Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
DBSA Westchester NY
Chapter Meeting Behavior Guidelines
- One person speaks at a time. Please raise your hand to be recognized by a facilitator and avoid side conversations with people near you.
- This is a cell phone-free zone.
- Please avoid obscenities and partisan political statements, and maintain a positive and supportive tone.
- This group is not treatment or a substitute for professional care. We do not diagnose other group members.
- We encourage participation, while respecting each other’s confidentiality. It is okay not to share.
- Please limit your time speaking about an issue to ten minutes. Allow people to respond.
- We have no experts in the room. We do not participate in this support group as credentialed professionals.
- Anyone who does not treat others with respect and kindness or is disruptive, or exhibits threatening or violent behavior in any way will be asked to leave.
- Although we are willing to discuss the emotional aspects of taking medication for the treatment of our disorders, we prefer that attendees raise these issues with their prescribing physicians.
- When a person is not present at a meeting, their name shall not be used when giving an example or quoting something they have said.
- Any constructive feedback on enhancing the group’s effectiveness should be brought to the attention of the group’s facilitators or board members.
- Please note: the board will exercise its right to take action when someone repeatedly violates the above rules.
Online meeting guidelines
In addition to the general guidelines above, please follow the protocol below during online meetings.
- Please use a private room for the call if possible.
- Unless you are calling in by phone (audio only), you are required to keep your video on for the comfort and privacy of others. Anyone who leaves their video off for more than a few minutes will be asked to enable it. If they do not respond, they will be removed from the meeting.
- If you need to leave for a few minutes (e.g., to put a child to bed), let the host or group know, mute your device’s speaker, and minimize the Zoom screen.
- Please turn off background sounds (radio, television, etc.) and mute yourself unless you wish to speak. For those who connect online, note that there is a mute button (with a microphone icon) at the lower-left corner of the Zoom screen. You can also enable or disable your video during the meeting by clicking the button with the video camera icon.
- If you dial in by phone and you use your speaker phone, be sure to mute your phone to prevent feedback that will make it difficult for people to hear what’s being said. If you wish to unmute your phone to speak, first turn off the speaker phone.
- If you wish to speak you can wait for a pause, unmute yourself, and say “[My name] would like to speak.” Those using video can also raise or wave their hand or type “I would like to speak” in the Chat box (the moderator will see your screen name). Please say if you want to start a new topic. The moderator will keep track of who has asked to speak. Please wait to be called on. If you think you were inadvertently overlooked, try again.
- Do not record any audio or video from our meetings. Do not record or write down anyone else’s personal information (phone number, email, etc.) without their explicit permission.
- If you are on video, please remember that others in the group can see you. Be respectful of others in how you dress and behave during the meetings.