Stubborn Survivors Sanctuary & Community Care
Peer-Led Support for Those Who Survive the Unsurvivable: Anchored into community; rooted into our collective power
Table of Contents
Stubborn Survivors is Stronger U’s flagship peer-led space for:
- Anyone ready to reclaim your personal power.
- Complex trauma survivors
- People living with chronic suicidality
- Survivors of psychiatric incarceration or other non-consensual interventions,
Our community care options are available to those who are surviving the unsurvivable – and seeking community who understand and will be present with you.
We offer three free and low-cost ways to connect:
- Stubborn Survivors paid discord (personal engagement, group coaching, and ongoing connection)
- Stronger Together free discord (open-access peer space)
- Weekly peer support groups (live, facilitated, topic-based conversations)
We practice non-carceral care, radical self-trust, and collective anchoring.
- No fixing
- No coercion
- No pathologizing
Just honest connection, humanizing, and mutual care.
Beginning Sept 21: Stubborn Survivors Sanctuary Getting Unstuck Cohort
Together, we explore stuckness through the lenses of systemic marginalization and complex trauma – without shame and without minimizing harm.
Inside the Sanctuary, we prioritize:
- An intimate curated community
- Specialized ongoing peer support
- Honoring your trauma and nervous system
- Space to name honestly what has you stuck
- Gentle curiosity around reclaiming agency
- Relationships that anchor you into care and growth
If you know what stuckness feels like – looping thoughts, shutdown, overdrive, grief, shame, and decision fatigue – and you want non-carceral space to practice tools for getting unstuck, this is for you.
Thank you for supporting our work! Your financial support helps us to continue providing a variety of free resources and services, including our free downloadables, support groups, Stronger Together community, and services of THRIVE Lifeline.
Stronger Together Community
Stronger Together is an open public volunteer-run community space where you don’t have to feel so alone. Many community members are trauma, harm, and suicide survivors who did not have the community support they needed in vulnerable periods of their lives. This why we’ve opened this space, and we invite you to become Stronger Together.
Join the free peer support discord server if you are 18+. All Stronger Together members receive ongoing access to peer-to-peer support, improving access to community care inside a safe and affirming mental wellbeing space, filled with multiply marginalized trauma survivors who understand.
Calendar of Peer Support Group Offerings (in Eastern Time)
Stronger U Discord Features
- Go at your own pace
- Engage as much or little as you prefer, at whatever intervals feel good to you
- Deepen connections (or not)
- Connect with people who share marginalized identities and experiences with you
- Learn a variety of supportive strategies that help you to feel more strongly yourself and stubbornly survive
- Anonymity
- You get to choose your name and what information that you share
- No geographical barriers
- We welcome community members, wherever you are!
- No timing barriers
- Access to community 24/7/365
Unsure how to use discord? That’s okay! You can find some information about how to download discord, understand what a discord server is, and learn how to send messages so you can interact with our various community spaces. Feel free to ask questions too — we’re happy to help you figure out how to navigate it, and be appropriate and supportive in our shared community spaces!
PluralKit is available, which allows system members to post individually rather than obscured by a single nickname. Click here for more information about PluralKit.
Definitions and Disclaimers
What is the difference between peer support, coaching, and licensed therapy?
Great question! Peer support is a community care option that relies on shared identities and experiences to help people help each other through difficult periods. Peer supporters may or may not have completed training, but use lived experience to connect with you. The Stronger U team are people with lived experience and evidence-based training in crisis response and trauma-informed communication for marginalized communities, while the Stronger Together community members are people with valuable lived experience who may or may not have received training.
Coaching: Coaches receive a variety of certifications, focused on the wellbeing support methods that most resonate with the communities that they serve. Often, coaches often share lived experience with their clients, but that is not always the case. Coaches are often uniquely situated to create meaningful and mutual spaces with their clients, provide personally relevant and consensual support, and help clients to feel empowered in the present while identifying and making progress toward their future goals.
Licensed therapy: Therapists undergo formal education in evidence-based clinical interventions and may additionally complete education in other supportive practices for the clients that they serve. In the U.S., obtaining and retaining licenses follows state laws and typically requires graduate degrees with practicums, supervised counseling experience, and a board examination. Therapists often focus on resolving and healing past trauma and creating current coping strategies.
Disclaimer
While we believe that affirming coaching and consultations can be transformative, Stronger U does not purport to prevent, cure, or treat any mental health, medical disease, injury, or physical condition. While our coaches are highly skilled and qualified, they do not provide licensed therapy, treatment (clinical or otherwise) or diagnoses. We coach members and clients through holistic wellness practices, which are not a substitute for counseling, psychotherapy, medical or mental healthcare, substance abuse treatment, or any other professional advice offered by qualified medical or legal professionals.
If you are in need of immediate support, various non-carceral options may be found at this link.