SOOTHE Group
Supporting Ourselves and Others Through Healing and Empowerment
WEEK 1:
Introductions and defining compassion
(Group Session)
Estimated time to complete Week 1: 25 mins
Welcome to Week 1 of the SOOTHE Group. This week, you will come together with your group online for the first live group session. Before the first session, please take a moment to watch the short video below to understand how to navigate the website.
Throughout each week, you can send an email to ask a question or share a reflection. At the next group session, your facilitator will share a summary of any email responses and comments, without including any identifying information.
You will see that you already have access to all the materials across the 10-week program. Even though all material is available, it's entirely up to you whether you look now or later.
About the Website
What do you hope to get out of the next 10 weeks?
Take a moment to think about what you would like to get from being part of the SOOTHE Group. You might like to think of some personal goals that you could share with the group during the first group session.
Some questions to help you reflect:
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If this group was helpful, what would be different for me after 10 weeks?
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What would help me know that coming to this group was worthwhile?
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Is there something I would like to understand, practise or do differently by the end of the group?
Enter your response in your Reflective Journal and paste it below if you'd like your facilitators to see.
Remember, you can find the Reflective Journal on the Home page or under the Resources tab. It's a good idea to save it now, if you haven't already, as you'll keep coming back to it.
Your responses are unidentifiable, so your facilitators won't know who wrote it unless you put your name. It's important to remember that text responses throughout the modules are for your learning and aren't a way to access increased or crisis support.
Each week you will see an overview of the live group session or self-guided materials. You don't have to do anything with this, it's just to provide you with a brief introduction into what will be covered for that week.
Group Session No. 1
Session overview
1. Introductions, program overview, group rules and norms, checklist, goal discussion
2. Defining compassion
3. Personal practice and self-guided learning and practice
Things to consider before starting the
SOOTHE Group
Checklist and Preparation
What Should You Consider Before Starting the SOOTHE Group:
This handout will help you prepare for the SOOTHE Group and set up a comfortable space where you can safely engage with the program. It will guide you through some practical considerations, such as “Do you have a private and comfortable space?” and “Do you have access to a device with sound and video?”
Read through each item and tick it off as you go (either mentally or using a pen or digital tool).
If there is anything you're unsure of or feel should be ticked but isn't, please reach out to your facilitators by email so they can help you work through it before the group begins.
Key Messages from Week 1
In our first live session, we introduced the SOOTHE group and began exploring what compassion means and how it can support us throughout the program. We covered:
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Introductions – meeting the SOOTHE facilitators and fellow group members.
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The SOOTHE group structure – an overview of the 10-week program, including how the live group sessions and self-guided learning weeks will work together.
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How SOOTHE was developed – we discussed how the SOOTHE group has been informed by PhD research involving the perspectives, feedback, and voices of people with lived and living experience of eating disorders and trauma symptoms. Their time, insights, and contributions have been invaluable in shaping the program.
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Creating a safe and comfortable online group environment – as a group, we discussed the norms and guidelines that can help everyone feel as safe and comfortable as possible when participating online (e.g., respecting each other’s stories, maintaining everyone’s privacy, and approaching one another without judgement).
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Defining compassion – we explored group members’ own understandings of compassion and introduced Paul Gilbert’s definition of compassion as “a sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try alleviate and prevent it.”
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What compassion is and is not – we explored some common misconceptions or resistances to compassion (e.g., the idea that being compassionate means being “soft” or weak).
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Preparing for Week 2 – we briefly introduced the Week 2 self-guided learning and discussed the importance of personal practice. For now, this might simply involve noticing when compassion shows up during your week, in yourself, in others, or in the way someone responds to a difficult situation. There is no pressure to change or do anything with what you notice just yet.
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Closing practice – we finished the session with a brief mindful practice to bring the group to a close. You can revisit this practice under Resources in the Week 1 section.
Meet suffering with kindness, wisdom and courage