How to Start and Facilitate a Support Group for Victims of Stalking

aPPendixWeek 3Emotional and Physical Effects of StalkingGoal: Members will discuss the multiple ways in which stalking affects a person’s emotional,mental, and physical well-being. Members will learn coping mechanisms as well as relaxationtechniques. Members will also identify several options for self-care.Check-in from Week 2: Members were asked to read Emily Spence-Diehl’s Stalking: A Handbookfor Victims. Facilitators solicit feedback and comments from members regarding the reading.Discussion:• The group discusses the handbook.• Members describe what they have done to emotionally cope with the trauma of beingstalked.• Members explore the results of these coping techniques.• Members discuss how they can maximize their emotional and physical health andmaintain healthy relationships.• Members describe relaxation techniques.• Members explore how they will continue to develop their coping skills after the groupends.• Closing ritual.Activity: Facilitator leads the group in several relaxation and breathing exercises, followed by adiscussion. Members can also brainstorm additional activities for relaxation that they can do ontheir own.For the next meeting: Practice one type of relaxation technique two times before the groupmeets again. Read the handout on safety planning (available for download from www.ncvc.org/src). Optional reading for next week could also include Stop the Stalker—A Guide for Targets byBetsy Ramsey. 3535 Betsy Ramsey, Stop the Stalker: A Guide for Targets, (Morrow, GA: Securus House, 2000).41