Support forum

Welcome to the APDSA support forum. We hope that you find this a helpful, and supportive, space. The support forum is a safe space for women and couples to connect with people who have had similar experiences. There are a number of rules for using the forum, which help to keep this a safe welcoming space for everyone.

Rules:

1. It is expected that by joining the forum you are making a promise to make an effort to speak in respectful terms within the forum. This is a distressing time experience, and people are using the forum because they would like support.
2. No names or contact details are to be shared publicly in the support forum. As this is a site run by psychologists, we have a professional obligation to protect your details. This helps to maintain the safe space of the forum.
3. We ask that you refrain from making statements which could be viewed as slanderous towards other health professionals. Different individuals can experience their health care differently, and as such your experience may not be the same as somebody else’s. Any posts of this nature will be removed.
4. This forum is a group setting where you can gain support from people who have undergone a similar experience. If you find that the support here isn’t meeting all of your needs, it is expected that you will seek out additional help (e.g. your GP or a Psychologist).
5. The forum is not continuously moderated by administration. We will endeavour to check the forum daily, but this may not always be possible. We will remove any inappropriate posts/content as soon as possible.
6. If you find something inappropriate within the forum, or particularly distressing, then please email us and let us know. The email is apdsa@outlook.com . If you are experiencing immediate distress, please contact one of the available services listed here, or your regular GP:
   • Lifeline: 13 11 14
   • Bears of Hope: 1300 11 HOPE
   • Sands: 1300 072 637
7. The forums are listed as ‘private’, but this just means that only registered forum users who are logged in can access those forums. Please feel free to post in any of the forums.
8. When you first log in to the forum, we ask that you post a brief message about your experience. Only speak about what you are comfortable sharing. Please do not introduce yourself by name or using any identifying information, just your username. The reason we ask you to do this is so that other users in the forum can see who they are speaking to, and feel that people are listening to them. There is no pressure to post frequently or regularly after that.

Users of the support forum who don’t respect these rules will be removed from the forum.

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