Stage 1 – Online and face to face workshops with young people “I’ve honestly literally never spoken about my experience with anyone since I left sixth form, this is the first (and possibly last) time – but I’m happy that I’m using it to hopefully help others” I was recently approached by the Miscarriage Association to…
Category: Online support & communities
How do you run a good training session in an online chat room? 17 tips and ideas.
Last night I ran an online training session for YouthNet’s chat moderator volunteers (I’ve written a post about what is is like to moderate real time support chat for young people here). We all joined a chat room in YouthNet’s online volunteer community for an evening session. The focus of this chat was talking therapies…
Guardian Voluntary Sector Network Xmas Volunteering
Representing online volunteering in the Guardian Just before Christmas I wrote a piece for the Guardian on why I volunteer at Christmas. It was a personal explanation of my motivation to volunteer, why I’ve continued to do so since leaving YouthNet and why it’s particularly important at Christmas. It was one of a series on Christmas…
Moderating real time support chat with TheSite community
What does moderating real time support chat online for 10 – 25 young community members involve? Support chat Every other Sunday I moderate support chat on TheSite.org. TheSite runs a number of types of chat – I’ve also been an expert for their recent Mindfulness chat. I used to do moderation as part of my role…
Online peer support training with Action on Postpartum Psychosis
Running a training day for volunteers working on a new online peer support service for APP I was really pleased to be asked to help out with APP’s new online peer support programme. APP has been funded to provide peer support to women with postpartum psychosis and their partners. They have been running an online…
What exactly IS Mindfulness? Chatting with young people on TheSite.org
Earlier this month I found myself back at YouthNet Towers, this time as an expert for one of their expert chats. The Engagement and Support team at YouthNet oversee the running of a number of types of online chat. These include support chat (I also moderate support chats as a volunteer), general chat, film and…
Mental health information articles for 16-25 year olds
Information on recent mental health support writing for young people I recently completed two articles for TheSite’s new Anxiety and Depression section. Trouble getting help for mental health and Online Counselling. Writing for young people The aim of The Site.org content is to provide clear, straight talking and supportive information for young people. Articles respond to…
Online consultation with Mind’s Elefriends community
I first came across the Elefriends community after attending their online peer support training. I was interested in online peer support for adults and wanted to find out more about the impact of providing community members with peer support training. How does this affect their experience? I wrote about this training here. Online community consultation…
Happify yourself?
Want to be happier every day? Well who doesn’t? Personally I am interested in exploring ways of helping me manage my wellbeing as I try to cut down on the anti depressants I have been on for the last 12 years (a process that seems to have stalled around the 20mg mark). I’ve also recently…
Compliments and wellbeing – #passonacompliment!
Yesterday and today, a twitter friend @TheAgentApsley and I were engaging in small scale hashtag creation #passonacompliment. It started with a TheSite.org member sharing an ‘emergency compliment’ website. While I love it, and it brought a smile to my face, it’s a little impersonal. Unless of course my hair does smell like a lawn –…
Wilderness, jungle or ecosystem? Does the language often used to talk about ‘online’ encourage unhelpful assumptions and distinctions?
The power of language Language is a powerful tool. I’ve written before about the value of metaphor in mental health support and how it can reframe and change perception as well as helping people understand subjective experience. Language is also a tricky thing – the way we frame things in words can influence how we…
Who’s in agony? – problem pages today and through history
Teen magazine problem pages I recently had reason to remember a scene from my childhood – my friend Jess and I in a tent in a field, surrounded by old copies of teen magazines, reading the problem pages with a strange mix of awe and derision. There was the frisson of excitement caused by the…
The Elephant in the online community – mental health peer support for adults
Online peer support for mental health at Mind Yesterday I attended a session run by Mind on online peer support – helping users of the ‘Elephant (in the room)’ community on Facebook develop their skills in supporting each other. I was interested in attending as I had been chatting to Eve, one of the trainers…
Essential skills for giving online peer support – a course in development.
The essential skills advisors and peer supporters need for giving advice, information or support online These are some of the basic skills that supporters and advisors find useful when working online. The support offered might be one to one (email style), peer or expert support, moderating forums or moderating real time chat. Depending on the…