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To get back to the top from any section of this page, click on the section header. Welcome to the Mosaic Minds Interactive Community Forums Hello and welcome to Mosaic Minds Interactive Community Forums. This letter is intended to help new visitors make the best use of the facilities we have to offer. It is our hope that by helping to make your first visits positive and rewarding experiences that you will wish to stay and become a regular visitor and member of the Mosaic Minds Community. Background of Mosaic Minds The Mosaic Minds site was launched in August, 1999, and is owned by Mosaic Minds Inc. Mosaic Minds, Inc. is primarily an internet based organization that seeks to provide an online clearinghouse of information for those whose lives are impacted by the more extreme form of dissociation called "Dissociative Identity Disorder" (hereinafter DID), formerly called "Multiple Personality Disorder". We believe that those who survived significant trauma in their lives by using dissociation at an early age have demonstrated that their greatest strength lies within themselves. Mosiac Minds, Inc also seeks to provide fellow survivors a means of accessing and evaluating the plethora of information currently available on the subject of DID via the internet. Mosaic Minds, Inc. seeks to provide an online format where people can share their experiences in living with this condition with others like themselves, as well as provide access to literature on the topic of dissociation and allow for comments and critiques of such literature. To this end, Mosaic Minds, Inc. offers interactive "community" forums for self-help and information for those whose lives are affected by trauma related dissociation - both those who are dissociative and those who love, live with and/or care about someone who is dissociative. Therapists and other mental health professionals are also welcome but participate solely as educated lay people with an interest in trauma related dissociation. Mosaic Minds is not a substitute for individual therapy nor should professionals use it as their sole source of information and advice on working with people who experience trauma related dissociation. Common Anxieties of Newcomers As a newcomer it would not be surprising if you are feeling overwhelmed by the large choice (17 in all) of forums. You may be feeling worried about how and where you fit in and feel anxious about making mistakes. You want to join in, to make friends but it feels such a big risk. Everyone already seems to know each other and there are so many different names. Where do you start? What if no one replies to you? Do you really belong here? You worry people won't like you. You worry they'll laugh at you or think you are st*p*d. All of these are common feelings, fears and questions. We know this because all of us were once newcomers. We know that making your first post can feel very scary and takes a lot of courage. We also know that getting acquainted with folks in the forums takes time, means taking risks and letting yourself be vulnerable. We understand that the time, effort, and courage needed to progress from initial introduction through becoming acquainted to friendships and a full sense of community belonging can be draining and frustrating. AND we know from our own experience that it can be time, effort, courage and frustration well spent. The rewards can be rich - friendships forged, understanding found, the feeling you belong and are not alone - but it takes patience, respect for others, and perseverance, just as it would if you moved into a new community in 3D. We want you to feel welcome. However, no advice we can give could make your progress from newcomer to a full sense of belonging risk free and effortless. What we would like to offer you is some advice and recommendations which we hope will help make your progress as swift and smooth as possible. Community Standards Our first piece of advice may seem obvious but we would urge you to read the Community Standards. When all our community members adhere to these standards it helps to keep the forums as safe and as comfortable as possible for all. If people are feeling safe and comfortable they are more likely to reach out to others (including newcomers) in friendship. Adhering to the Community Standards also makes the administration of the site (which, incidentally, is done by a group of members of Mosaic Minds on a voluntary basis) easier and less time-consuming. The Community Standards explain the few limitations we make on what can and can't be posted. Generally speaking, they can be summed up in the cliché "Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself". Genuine mistakes, particularly by newcomers, are tolerated so please don't be put off from posting simply because you fear breaching a Community Standard by accident. Someone may point out your mistake (an administrator may even remove your post giving an explanation of why) but if you are seen to be learning from your mistakes you will still find acceptance at Mosaic Minds. Forum Choices It is also advisable to read the descriptions of our forums and structure. This will help you decide which forum is the most appropriate for which posts. The relevant description is repeated in the initial paragraph at the top of each forum so you can always check you are in the most appropriate forum for your age and the type of post you wish to make. The number of forums at the Mosaic Minds Interactive Community may now seem overwhelming to you but before long we think you will come to realize that the range on offer ensures that there is a place for everyone whatever their age and most things they want to talk about. Ratings on posts The Mosaic Minds forums offer many ratings symbols for posts which can be confusing for newcomers but some information about how to rate posts appropriately can be found at Getting Started. Rating posts correctly ensures people are pre-warned about the nature of posts and can choose to avoid reading potentially triggering or upsetting material. Again this helps to keep the forums as safe and as comfortable as possible for all. In the beginning On your first visits to Mosaic Minds you may not wish to post but want to "invisibly" observe, reading the Community Standards etc. and others' posts and generally familiarizing yourself with the site. This is fine. It is a good way to get to know how the site works, whether it will meet your needs and aspirations and what is and is not acceptable behavior before taking the risk of that first post. Your first post When you are ready to make your first post the Welcome Aboard forum is the place to introduce yourself and begin to get to know others in the community. It is a good idea to write "I am new" or something similar as the subject heading. This alerts other community members to say hello and welcome you. We advise you to keep your first posts light and friendly with no details of any abuse history. We particularly recommend that you avoid writing posts asking for support through crisis before you have got to know others at Mosaic Minds. Please remember that almost everyone who posts to the Mosaic Minds forums is struggling with many of the same issues you are. Members may empathize and want to help but offering crisis support to people we do not know is very difficult. Asking for crisis support in your first posts may mean you receive no response because it is too difficult for people to respond. Thus, you risk worsening your crisis when what you hoped for was help and you may find that people are more wary of responding to your subsequent posts. The more people know you the more likely you are to get the encouragement and support you hope for through crises. You may write as little or as much as you wish in your first post but please bear in mind that the more you can share of yourself the easier it will be for others to feel they can risk getting to know you (It's a two-way risk, remember) and the more quickly you will meet people with similar lives and interests. This is the basis for friendships to develop. The following are some suggestions for what to write in a first post. It is not a prescriptive or compulsory list. It is fine to say less or you might think of other things to tell about yourself. Write about who you are. - what name or nick do you wish to be known by; have you been diagnosed with DID or do you experience other trauma related dissociation; are you a partner/friend/relative of someone who experiences trauma related dissociation; how old are you; are you married/partnered/single, male/female; do you have children; what ages; what are you hobbies/interests; do you have other alters/identities/parts who may be posting; if so, you may wish to give their names, ages. You do not have to write anything that makes you feel too uncomfortable or very unsafe but remember that to make friends you have to take some risk and allow yourself to be vulnerable to some degree. System Nicknames In a community which includes many members who have several alters/identities/parts who post it can be hard to remember who is with whom. Some adopt system names to identify with their others e.g. Anne of the Hopefuls (where "Anne" is the name of the individual alter/identity and "the Hopefuls" the system name used by all alters/identities with Anne). Some will identify with their 'host' or the alter/identity who most frequently posts e.g. Helen with/of Anne. If you have several alters/identities/parts who may post you may wish to tell community members how you will identify yourselves. It is not compulsory to identify in this way but it certainly helps friends and potential friends to recognize when they are responding to the same multiple system and that helps a lot with trust issues. Responding to posts After your first posts at the Welcome Aboard forum it is a good idea to explore the other forums, as appropriate, reading and responding to others' posts; asking any questions you have; offering your opinions and experience of coping; being friendly and supportive to others; getting involved in discussions. The more often you post the sooner people will get to know you, have a better chance of moving toward trusting you and the more likely they are to respond to you. If this all sounds far too daunting and you'd prefer to proceed more slowly you might choose to focus on a few people you think you'd like to get to know better. Watch for their posts and respond in a friendly and open way. Re-introduce yourself to them if they have missed your introductory post. Remember, however, that all of us - newcomers and established community members alike - can choose who we post and respond to and who we wish to develop friendships with. Avoid writing in a way that might be interpreted as a demand for or expectation of a response from a particular member who you don't yet know well. It is, however, ok to ask for feedback to a particular post from the general community or from someone with whom you have already established a good relationship. Getting responses If a post does not receive responses there are reasons why this might be the case which have nothing to do with people not liking you or not wanting you to post. It may be that on a busy forum your post has slipped down the page very quickly and unfortunately gone unnoticed. It might be that the people who read your post have things going on in their own lives unrelated to you and your post which make it difficult for them to respond at that time. It may be that those visiting the forum have made a choice not to read posts with the particular rating of your post. Please do not assume a personal rejection if you do not receive responses. You are advised to repost with a polite request for your original post to be read and responded to. The Kids Forums Mosaic Minds Interactive Community includes forums specially for inside kids. The Kastle and Treehouse are both routinely monitored by adult community administrators known as PALs (Protect and Listen). In order to keep the Kastle as safe as possible to allow the inner kids freedom to play and have fun with their friends no adults other than PALs are allowed to post there. However, we would recommend that, whenever possible, your inner kids are accompanied everywhere by an adult from your system. Although the PALs work to ensure that the Kastle and Treehouse are safe environments for the kids posting there it is still the responsibility of each multiple system to keep its own members safe. It is especially important that an adult accompanies your inner kids when they first post to the kids forums to help them understand what is and isn't appropriate for each forum and to help them post their own introduction. Adults are allowed to interact with the kids at the Treehouse but only to talk about the child's concerns; adult issues are not permitted. As a newcomer you should post with particular care as many of our younger community members are easily frightened and may be triggered by strangers. You are advised to become known by interacting on the other forums before posting to the children at the Treehouse and you should never post to a specific child if you do not already know an adult in the same system. We recommend that adult newcomers who intend to post at the Treehouse post first (including an email address) to the PALs at the City Hall forum in the Civic Center to introduce yourself to them. Adults posting at the Treehouse for the first time are advised to give the kids time to accept you as a safe and non-threatening adult. You should post a friendly introduction which tells the kids why you want to join them in the Treehouse. The Mosaic Minds, Inc. Board of Directors and the Interactive Community Administrators welcome you and we look forward to meeting you in the forums. Interactive forums on the Mosaic Minds website serve in much the same way as a public "bulletin board". One person will leave a note (posting) and others can read it, and respond if they choose to. Responses to a post will appear indented under the post to which it is replying. The original post along with all of the successive replies constitutes a message "thread". Threads typically contain posts about a particular topic. Start a new thread To start a new thread, select "Post new message" at the top of the community forum most applicable to the topic you'd like to discuss. A description of each forum is printed at the top of that forum. Additionally, the community forum structure is defined on our Community Page. Fill in the appropriate information in the "Post new message" form. The "Name/nickname" and "Subject" fields are required. Sometimes people will put the entire message in the subject and indicate that there is no further message inside with "nm" or "nmh" for no message or no message here. In any case, something must be put in the comment field, even if it is only a space. Be advised that if you choose to include your email address it will then be accessible by anyone who reads that post. Be sure to choose a rating for your post. When you are done, click on the "Post Message" button at the bottom of the screen. Reply to an existing post To reply to an existing post, the form is underneath the content of the post. Fill out the required fields in the form. Be sure to choose a rating for your post. Click on "Submit Follow Up". Your post will indent under the post to which it is replying. Ratings Ratings for posts are for the most part self-explanatory, and are your subjective choice based on the feelings you express in your post, or your assessment of the content of your post. The "Spiritual Content", "Caution", "May Trigger" and "SRA" content ratings should take precedence over other possible ratings if the content of your post falls into one of these categories. An incorrectly rated post may be removed by Administration, especially if it is triggering material. A notice will be left on the board which the original post was placed on, and you will be welcome to re-post with the appropriate rating. Mosaic Minds Interactive Forum Community Standards "Self-help" Community Mosaic Minds Community Forums are not staffed with mental health or medical professionals. We are a "self-help" community . Therefore any suggestions or advice given by any participant, regardless of their professional credentials, is not to be construed as professional advice, nor as a substitute for appropriate 3D professional care. Mosaic Minds takes no responsibility for the content and opinions expressed on this site by the individuals in the community. For the purposes of these Community Standards, "community member" consists of participants in the community forums and any volunteer serving in any capacity as administrator, committee member, or director. Crisis Situations Neither Mosaic Minds nor any community members are equipped to handle crisis situations which may involve immediate danger or injury. Computer support groups cannot replace live, 3D intervention and assistance. Community members who find themselves in these situations are encouraged to get appropriate 3D help. Responsibility for what you write You are collectively responsible for what you as a system write, and how you as a system interact in the community. Friendships, trust, etc. are the benefits of positive interactions between your system and others. The community does understand that many of us have some of the dark and angry parts; many of these parts have been able to grow beyond this with positive interactions. However, your system is responsible to see to it that these parts also conform with our Community Standards. Responsibility for what you read/how you interact You are collectively responsible for what you read and who you interact with in the community as well. Postings in the community are rated to help you keep you and yourselves safe, giving you an opportunity to avoid things that might upset you unnecessarily. Please ensure that you are in a safe place emotionally and mentally before you read any posts marked with either an MT, Caution or SRA rating. Likewise, if expression of anger upsets you, you should avoid posts marked Angry. Titles on posts As an additional measure to keep the community forums as safe as reasonably possible, we don't allow potentially triggering or upsetting words in the title/subject line of our posts; things to avoid in the subject line include profanity, religious references (other than on Cafe Esprit), and terms indicating details of abuse (such as the word "r*pe"). "Spoiling" In posts that are likely to be triggering, we ask you to put a brief description of what type of triggering material is contained in the remainder of the post, then scroll down using asterisks (*) before the actual material is presented. This gives everyone a chance to "back out" of a post if the topic is something that is too hard for them to read right then. We do not require you to spoil individual words in your posts. Some words are "auto spoiled" by our posting scripts, which replaces the vowels in the word with an asterisk. This keeps us out of the search engines specifically looking for those terms. Graphic Descriptions of Abuse Graphic descriptions of past abuse events are permitted only on Hard Hat Zone. A graphic description is one which includes enough detail that it creates a word picture, reasonably allowing the reader to "see" and personally relate to what is being described. Communication on the internet Communication on the internet opens a whole new world to all of us; making friends in far away places becomes commonplace. Yet there are some things unique to online communications. For example we only have the written word to communicate online. Subtle cues like tone of voice and body language are absent. Therefore choosing your words carefully when posting is highly recommended. After you have written a post, you might want to read through it, seeing it as someone else might. Likewise, when you read a post and find it personally upsetting, you might want to have another read, or ask the poster to clarify what they meant. Differences and Disagreements In a community as diverse as ours, we may find ourselves strongly disagreeing with or perhaps even disliking another community member. If you find this happening to you, you have a couple of options. You can choose to ignore a post with which you have strong negative feelings, and perhaps all other posts by that member. You can also express your own opinions. However, your differences need to be expressed with respect for the other person. The expression of hostility and ill-will towards members of this community will not be tolerated. Posting Anonymously Mosaic Minds generally discourages anonymous posting because this is contrary to MM's policy which encourages system responsibility and accountability. Posting using an "anonymiser" type account without a known nickname is never allowed. The consistent use of a nickname by an individual allows other community members a chance to become familiar with that person, which in turn increases the possibility of trust and friendships developing. Consistent use of nicknames also increases the sense of general overall community safety and fellowship. It is understood that occasionally a community member may want to post anonymously because of feelings of embarassment and shame about their own experiences. Anonymous posts in which the writer is discussing personal information about her/himself are permitted on the forums. All other anonymous posts will be removed. Safety on the internet Safety on the internet mandates that we take exceptional care with private details of people's lives in 3D. We don't allow posting of phone numbers, addresses, or other important private information. Also, avoid posting about the details of others' issues and problems without their permission. Personal boundaries In any community, the setting and enforcing of personal boundaries is likely to be an issue from time to time. Add to that the fact that the majority of the participants in a survivor community were taught that taking care of themselves was selfish and contrary to what they "should" do. While this is something that each of us has to learn for ourselves, as a community we have set standards that will tend to promote the respect of others' personal boundaries and their legitimate right to choose how they will participate in this community. Posting to a specific community member to ask for help through a crisis or to listen to a recount of specific memories of abuse goes contrary to the ethos and "self-help" nature of Mosaic Minds. Addressing particularly needy posts in this manner tends to put the named individual under unreasonable pressure to read and respond to what is likely to be an emotionally laden post. Under such pressure it can be difficult for community members to exercise genuine free choice and to give appropriate attention to their own needs for safety and emotional stability. Therefore, we ask that when posting such intense messages please use a generic heading in the subject field. Posting in this manner invites responses from any community member and therefore promotes choice for everyone. It is an acknowledgement that no individual member of a survivor community can be expected to be both available and in a good enough space emotionally anytime you are in need of support. Further, not addressing posts to a specific community member improves your chances of receiving diverse feedback from any number of people who may have been through what you are dealing with and can share how they handled it. The variety increases your chances that you will learn techniques appropriate to your own individual needs and preferences. If you are not persuaded by the advantages of generic posting and still wish to seek a response to intense issues from a specific individual, it becomes a private matter. As such, it is not an appropriate use of a public forum and should be taken to a more private medium e.g. e-mail; ICQ, IM. However, we would point out that the same sensitivity and respect for others applies. Recipients of such emotional private communications needn't feel under any obligation to respond if they do not choose to do so. One on One "Chatty Threads" In consideration of other community members and in order to control our site costs Mosaic Minds discourages the frequent use of the forums for conversational, one-on-one support or games playing threads involving only two people who have already established a relationship outside of the forums, in email, ICQ or IM. Lengthy one-on-one threads cause posts below the thread to rapidly move down the page. This means that other community members' posts may remain on the board for only a short time, may not be seen and may even be removed in the routine trimming of the forums before they have been read or gotten responses. Further, frequent lengthy threads boost Mosaic Minds usage of bandwidth and there is a limit on the monthly amount of bandwidth we can use without incurring additional costs. Therefore, please be aware of the nature and length of your one-to-one communications and whenever possible conduct these 'conversational' types of threads in a more private way e.g. email, IM or ICQ. Occasionally becoming involved in long one-to-one threads e.g. when getting to know each other; supporting someone you don't know well who needs occasional help with grounding; or playing games/having fun with a group on a less busy forum will not generally be a problem. Solicitations and Advertisements Solicitations and advertising for businesses are not allowed on our Community Forums; this includes the latest "get rich quick" schemes. Post removal Posts which violate our Community Standards will be removed from the site by the volunteer administrators charged with enforcing these standards. Some of the other reasons a post may be removed include, but are not limited to:
Additionally, Mosaic Minds reserves the right to remove any posting, although it is under no obligation to do so. Mosaic Minds Interactive Forum Administrators Survivor Volunteers The Administrators of Mosaic Minds are all fellow survivors, volunteering their time and energy to help keep the community forums running as smoothly as possible. While they try to do their best, each of these volunteers has their own lives and their own issues with which they are dealing. It is simply not possible for these administrators to be available at all times. Trimming Administrators are responsible for keeping the forums "trimmed" to under 100k in size, in order to keep the forums a manageable size thereby helping us keep our bandwidth usage within the parameters our server requires of us. This is accomplished by removing the oldest dates' postings from the forum when the size gets close to or just over 100k. The length any particular posting might remain on a forum is determined by the activity level of that forum. Highly trafficked forums might only have as little as a day or two of messages at any given time. Removing posts Administrators are responsible for removing postings that violate the stated Community Standards. However, administrators are not responsible for reading every posting to ensure it's compliance with these standards. If you believe that a post violates these standards, you may leave a post for the administrator of that forum on the City Hall forum, or by email to that administrator. If you do not know who the administrator is for a particular forum, a generic posting on City Hall indicating the forum and post in question will be adequate. Administrators are not responsible for moving a post that has been incorrectly posted. The inappropriate post will be removed and a note will be left inviting the poster to repost on the appropriate forum or with the appropriate rating. Questions Administrators are not responsible for publicly justifying the reasons for removing a post. If there is some question about the reason a post was removed, contacting that administrator by email is the appropriate course of action. If you do not feel satisfied with the response, please see our Grievance Procedures. Conflicts Administrators are not responsible for resolving conflicts between community members. In a community as diverse as ours there will undoubtedly be personality or other clashes between community members, or perhaps between community members and a member of the Administration Team. Mosaic Minds would prefer that conflicts between individuals be resolved between themselves. In the rare instances where that may not be possible, the grievance policies stated below may help. Questions about Posts Removed Should you require a further explanation of the reason for the removal of a post than what was noted when the post was removed, the first step would be to contact the admin who removed the post. An email address should be left on all "post removed" notifications. Should the explanation given not be satisfactory to you, you and the admin who removed the post would then each ask one other admin to review the post in question and offer their interpretation and opinion. The next level of escalation, should you remain unsatisfied with the explanations given, would be to contact the Grievance Committee and request that they review the post and render their opinion. The final escalation, should the Grievance Committee deem it appropriate would be for the Grievance Committee to contact the Board of Directors to request a policy review. Conflicts between Community Members Within the community there may be conflicts involving two or more community members at times. When this occurs, it is necessary to resolve these conflicts via private communications. The public forums are not the place to raise these issues. You, as a community member, have a right and a choice to communicate or not with any other community member. You may request that another community member not post to you, however, it is the responsibility of the parties involved to honor that agreement. Should your request not be honored and the other party does post to you in an appropriate manner, you have the option of not reading that party's posts. However, you need to keep in mind that these are public forums where all members are welcome to respond appropriately within any thread. Should the conflict escalate, your next step would be to contact the Grievance Committee in hopes of reaching a resolution. Mosaic Minds enforces a zero tolerance policy with regards to harassment of any community member. Conflicts between Community Member and a specific Admin Should you feel that you are being singled out for unfair treatment by a member of the Administration Team, the first step would be to contact the admin in question via email. Should you not be able to resolve the conflict in this manner, the next step would be to request the intercession by another admin of your choosing -- again, using email. The final step, should you continue to feel you are being treated unfairly, would be to present your issues to the Grievance Committee via email. We realize that Mosaic Minds will not meet the needs of all survivors and/or supporters. There are many sites which offer similar community forums. We would suggest that you research those other communities, should you find that Mosaic Minds does not meet your needs. |
| All material on the MosaicMinds.org domain is copyright 1999 - 2011 and is provided for information only and should not be construed as advice or instruction. The inclusion of a service on any of these pages does not constitute an endorsement. No action should be taken based solely upon the contents of the MosaicMinds.org domain; instead, appropriate professionals should be consulted. Mosaic Minds, Inc. has sole authority for its content and all comments, inquires, or complaints should be directed to the Mosaic Minds Board of Directors [Replace the -AT- with @ (We list it this way to minimize robotic spam.)]. Participation in Mosaic Minds is not limited to those who were abused as children; our supporters, contributors, and members include those persons who care and want to help. All materials on this domain require permission from the original author before any form of reproduction can take place. To date the work in creating and maintaining MosaicMinds has been purely a labor of love. Donations are always needed and appreciated. Thank you. |