- Engage in a clinician-led, topic-specific, trauma-informed discussions with a level of therapeutic support
- Learn and receive informal mentoring from CSA survivors
Benefits
- Increased feelings of connection
- Improved daily routines
- An increased understanding of what options exist for professional help
- Feeling an emotional release by sharing stories and experiences
- Feelings of validation
Guiding Principles
Be Respectful
Please do not post materials or topics which are insulting, offensive, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, lewd, or physically threatening. We ask that everyone who posts makes the effort to respect all other views and does not attempt to force any personal, political, or religious views onto others. We expect those who post to accept others’ comments in the way that they are meant, as in support and information sharing.
Treat Other Users as You Would Like to be Treated
Remember that each survivor is in their own unique place on their healing journey. The kind of response you may want or need from others might not be the same as the kind of response another survivor wants or needs.
Spamming and Advertising is Strictly Prohibited
Any and all advertising, chain letters, pyramid schemes, solicitations, spamming, or trolling is inappropriate and unacceptable.
Do Not Post Links to Blogs
While we make every effort to ensure the safety of all forum members we cannot extend that to other parts of the web, and cannot allow the promotion of anything that could identify you or others.
Respect Other Users’ Right to Privacy
Do not post messages that may reveal the identity or contact information of another user.
Do Not Provoke Other Users
Do not post messages that are inflammatory or solely serve to incite or isolate other members.
Do Not Invalidate Other Users’ Experiences
Many users are survivors and their experiences are real and valid, even if they are different from yours.
Respect the Experiences of Users from Different Cultural Backgrounds
The experience of abuse, the response to it, and the healing journey for each survivor are shaped by their cultural identity and community norms. Recognize that every users’ experiences are unique and valid, even if you do not understand their perspectives.
SurvivorCircle FAQs
Confidentiality and privacy are essential components of the SurvivorCircles. All session participants are to remain anonymous. This includes creating an anonymous username with no identifying information, as well as not sharing personally-identifying information – such as full name or name of employer – in the group. By joining for a session, participants agree to keep any and all information about other attendees completely confidential. Facilitators and moderators will never share any information about specific participants. Any personal information collected by SurvivorSpace will be purged following the session. Facilitators and moderators will use session discussions to help inform SurvivorSpace administrators on topics that might be of interest to SurvivorSpace website and mobile app users, but will not connect any specific information to a specific participant.
Participants are encouraged to speak/chat and share, but no one is required to do so.
SurvivorCircles are NOT traditional online support groups. These are chat-based, clinician- or survivor-led learning and discussion groups to connect survivors with other survivors. We do NOT provide personal counseling or crisis intervention services. Participants are encouraged to visit the SurvivorSpace resources page to connect with national organizations and helping professionals. While SurvivorCircles are run by a trauma-informed clinician or CSA survivor, advice and support from these discussion groups is not a replacement for professional mental health care. If you or someone you know is having immediate thoughts of self-harm, suicide, or harm to others, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK), text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 74174, or call 988.
You can use any device that is connected to a good internet signal – a smartphone, tablet computer, or desktop computer. If you use a computer you will need an up-to-date browser (e.g. Internet Explorer 6 or above, Firefox, or Chrome), speakers and a microphone. Optionally, when you use a computer, you can use a phone to handle the audio part of the meeting.
Highlights
- All SurvivorSpace sessions are free
- Designed for adults (18+) who are survivors of CSA
- Trauma-informed and led by a clinician or CSA survivor
- Sessions are offered twice per week at various times to accommodate participants’ schedules
- No specific medical treatment or therapeutic treatment are endorsed
- Confidential and anonymous; participants will register under a chosen, non-identifying username
- Participants are not required to ask questions or participate in discussions; it is okay to just listen and learn
Benefits
- SurvivorCircles are safe spaces to learn, dialogue, and ask questions. They are easily accessible from a computer or smart phone, anonymous, and safe. Sessions will include closed-captioning, audio, and chat modalities to allow participants to engage with one another in multiple ways. Every SurvivorCircle is moderated to ensure safety and anonymity for participants. Frank, open dialogue in a clinically-supervised space may help survivors build resilience, cope with challenges in healing, and develop self-care techniques.. Other benefits may include:
- Increased feelings of connection
- Improved daily routines
- An increased understanding of what options exist for professional help
- Feeling an emotional release by sharing stories and experiences
- Feelings of validation
Purpose
- Learn from and ask questions of a clinician, victim assistance expert, CSA survivor, and/or other participants;
- Engage in a clinician-led, topic-specific, trauma-informed discussions with a level of therapeutic support
- Learn and receive informal mentoring from CSA survivors
Safety
- Our chat platform allows users to register using a non-identifying username and will not store registration information following the chat to ensure the confidentiality of participants.
What are SurvivorCircles?
SurvivorCircles are clinically-facilitated chat-based discussion groups for survivors over the age of 18 looking to safely and anonymously connect with other survivors of Child Sexual Abuse to share practical and helpful information relevant to their shared experiences or to learn from a clinician. Certain SurvivorCircles will be designated for specific populations, such as male survivors, survivors over the age of 50 years, or loved ones of adult survivors.
