welcome wagon is a group of people who want to help with welcoming new people to the board and making them feel at home.
please be healthy is a place for discussion of health issues (exercise, eating habits, sleeping habits, and so forth). unlike the rest of the board, people are allowed to post numbers here (as long as it's done in a healthy way, of course). anyone can join; it's your responsibility to decide if you're in a place where you can use something like this positively.
before and after is a place to really examine your self-injury urges. anyone can read the board, but you have to join the group if you want to post there. it is designed for really looking at what's behind your urges and actions. if you join this group, prepare to be challenged -- people may empathize, but they're going to ask hard questions sometimes. it exists specifically for learning to get in touch with what's happening when you have an urge or you hurt yourself, and sometimes questions you're asked may leave you feeling defensive or angry or frustrated. growth is hard, and this group is about trying to grow. anyone can join, but if you aren't willing to do the work you may be asked to give up posting rights.
workshop this usergroup will give you access to a forum that focuses on the long-term. identify changes you want to make in your life and work to make them happen. posting here is a request for feedback and constructive criticism.
challenge me! is a place for people to have respectful discussion of political and other controversial questions.
friends and family private is a private group limited to those who don't si themselves but who are involved in some way with someone who does. (this is something different from the public friends and family board, where si-ers and f/f are both welcome.) membership approvals are made on a case-by-case basis.
BABS (BUS Association for Bush Scars) and SHACA (Self-Harmers Against Cat Accusations) are light-hearted groups started by members wanting to fight the pervasive problem of innocent cats being blamed for self-injury.
joining them doesn't give you access to anything else on the board; they're just for fun. membership is open to anyone.to join a group, simply go to "user control panel" and then click on "usergroups" (it's at the top of your screen with things like pm's and profile and search), select the group you're interested in, and request membership. the request has to be approved by an admin or a group leader (usually a moderator). we try to keep up with them, but sometimes we're slow; if you haven't heard back in a few days, please feel free to pm one of us.
dragonfly
(edited by deb to expand the description of before and after.)
[edited by mian in Aug 2014 to update the text and add the workshop usergroup]
