|
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.
|