Support group.

[RAWWR]

Hey everyone.
So most of you know me anyway, probably know that i've been struggling with self harm for 4 and a half years, You may know that i'm almost 1 month self harm free now. Anyway, to the point, me and a friend are currently in the middle of trying to organise a self harm support group in our area. It will be run in the local mind centre and be open to all ages.
What I was wondering is what sort of things people would like to get out of a self harm support group, so I thought 'who better to ask than the lovley, unfortunatley experienced people on VT.'
So, I am asking you-what would you like to get from a support group? What sort of things would you like to do at the group? Just anything you think would be important would be amazing.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions :)
Charlie.Xx

[Fiction]

I think i'd like to be able to meet other people my age in my area who understand what i'm going through. I've found that speaking to people on here who understand it has helped so much, but i'm always upset that they live so far away. So yeah just introducing people to each other.

You could also teach on alternatives etc to self harm.

[Syvelocin]

Just what a support group is for in the first place. My ED support group, we meet and talk and praise each other's accomplishments while advising the people who are having difficulties. Learning from each other's experiences and striving to get better. That's basically what all support groups do, sometimes the subject varies it just a slight bit.

[Love.Hate]

I think meeting people my own age that really do understand. Because you guys are all too far away, and my friends pretend to understand but they don't really.

I think you need to bring a non-self harm calendar into it so everyone can praise each others achievements. Also having a list of distractions people could add on too? So everyone can learn new ways of coping. Maybe.. I don't know whether this would work.. But a question box? Like make it anonymous and answer the question infront of everyone? Good luck I think that is a lovely idea :)

[FullyAlive]

Again just the meeting people the same age who understand, just to talk about not only the main self harm issue. But also the other little things that you go through when you self harm, such as the covering up, telling parents, friends/school finding out, holidays etc.

Also as well as providing emotional support I think telling people how to properly care for the injuries is good, I didn't actually think about this till almost a year after I started when a teacher asked. I've been lucky and nothing has ever happened to one of my cuts but if people were told about cleaning etc. then that might help.

And I like the other suggestions of a non self harm calendar as that is quite motivational, and the list of distractions too.

Good luck with it, I hope it goes well :)

[RAWWR]

Thanks for all the replies people :) I'm noting this all down. We have a meeting with the manager of our local mind centre on thursday to discuss times and advertisment and stuff. I'm so excited! But also very nervous!
Does anyone think the non-self harm calendar may be a bit awkward though? Because people may feel bad about having self harmed?
I dunno. Will keep thinking about it :)

[Kaya]

People who know what you're goin through and won't judge. A way to get over self-esteem issues. And just new friends in general.