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Creative Community Care: Creative Arts Therapy for Asian International Students.

Group guidelines to keep you and others safe.

You must agree to these guidelines to attend Creative Community Care.

These Group Guidelines have been designed to ensure your safety and the safety of others who participate in the Creative Community Care workshop sessions. 

By joining the Creative Community Care, you are agreeing to abide by these Group Guidelines and understand that Shapes and Sounds will ensure that all participants adhere to these Group Guidelines.

These Group Guidelines may change at any point to better serve our community and will be shared with you if and when significant changes are made.

đź’ˇThis is a really big list! If you have any questions about any of the terms, you must ask your facilitator before the session.

~ 

  • This is not a crisis support group.
    • If you are experiencing a crisis or worried about your safety, Creative Community Care will not be able to adequately support you. Please call emergency services on 000 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
    • Do not ask any other attendees to call these services for you.
    • Do not ask for direct advice for any mental health concerns from other attendees.
    • Do not provide any direct advice to other attendees. Instead, email [email protected] with the nature of your concern within 24 hours of any incidents occurring.
  • Privacy is essential.
    • An overarching rule is that what gets shared during the sessions, stays in the sessions UNLESS you specifically gain permission from another member to share their ideas/story.
    • Protect your own privacy by using only your first name during the sessions. 
    • Don’t share personal information - please refrain from sharing your social media details/phone number/address etc. UNLESS, you have taken all adequate measures to assess your safety.
    • Don’t ask others to share their personal information with you, or if you do, allow the person to decide whether they choose to share these details with you.
    • Unless specifically agreed upon, please don't attempt to contact other participants outside of the sessions.
    • Attendees are encouraged not to contact people from the group privately, unless all adequate measures have been taken to ensure individual safety. If you do choose to contact others privately outside of the sessions, Shapes and Sounds will not get involved in any personal matters between attendees.
  • Understand that we are all at different stages of our mental health journeys.
    • Be empathic, patient and respectful in all your communication with other attendees.
    • If and when someone shares something that feels ignorant or rude, work to communicate your frustrations or concerns in a way that does not attack the other individual. We are all here to learn.
    • Use language like, “I feel like I might not be understanding what you’re saying, could you explain a little further?”
  • Please share appropriately.
    • Make sure what you are sharing is relevant to what the group is discussing or working on.
    • Please do not share details around self harm, suicide methods, methods to lose weight, any kind of abuse or medication (there is a zero tolerance policy for bigotry).
    • Provide soft content warnings when discussing sensitive content matter including but not excluded to: racism/homophobia etc), drug and alcohol, disordered eating, self harm/suicide).
    • Be respectful to others and contribute to a non-judgemental stance from all attendees. Everyone has different immediate needs & concerns! 
  • No derogatory language.
    • Please use respectful language such as being mindful of boundaries, and being gender-inclusive and culturally-appropriate. We encourage you to share your pronouns with the group, and you must address attendees by their preferred pronouns during the sessions. 
    • Do not use language that actively targets, discriminates or dehumanises an individual or a group of people.
    • Derogatory language does not cover the use of swear words that help you to illustrate how you are feeling.
  • Keep the conversation focused and relevant to the group activity.
    • No marketing posts, no advertising, no offering of services/products.

  • Know when to take a break.

    • Sometimes it can be helpful to step away from the session or session activity and seek additional support from a helpline. The Shapes and Sounds Facilitators may encourage you to do this if they believe you may need more support than we can provide. 
    • During the sessions, feel free to take a break from the discussion or group activity, or even leave early if you need to, but please be sure to let a facilitator know. 
  • No recruitment of new clients, patients or customers.
    • No marketing posts, no advertising, no offering of services/products.
    • No spin-off groups or services can emerge from the sessions.
  • No alcohol or drug use (including vaping) during the sessions.
    • We reserve the right to ask you to leave if you are affected by alcohol, drugs or other substances, or if you are disrupting the safety, learning and engagement of other attendees.
  • We are here to support you.
    • If you find any attendee's behaviour threatening, or you feel uncomfortable, please speak with one of the facilitators or facilitator support person as soon as possible as they are trained to help you.
    • If you feel unwell during the session, please speak with one of the facilitators or facilitator support person as soon as possible as they are trained to help you.

  • We are not a crisis service.

    • We are not a crisis service. If you require crisis support, you can reach out to one of the following services:
    • Qlife:  Open 3pm - Midnight  AEST| 1800 184 527 | qlife.org.au
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