We founded Sharing Experience Strength & Hope in 2016 out of the simple desire to begin sharing with a wider audience the things that we had been learning which helped our lives get better. And to create the place online that we wish we had found in those early days.
There are many many wonderful sites online that create communities and provide resources around chemical addictions. Hip Sobriety and She Recovers come to mind. Similarly there are sites dedicated to recovery from Mental Health disorders like The Mighty. What we didn’t find was a site that talked about non-chemical addictions (aka process addictions) along side traditional chemical additions and general mental health healing. Because that’s what we looked for. We are trauma survivors with low self esteem at our core. Our primary addictions are things like co-dependence or control, eating disorders, overeating, gambling, sex and porn, love and relationship or work. Certainly we may use alcohol or drugs from time to time, but our core pain is in these other areas. We also probably suffer from anxiety, depression or other mental disorders including cutting or suicidal ideation but we are pretty high functioning so we probably don’t want to talk about that.
If deep down you feel broken and beyond repair and your life is overwhelming, you are not alone. We have been there too. We went to meetings. We found therapists. We read books and listened. We learned along the way how to grow up and heal. Now we want to help others do the same. We hope we can help you in some small way. We believe that the journey to healing is done in community not alone and that the sharing of experience, strength & hope between peers is a key step in the process. SharingESH will guide you towards healing and rediscovering those parts of you – playful, passionate, authentic, unashamed, and unafraid – which are your true self.
Julia C.,Founder, Sharing Experience Strength & Hope
I’ve been on my personal path of healing since 2005. I work several 12 step programs including AA, SLAA, Alanon, EDA, SA and ACoA. I consider it one of my greatest privileges of life to sponsor and walk along side many brave and admirable women on this path of recovery with me. My contributions to this website are dedicated to them and to all the others who have asked for my sponsorship as well as to those who we hold the empty chairs for in hopes they to will find the same rooms of healing. What has been freely given to me, I gladly pass on to you. The chain of healing makes me a better person.
Thank you for reading. I hope you found what you were looking for. – julia c.