We use ground rules to help all of us stick to the principles of peer support – particularly that we share responsibility for creating physical and emotional safety. We experimented with writing the rules in the meeting with the participants but it took a lot of time and didn’t feel necessary. Now we have three rules based on the principles of peer support and ask participants if they are happy with them. If anything not covered by the rules becomes an issue we intend to discuss amending the ground rules as a group. We’ll also discuss the rules as a group if anyone objects to them.
The ground rules
The purpose of these rules is to help us all feel able to talk. We have three.
(1)The first is to listen carefully. It can be hard to listen without jumping in to offer reassurance, so we use hand gestures for those moments when we really want to express empathy or solidarity. Gestures let us do that without interrupting.
(2)We have a rule not to offer advice because however well intentioned, it’s not always what people need or want. The flip side of this is that when you would like advice or suggestions from the group you do need to ask!
(3)Finally, we don’t share each others stories outside the group. We put notes about the general discussion on the website, but only with your agreement.
Is everyone happy with these ground rules?