Mental health 2.0 Sharing Circles and GenZ

In a sharing circle, people gather and share their experiences to get off of their burdens and get collective help from others, and acts as a way of showing support to others.  It helps people get everyone’s perspective on a particular topic and through this,there will be a community backing individuals up. Sharing circles are getting increasingly popular among Gen Z, due to the value that they give for mental health. This generation does not stigmatize the talks around matters of the mind and mental health, which makes it easier for them to open up and share experiences freely. The following is a guide to sharing circles. According to APA, more than nine in 10 Gen Z adults report having  experienced at least one physical or emotional symptom because of stress  such as feeling depressed or lacking interest and motivation. Only half of all Gen Zs feel like they do enough to manage their stress.

We brought the topic to our classroom through the Global Challenges and Social Justice program. Our Young Change warriors Arti Bansal, Kimaya Mehta, Jagathi Kommi, Ashi Agarwal, Aashmi Maru, Suhani Agarwal, Abhimithru Raju Pittela, Aadya Budhiraja, Agastya Rathee, Daksh S, Akshat Jain, and Sharanya Shrish interacted with Ankita B, cofounder of Tangent Mental Health Initiative. 

During our interaction with high school students, we learned the importance of sharing circles, amidst them. However the core concepts of a sharing circle, like confidentiality and the relevance of a safe space are often not deeply understood by this age group. Due to this, the implications of having sharing circles can be more harmful than helpful. This is what lead to a session on how to conduct sharing circles so they can be aware of the necessary steps and skills that can come handy while facilitating sharing circles.

Do’s and Don’ts of a sharing circle 

In a sharing circle, people will share personal anecdotes, opinions or experiences. It is essential to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of our fellow participants in such cases. Make sure to actively listen to each member’s thoughts with an open mind. We may learn something from other people’s experiences. We should be objective when listening to our peers as they may have opinions that differ from our views. After a participant shares his or her thoughts, empathize with them, comfort them, and refrain from judging them. Only give positive support if you are asked for feedback and never say anything hurtful. Sharing circles often discuss delicate topics and must be treated with caution and empathy. 

A couple of things to avoid when in a sharing circle are:

• Don’t just concentrate on your stories. Being in a circle is not just about sharing your experiences, but also about listening and demonstrating empathy. Everyone should be encouraged to speak up equally –  whether they are a member or a leader. To ensure that everyone in your circle has an equal amount of time to talk, as the leader, you can ask one of your circle members to stop the clock while everyone is speaking.

• Don’t be acquainted with more than half the group. The more-friends-less-sharing experience, which states that having more friends in your circle will make you share less because they typically have more background information on certain topics and won’t provide you an unbiased opinion about particular topics, is a prevalent tendency observed in circles. You can prevent this as a leader by only organising circles of complete strangers.

• Don’t leave out anyone. Everyone is welcome to attend sharing circles. Including diversity has several advantages, such as bringing in different viewpoints, issues and themes of inclusivity. While one can have exclusive circles for specific groups of people, sharing circles are sometimes most beneficial when everyone is welcome.

If you are running sharing circles for your peers,make sure that there is a distress protocol. This is necessary to ensure that both the participants and the facilitator can take part in the discussion without experiencing distress. In case of some instances of distress like negative emotions (anger, guilt, hopelessness), triggers, sudden fatigue, or physical distress symptoms (headache, stomach pain, increased heart beat), etc, the distress protocol can be applied. This can be an immediate distress support by helping them calm down through breathing exercises, an interventive support by redirecting them to mental health professionals, or preventive support by creating a resource directory, or peer support system which can be used in times of distress. 

Sharing circles can be really effective and fulfilling spaces to open up and be yourself. A heightened sense of belonging will emerge as a result of stronger connections with oneself and other people. Sharing Circles can help in this process by providing a framework for the growth of resilient, healthy, and accepting persons and relationships.

How can you start a Sharing Circle?

Nowadays it’s easy for people to feel lonely and lack deeper connections. So, for the people out there who would like to start a sharing circle within their community, school, maybe even with their friends need to have a few skills up on their sleeves.

Here are some skills that will help you initiate a sharing circle:

• Communication Skills: You have great verbal as well as non-verbal communication skills, and be able to express your thoughts and opinions about a particular issue clearly. Non verbal actions such as nodding and giving calming expressions etc will also come in handy.

• Empathy: You are empathetic, and are able to question with care – the more you talk to them, the more you empathize with the participants. 

• Safe Space: You are understanding and make everyone feel comfortable throughout the session. One should be able  to recognize if one of the participants is nervous, anxious or is feeling uncomfortable due to a particular issue and be spontaneous and sort it out, and create and put them in a safe space so that they can open up. 

• Active Listener: You are an  active listener who doesn’t neglect any participants. While listening make sure to ask a few questions here and there. It shows that you actually care about what they are talking about. But make sure to question with care as your words could hurt them a lot.

• Attention: You are able to reflect on all the things that happened during the session and to do that you may pay your undivided attention towards everything while the session is going on and this needs patience. Moreover there is one thing that a facilitator should ace in which is setting up a safe space. This is something that you should give your 100% while being a facilitator. Being a facilitator in a sharing circle is not everyones cup of tea but having these qualities not only helps a person become a good facilitator but also improves their quality of life.

What is the flow of the session?

This is the typical flow of a sharing circle session:

• Conveying the details of the session
• An icebreaking activity
• Setting context by letting the participants know the do’s and don’ts of the session
• Do an activity or an audiovisual presentation to introduce the theme
• Participants who are willing to share is encouraged to share 
• The discussions are summed up
• Reflection exercise is done and the session is closed

The students responded positively to the session and were able to increase their knowledge. Some students were new to the idea of Sharing Circles and went so far as initiating sharing circles in their schools.

The Global Challenges and Social Justice Program by TribesforGOOD deals with many cutting-edge themes and global issues. Hundreds of ChangeMakers have made a positive impact in their community and built their profile through the program. They have gathered new skills, networked with industry experts and other Changemakers, and found solutions to real world problems, all in a few weeks!

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