Celebrate Our Strength Group

Welcome to the Celebrate Our Strength Group!

The Celebrate Our Strength support group is for women with BDD symptoms who have suffered from past abuse, bullying, and/or assault. The group is facilitated by Eva, Lisa and Nadine, all women with lived experience of BDD and past trauma.

The Skype group meetings take place on the first Thursday each month at 9pm EST, 7pm MST, 6pm PST. Please connect with Eva, Lisa, or Nadine on Skype to be added to the Celebrate Our Strength group. Group members will receive a Skype call at the start of each meeting.

The COS support group is open to women with BDD symptoms aged 18+ who have suffered past abuse and/or trauma.

The COS group is designed to provide confidential and non-judgmental peer support, where women who are struggling with body dysmorphic disorder and trauma caused by past abuse can talk openly, connect and feel heard.

Monthly meetings will include a wide variety of activities, including but not limited to supportive discussions, book readings related to BDD, sharing resources, monthly goal setting, and sharing advice and information about coping and recovery.

The COS group does not provide therapy during meetings.  If you are currently experiencing a mental health crisis, the group may not be suitable for you.  Conversations about past trauma may be triggering. Only share what you are comfortable sharing and take care of yourself. Crisis resources are listed here and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.  Text START to 88788 to chat by text to the abuse line.

GROUP GUIDELINES

We ask that all participants follow these guidelines. We are here to create a safe space for women to talk about their struggles and provide support to each other.

Act with integrity and be supportive:

• Please respect each other’s confidentiality.
• Do not record any part of the session.
• Do not talk about what happened in other meetings.
• If you have children or others who are not participating nearby, limit their exposure to the meeting and wear headphones.
• Avoid driving, use of public transport, coffee shops or other public spaces during the meeting to maintain a confidential space for everyone.

Let everyone have a voice:

• Please respect one another by giving everybody the chance to contribute without interruption and by not dominating or disrupting the conversation.
• Please turn on your video camera (if possible) and microphone during the meetings.
• When talking, please speak from your own experience.

Be kind to yourself and each other:

• This is not a therapy group and no one should feel under pressure to say anything. You can join and just listen if that is what helps you.
• We hope that in hearing other’s experiences you will feel encouraged to share your own.
• Whether you would like to speak or not, please treat each other in a supportive and considerate way.
• We welcome people from all backgrounds and points of view.
• We have no religious, political or commercial affiliations and ask that participants refrain from promoting any that they might have.

Be present:

• Please note that the chat may be used to communicate with and respond to other members during the group sessions.
• Make sure you are in a safe, quiet and confidential area.
• Download the Skype app and get familiar with the app’s features before joining the meeting, if possible.
• Join the meeting using your first name. Last names are optional.

Use of language:

• We understand that with BDD and abuse, feelings of suicidality are common, however, please refrain from detailed discussions about past suicide attempts as this will be distressing for other participants.
• We ask that you do not reassure participants about their physical appearance as evidence shows this is not helpful for people with BDD.
• Often individuals with BDD will consider or actively seek cosmetic treatments. Please be mindful about how you discuss this in the group.  Please do not encourage other members to get plastic surgery or other cosmetic procedures.