Membership/Questionnaire: We agreed to send out a questionnaire to everyone on the mailing list (180 people), and we agreed on the questions. We discussed whether to send the questionnaire out now (before the summer), or in September. The consensus was that we should send it out now.
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NEW LANDSCAPE
Peer-Led Support Group for Men & Women Healing from DID/MPD or Another Dissociative Disorder

QUESTIONNAIRE
New Landscape has now been meeting monthly since November 2004. Our mailing list of 180 people is composed of:
• People who dissociate
• Therapists (both those who dissociate and those who don’t)
Everyone on the mailing list receives the monthly mailings, but only 4-6 people attend our monthly meetings (there are about 12 people who have come to meetings at one time or another, but not everyone comes every month).

We are circulating this questionnaire in an effort to understand what people’s needs are. It was put together as a group effort by the people who attend the meetings. We hope you will answer as many of the questions as you feel comfortable with and return it to us in the enclosed envelope. (If you have received this questionnaire via e-mail, please answer with either e-mail or by snail-mail.) You do not have to put your name on it, but you may if you wish to.

Thank you.

Please circle one or more choices under each question. Feel free to write comments on anything, even if they don’t pertain to one of the questions. Please attach another piece of paper if you need more room.

1) I have attended at least one meeting and:
a) Found the group helpful
b) Didn’t find the group helpful
c) Felt Safe
d) Didn’t feel safe
e) Other _____________________________________
Comments:

2) I don’t attend meetings because (please elaborate if you can):
a) Not qualified (not dissociative)
b) Location
c) Time inconvenient
d) Don’t know anyone
e) Safety
f) Meeting format
g) Sharing guidelines
h) Fear
i) Focus of meeting (not for “beginners”)
j) Privacy
k) Feel uncomfortable because there is no therapist there
l) Boundaries
m) Prefer to remain anonymous
n) Other _____________________________________
Comments:

3) Monthly mailings:
a) Find them helpful
b) Find them upsetting
c) Neutral
d) Would rather not get them
e) Other _____________________________________
Comments:

4) I come to meetings and/or I have come to meetings in the past.
a) What I like about them:___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
b) What I don’t like about them: ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Comments:

5) I would come to meetings if:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

6) Any other comments (please attach another piece of paper if you need more room):

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mailing list:
Monthly mailings go out in two ways: snail-mail and e-mail. Some people get both. Please contact us if:
1) You would like to change the way you receive the mailing (snail-mail, e-mail, both).
2) You know of someone who should be added to our mailing list.
3) You would like to be removed from our mailing list.
4) You want to remain on our mailing list but your address has changed.

1) Membership: We discussed how to increase attendance at meetings. Some points touched on were:
• Our mailing list (snail-mail and email combined) consists of 180 people—both dissociative peers and therapists.
• The meeting is drop-in. There are about 12 people who come to meetings at one time or another, with an average of 4-6 people at any given meeting. Last month, no one except the moderator came to the meeting.
• New Landscape costs consist of: meeting-room rental, duplicating, postage, envelopes. There is no charge for attending meetings, but members may make a donation if they wish. (At present, the moderator, Vivian, is absorbing most of the costs.)
• There are many people who like getting the mailings, but who don’t come to the meetings.
• Possibilities of why people don’t come to meetings: The time is inconvenient. Some people feel connected just by getting the mailings, and aren’t comfortable coming in person. Some people may want to come to meetings but can’t.
• New Landscape is primarily for people who come to the meetings. We are glad that other people get some benefit from the mailings alone, but that is not our primary reason for existing.
• We will create a questionnaire to send to the 180 people on the mailing list. The questions to be included will be discussed at the May meeting.
• It was felt that even if one person comes, we’ve done some good.
• The question of having therapists who don’t dissociate attend meetings was raised again. Again, we decided that we want to keep it a peer support group only.
• We might try reaching people with other dissociative disorders, such as depersonalization and derealization.
• It is a Catch-22: the more people who come, the less share-time each person can have. (It was agreed that at present, our problem is too few people rather than too many.)

2) Monthly Meeting Announcement: We agreed to expand the wording of who New Landscape is for. The new wording is:
New Landscape is a peer-led support group for anyone who is healing from DID/MPD or another dissociative disorder, who is in the process of re-claiming self and life, and who would like to share experiences, thoughts, and feelings with peers.

3) FAQ Change:
Do you have to be integrated to come to the group?
Old answer: No.
New answer: No. In fact, most people who come to the group still have a dissociative system and are not integrated.

This was the first time since we began in November 2004 that no one came to the meeting except the moderator (“V”). Several people told “V” ahead of time they wouldn’t be there, but as New Landscape is a drop-in meeting (you can come to some meetings and not others), she stayed the entire time—in case anyone came late, as sometimes happens.

“V” used the time to work on an article about New Landscape that will appear in the April issue of Many Voices. The theme of that issue is support groups. (For anyone wishing to subscribe to Many Voices, please contact: www.manyvoicespress.com; Many Voices, PO Box 2639, Cincinnati, OH 45201-2639, (513) 751-8020.)

1) Defining who this group is for (dropping the term “almost-better”):
The group had been in agreement for several months that we should drop the “almost-better” description. We have now finalized a new description. It is:
• New Landscape is for anyone (male or female) who is healing for DID/MPD or another dissociative disorder and would like to share experiences, thoughts, and feelings with peers.
• New Landscape participants are in the process of re-claiming self and life. They may still have a dissociative system, but they have a framework for understanding it. They may still have abreactions and crises, but they are able to cope with them outside the group. (New Landscape does not provide crisis support.)

2) New Members Pamphlet:
We finalized the wording of the New Members pamphlet. It has sections for:
• Who is New Landscape For?
• What Participants Get Out of Meetings.
• FAQ.
• Some Topics Discussed at Past Meetings.
• Meeting Format.
We will send one copy to everyone on the New Landscape mailing list. (Those on the snail-mail list will get a folded pamphlet. Those on the e-mail list will get 2 pages which should be printed back to back, then folded in 3.) If the e-mail people would like to receive a hard copy by snail-mail, they may contact us at newlandscape1@yahoo.com. Bulk copies may also be requested (there will be a nominal charge to cover postage and printing for bulk orders). Lynn W. of Many Voices has agreed to include the pamphlet in one of the Many Voices mailings.