Weekly Chats Calendar

Upcoming chats:

Mental Health at with weepingwillow
Utilizing support systems
I have a small, but solid, support system around me, but never use it. Lets talk about how best to use that resource and feel comfortable doing it.

Past logs:

Repair The Damage Chat
Weekly hosted chat for abuse survivors focusing on emotional health, social skills, and activities of daily living. For example, how to stop procrastinating, how to make friends, how to manage time/money, how to set boundaries, or various other life hacks. Abuse often causes impairments in these areas, so the goal of this chat is to come together and talk of how we tackle these things, how we're repairing or lives now that abuse is over and our quality of life is in our hands. Takes place in Got Keys room.

Mental Health Chat
Weekly hosted chat for abuse survivors focusing on coping with and recovery from mental health problems caused by abuse. For example, how to cope with anxiety or nightmares, how to recover from depression, how to avoid acting on self-injury urges, how to cope with dissociative symptoms, how to manage a mood disorder, etc. The goal of this chat is to come together and talk of how we manage these things, to learn and grow together. Takes place in Got Keys room.

DID Youth Chat
Weekly hosted chat for littles/middles (DID alters under 13) to come together and share their joys and hardships with each other in a safe and supportive environment. Topics have included navigating the grownup world, being heard within the system, and trusting ourselves and others. Takes place in DID Youth room.

Our chatrooms are open 24/7, for unstructured conversations about abuse or its aftermath. Aside from that, we also host three weekly chats: one hour long group discussions focused on a specific topic and facilitated by a moderator. To participate, get keys, and hop into the applicable room at the time listed above.

How do I join a hosted chat? If you have keys - just hop into the room. If you do it a few minutes earlier you'll get to catch up on how everyone is doing before the topic discussion starts. To get keys you need to actively participate on forums for the past 30 days and send a keys request (takes a few days to process).

What happens there? A one hour long group discussion focused is on a pre-set topic relevant to abuse and/or its aftermath. There are no speakers, moderator only facilitates the chat: keeping the conversation on topic, asking questions, etc. Chats are focused on topics that are interesting to everyone in the room, and that everyone is welcome to comment on. We do not alternate "supporting" anyone specific, even if they are having a bad day. Rooms are open 24/7, if you need support - you are welcome to stay in the room after the chat is over and continue the discussion or talk of something more pressing.

How is it different from the rest of the chat? Outside of hosted chats people come and go, topics fluctuate, and nobody knows what's being discussed in a room unless they are there, so many members miss out on an interesting topic that took place while they were in another room or browsing forums. Hosted chats provide the opportunity to focus on a specific topic, without distractions, and to know from beforehand what the topic will be. Finally, keys are only given to people who have been on Fort for a while and understand and follow our guidelines, so hosted chats offer a generally calmer environment.

What is the netiquette? Format is casual, feel free to participate as much or as little as you wish, as long as you're not being disruptive (e.g. with off-topic remarks or repeatedly going in and out of the room). Interrupting the chat with your status updates is considered bad manners: if you came in late, need to leave early, or are going on brb - just do it quietly.

Can I suggest a topic? Absolutely. Many topics come from your suggestions. Just say it before/after the chat, send a pm to the host, or post your idea in corresponding forum folder.

Courage is knowing what not to fear.
~ Plato

Hosted Chats

Upcoming chats:

Past logs: