What do all the badges mean?

[Sophie_M]

Hi everyone,

If you're new to the forums, you'll notice that some members posting have badges.  We have a directory below so you can see what they all mean, and how you might go about obtaining one.

We have badges for a number of reasons:

* To identify Beyond Blue staff members, volunteers and contributors
* To identify any health professionals who post
* To reward and recognise members who have gone above and beyond to provide peer support for others

Please let us know your thoughts on community badges in this thread, including ideas for new badges, any questions you may have, and any improvements we can make.

Community champion - Members who have volunteered their time formally to support others on the forums. You can find out more about becoming a community champion here.

Valued contributor - Members recognised by the community for their outstanding and consistent support of others through quality posts.  Find out how you can nominate someone for a valued contributor award here.

Life member - Awarded by Beyond Blue to members who have been volunteering for our community champion programme for 3 years or more.

Multicultural correspondent - Members who have volunteered to share their experiences formally and on a regular basis in our Multicultural Experiences section.  You can find out more about becoming a Multicultural Correspondent here.

Champion alumni - Community champions who are not currently active on the forums, or have retired from volunteering.

Health professional - Health professionals posting on the forums at the request of Beyond Blue.  Currently, Coach Craig is our resident health professional and you can find out more about Coach Craig here.

Blue Voices member - blueVoices is Beyond Blue's reference group for people who have personal experience of anxiety, depression or suicide, or support someone who does. blueVoices is open to anyone over the age of 16 in Australia with this experience.

Mentor - Masters of Psychology student on placement. *We are not currently facilitating placements.

Beyond Blue staff - Paid employees of Beyond Blue.

Community manager / community moderator - Paid employees of Beyond Blue who manage the online forums.  You can get in touch with the moderation team offline by email.

[Rumples]

Hi Writer,

You have to love old Bogy, The African Queen, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and soooo many more. I have them all and still dust them off from time to time in order to take me back to a simpler time in life, the past.

I'm so sorry to hear you're feeling depressed. Please know that you're not alone. There's a small army of us here at BB to help you through this.

Sometimes a good o'l chat can cheer you up. Are you game?

You're friend - Rumples xo

[Wilbur1954]

Im a recent member who wanted a forum to express my thoughts and feelings. I expected that any replies in the nature of counselling would come from qualified persons. Im ok with other members contributing their stories to illustrate that im not alone, but i think its a concern to allow unqualified members to offer counselling advice. Some of these members, although sincere in their advice, could do more harm than good. And im amazed at where they get the time to read and write thousands of posts.

[Quercus]

Hi Wilbur1954,

As I understand it these forums are not designed as or intended to be a formal counselling space.

Not everyone wants a professional to talk to. There is a lot of benefit to speaking with someone who has lived through experiences similar to your own.

The forums are moderated by professionals and anyone can report a post if it worries or upsets them.

I used to worry about unintentionally causing harm so I can understand your concern. If you think it isn't made clear enough that this is a peer support forum can you think of what changes are needed to make it very clear to members?

As to finding the time to post over the years that is an easy one to answer. I post to others when I am able for one simple reason... People here posted to me and it helped me survive. If I can help someone else in return that makes my life worthwhile.

I hope you find the support you are looking for.

Nat

[Tay100]

Hi Quercus

That was a really resonating post, thanks for that!

If I may ask, what are some ways in which you make it very clear to members that this is a peer support forum and what that exactly means?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Guest_1643]

Hi, it is a valid point. Giving advice is fine if u compare it to irl, anyone can give advice, friend to friend , peer to peer, etc.

But if someone speaks here offering medical advice, or claiming that their advice is more authoritative because of medical training,that's a worry. Peer to peer advice is best coming from our own experience.,.eg this happened to me,and I managed it this way.

Each person navigating health challenges, anxiety, depression,and the mh system, is an expert in a way, on healing and recovering from adversity.

That's okay to claim knowledge, expertise, and experience in such.But to claim to be a medical expert eg..to say...I studied psychology so I know this treatment works...is not safe here or in best interest of others.