What my therapist wanted me to watch for

The absence of comparison in this circle is the reason I stayed. Everywhere else I found, people were measuring themselves against each other.

Nothing useful, just that I have been exactly here.

I have found it useful to write about how I am rather than what I have done. The distinction is small and it changes what I notice.

The hardest part for me has been other people's enthusiasm. Well-meant, and it lands somewhere I cannot always manage.

I have been challenged here once, gently, in a way I did not enjoy and needed. Nobody piled on. One person said one thing and then supported me.

What I would say is that a support community is not treatment. This is company alongside the people who actually know my history.

I would gently say to anybody here that if a conversation has started to feel like it is feeding something, that is worth saying out loud rather than managing alone.

Recognition rather than advice, if that is any use at all.

What I appreciate is that this circle does not talk about food in the way the rest of the internet does. That is a deliberate choice and it works.

The bit in the middle is the bit I needed to read.

Somebody here said that recovery is not a straight line and nobody in this circle expects it to be, and I read that on a very bad evening.

The facilitators in this circle have training in this specifically, and I checked that before I posted, and I am glad it was easy to find out.

My clinician and I agreed in advance what I would do if things became difficult, and having that written down before I needed it was the whole point.

What helped was being asked how I was doing rather than how it was going. Two different questions and only one of them was about me.

My experience is that this circle moves slowly and carefully and that is exactly what I needed from it.

Thank you. Genuinely.

I would encourage anybody unsure to read the agreements first. They are clear, they are enforced, and they told me whether this was somewhere I could be.

The support resources page is linked on every page of this site, and I have used it, and it was the right thing at the right moment.