WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR FIRST SHA MEETING
I wanted SHA to be different from other Anonymous groups, and there are a few key ways that I went about accomplishing that.
COLORING
Early in my recovery, I colored every single day (I still color now, don't worry). It was introduced to me in a group when I was in inpatient care. I hadn't really colored since I was a kid, and I didn't think I'd like it. It turns out it helped me relax my mind and hyperfocus on the little details of the coloring page instead of how badly I wanted to go do my drug of choice and then self harm. Many of us are neurodivergent in these spaces, and silence can feel awkward, so I introduced and encouraged coloring to the meeting since it worked so well for me.
FIDGETS
I then added fidgets because who doesn't need a good fidget? We keep our bins of fidgets well stocked for everyone to utilize during the meetings, and are always open to suggestions of more specific fidgets to bring in.
AS-NEEDED SUPPORT
The subject of this meeting is a difficult one, especially since most of us have never talked about our experiences in front of other people. There may be times where someone gets triggered, bad thoughts take over the brain, and you need support. But, we didn't want people to be alone when they needed support due to having to step out of the meeting. Being neurodivergent can often cause people to go non-verbal, so a color coded system was created. It allows people to put a color face up on their seat when leaving the meeting. There are three levels: green doesn't need support, yellow needs support after the current share is over, and red is in crisis mode and needs support now. Facilitators are able to see the color on the seat and provide the appropriate support, all without the need to verbally communicate.