SNAP Great Plains, communication site for SNAP chapters on Minnesota / Iowa

Everything said in the group is confidential.

Do not share names, stories, or any information about anyone at the meeting with anyone outside this
room.

We share feelings and experiences, which just are or were. There are no right and wrong statements.
We make no judgments about anyone or anything.

Everyone knows what is best for themselves and therefore must take care of their self during sessions.
If at any time someone needs to leave or take a break they may do so.

The presence of everyone is appreciated and can be a source of healing for others. No one is required
to speak during the sessions. Listening is a gift too!

When speaking use "I" statements rather than "you" or "they".

Avoid individual problem solving. Individuals can learn from each other's experiences and solve their
own problems.

Everyone actively listens to each person as they speak with the idea of how this person's experiences
relates to his/her own.

Giving and asking for advice is not allowed. It is empowering and healing for us to gather ideas that
will benefit us. None of us are experts and none of us know what is the best for another.

SNAP WELCOME
SNAP is a grass roots organization made up wholly of survivors and their support people. We were
sexually abused, most of us as children, by spiritual leaders of faith based organizations. Survivors
seek healing and empowerment and find it by joining with other survivors. The only requirement for
membership is that of being a survivor or support person. As a result of the abuse some survivors have
chosen to have no association with any religious organization. Some among us have become members
of other faiths while some have stayed active, to various degrees, within the religious organization we
were introduced to as children. There are clergy members among us who are themselves survivors.
The clergy members, among the SNAP membership, attend as survivors only, and not in their role of
representatives of their spiritual community. In the SNAP meeting, we are all peers. SNAP members
shed any professional roles and titles when they enter these rooms

We welcome you to the SNAP meeting and hope you will find the comfort, help and friendship we have
been privileged to enjoy.

The SNAP organization has a three-fold purpose: to provide self-help support to survivors
to share resources and information among survivors to organize for political action to challenge the
institutional Church to better deal with the problems of it's priests' sexual misconduct.

You may join SNAP for one, two or all three purposes. There are many opportunities within the SNAP
but no requirements. Sometimes healing comes simply from listening. It is up to the individual how she
or he wishes to participate.

SNAP members share their experiences without judging those of others. SNAP meetings and
attendance are confidential. Everything that is said here, in the meeting and member to member, must
be held in the strictest confidence. Without specific permission to repeat anything at all about another
survivor it is best just to tell your own story. Only in this way can we feel safe to discuss what is on our
hearts and minds.

SNAP CLOSING
In closing, I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who
gave them. Take what you want and leave the rest.

Talk with one another but let there be no gossip or criticism of one another. The things you heard were
spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room
and the confines of your mind.

A few words to those who are new to the group: Whatever your problems, there are those among us
who have had them too. We aren't perfect. We realize that it took as much courage for you to come to
this meeting as it did the person next to you. That strength and courage has not gone unnoticed.

We wish you well on this healing journey.