About Find the Light Online Support Group

In 2003 I had a vision of making a place on the net for people that suffered from mental illness can come together to talk and receive support. I knew that giving and receiving support was integral to anyone wishing to recover from debilitating mental illness. I personally was in my own recovery from depression and anxiety so I had a vested personal interest. I brought together my tech skills with my strong desire to give and receive help-this is how Find the Light (FTL) was "born". I learned some programming for the search engines (search engine optimization) and Front Page and was off and running. Today FTL has grown into a solid entity on the net that many have come to for support. The support group is heavily moderated and monitored in order to ensure the safety, comfort, and privacy of each member.

I also am an educator/trainer at heart so I also wanted to provide some basic information on the illnesses I was suffering from. I have a very strong belief that in order for anyone to recovery we must first understand what is going on with our minds and bodies. The other part of Find the Light is the information that is provided. If you are interested in seeing information on something specific that I don't have listed please email me by clicking here.

The private support group can be found by clicking on the "Online Support Forum" link on the vertical menu bar to the left of any page on the site. There currently is a $4.99 charge per month, based only on months used. When signing up you will experience our screening process which consists of an automatic email to you with questions for you to answer. Please reply to those and I will then let you know of the status. We are for adults only so no minors may participate. For those of you that are teens I do hope you can call on your school counselor, parents, a pastor-someone that you can talk to about what may be bothering you. We are a group that encourages positive, healthy exchanges of support. We do not provide therapy and we do not indulge in confrontational exchanges. We get enough of that in our "face to face" world. Screening is the first step to ensuring the safety and integrity of the group.

Author, Site-Wide Administrator

Tristine Barry, MS, has a Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. She has a passion for education in addition to addiction science. When she isn't at her full time position as a Lead Addictions Counselor, she is researching and educating herself in order to be a better counselor and Site Administrator.

With vast experiential knowledge in addition to acquired knowledge in her Master's program, her aim of this site is to offer information and provide a forum for peer support for those suffering from afflictions such as mood disorders, anxiety, and substance abuse. However, she realizes there are many other ways we can suffer and welcomes anyone to the site that may benefit.

The information provided on Find the Light is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.