SITE DIRECTORY (Scroll Down to See Free and Paid Features)
Welcome to the Explore Our Community Page
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE POST ON ACCESSING PAID SUBSCRIBER FEATURES. FOR THE BEST USER EXPERIENCE, YOU’LL WANT TO ACCESS MY SUBSTACK FROM A BROWSER - NOT THE SUBSTACK MOBILE APP.
Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education is proud to be a Substack Best Seller in 2024 and 2025 thanks to the support of our paid subscriber community.
Managing Your Paid Subscription
Than you for becoming a paid subscriber of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) Education. Your financial support allows me to research and publish on FSA and advocate globally for adult survivors.
You may cancel your monthly subscription anytime by going to your Substack Account Settings at https://substack.com/settings, then clicking on the ‘Family Scapegoat Abuse (FSA) Education' Substack under your Subscriptions, and then go to ‘Account Actions'. Please contact me to cancel your subscription if you are an annual subscriber so we can discuss whether or not you qualify for a pro-rated refund should you choose to cancel.
Email me if you have questions about your subscription or paid subscriber benefits.
Here, You Are Believed…
Welcome to a space where your journey is honored, your voice is heard, and your path to healing is supported by a community of compassionate peers. Together, we can navigate the complexities of recovery and celebrate the power of community connection.
Recovering from family scapegoating abuse (FSA) is a courageous and often solitary journey, but it doesn’t have to be walked alone. Embracing active community participation and taking the leap to connect with other survivors can play a crucial role in your healing process. Engaging with a supportive community that understands FSA and its effects provides not just a sense of belonging, but also invaluable opportunities for shared experiences, mutual understanding, and collective empowerment.
My Role in Our Community
In our Substack community I serve as a facilitator while also being a community member. I am not able to act as your therapist, counselor, or coach. While all of your comments are important and valuable, I am not able to reply to every comment due to the size of our community and the time I spend producing quality FSA-related content for this community, in addition to the time I spend publicizing the clinical reality of FSA worldwide through my research studies and publications. I do regularly engage with our community in Chat to provide additional insights based on my personal and professional experience of FSA, as well as applicable information or resources to support members in their recovery.
Turn on Notifications for Post and Chat
Scroll down to learn how to access your paid subscription benefits. But first, click this link FROM A BROWSER (not the app) to turn ON Notifications for new Posts and Chat threads for the FSA Education Substack: https://familyscapegoathealing.substack.com/account
Accessing Paid Subscriber Content
Exclusive Paid Subscriber Features
Please note that content from pay-walled private community chats may appear in your Substack ‘Home’ feed due to a temporary ‘experiment’ Substack is running; rest assured that only paid subscribers of FSA Education with Chat room access can see this content.
Private Community Chat (with search feature) - READ BEFORE ENTERING CHAT: Substack provides only ONE Chat space and that’s where I post all new threads. There are no categories; there is simply a string of consecutive threads ordered by the date I posted them. All Chat threads are labelled by topic. Substack has yet to create a user guide on how to use Chat but are reportedly in the process for doing so.
ACCESSING PAST THREADS: When you enter our Chat space, scroll UP to see all past Chat threads in addition to viewing the most recent Chat. You can also search for topics of interest, which I describe, below.
Substack does not allow users to access our navigation menus from their mobile app. To see my full site with navigation menu (including our Site Directory) please copy and paste https://familyscapegoathealing@substack.com into a browser (versus using the app). If you are unable to use a browser on your phone with the Substack Mobile App installed, you may need to uninstall it.
FSA Education Substack Logo Read My Chat Guide for Mobile App and Browser: https://familyscapegoathealing.substack.com/p/how-to-use-chat-on-the-substack-mobile
I VALUE AND PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY: ALL Chat threads are protected by a paywall, allowing for private community discussions on sensitive material, such as our Ask the Community Chats. Your replies or comments are not accessible to search engines nor are they accessible anywhere else on Substack. I also block AI Training on my Substack.
To reply to my new Chat threads from a browser, hover over the message and then click on the curved black arrow to the right (click on the 3 horizontal dots next this arrow to see more options). On the Substack mobile app, touch the message with your pointer or long press with your finger and several options will display, including ‘Reply’.
To reply to other people’s replies to my Chat thread, click on 'reply in a new subthread’.
Searching on Chat Topics
You can search for a specific topic in our Chat space by entering your search term in the magnifying glass icon to the left of the 3 horizontal dots at the top of the ‘Chat’ page. Enter our Chat space by clicking on the ‘Join Chat’ button at the bottom of this page. Use a browser, not the mobile app (links are not working in the Substack Mobile App - Substack’s team is working to fix this issue affecting all Substacks).
ENTER OUR CHAT SPACE: If the button below does not work, use this link in a browser (or try clicking on it here): https://substack.com/chat/2666152
Holiday Support Chat (through January 5, 2025): A meet-up space where you can check in regarding how you’re doing during the holiday season. Scroll up to the top of the thread to read my Holiday Navigation Guide for FSA survivors.
Ask the Community: A ‘Reddit’-like feature where community members can share their collective wisdom and help each other overcome the various hurdles and humps that are bound to rise up in their path as they journey away from abuse and dysfunction toward a a more hopeful present and a brighter future. Direct Message me with your question by clicking on my profile photo. Not for urgent, emergency situations as there typically will be questions ahead of you. I’ll acknowledge the receipt of your question once I see it (but not on weekends, holidays, or scheduled breaks).
‘Small Gains’ Chat: In this private Chat space, community members are invited to share choices, actions, new behaviors, or events that signify their FSA healing and recovery progress within a supportive, paywall-protected online community setting. I send out a new Small Gains Chat invite every Friday.
Writers Group Chat: Working on your memoirs or other autobiographical material (including prose and poetry) and would like to share your work, fears, or concerns in a supportive environment? I initiate a Chat once a month for paid subscribers (typically the first Wednesday of every month) who would like to participate in our weekly Writers Group. I also frequently include some FSA-related prompts. Paid subscribers may have their completed stories related to FSA featured in a public post I send out a few times a year. I can also share your story only with our paid subscribers, if you prefer this.
FSA Recovery Affirmations: One of my most popular features. I post one of my original FSA Recovery Affirmations every Monday morning and will at times include an audio version along with the written affirmation. The affirmation’s theme will often coordinate with my public article topics that week. Access past affirmations here: https://familyscapegoathealing.substack.com/t/fsa-recovery-affirmations
Tools, resources, and worksheets, such as this Journal Prompt post that offers daily, weekly, monthly, annual, creative, and thematic prompts to support healing from FSA. To find more tools and worksheets, use the search icon on my Substack and enter ‘tools’ or ‘worksheets’, etc.
General Community Links
FSA Education Home Page: Features my latest and also my most popular posts. Public posts are available to both free and paid subscribers. If you are on a browser, you can also see additional resources and links on the lower right hand side of my home page as you scroll down.
My introductory book on FSA: Whether you are an FSA survivor or an interested researcher or clinician, you are encouraged to read Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed: Help and Hope for Adults in the Family Scapegoat Role (an Amazon ‘evergreen’ best seller since its release four years ago).
My ‘Notes’: Notes are like ‘tweets’ here on Substack and, similar to posts, can be ‘restacked’ to share with others. Public posts are available to both free and paid subscribers.
FSA Education Archive: Includes all of my posted content to date, both free and paid. Use the ‘search’ icon to find topics of interest to you.
My YouTube Channel (Playlists): As a YouTube Licensed Health Partner, I provide free public education on family scapegoating abuse, as well as clinically grounded information on recovering from its devastating effects.
FSA Recovery Resources: Resources I share with clients, subscribers, and social media followers that assist in FSA and Complex Trauma recovery.
Book Recommendations from the FSA Education Community: See what books have helped other community members in their recovery and contribute your own suggestions!
All subscribers, free and paid, receive my free public articles on FSA via email and/or the Substack mobile app, depending on how you have configured your Notification settings in your Substack Account Profile. I send out a free post at least once a month. (Reminder: If you’re using the Substack Mobile App, make sure you’ve turned on ‘Push Notifications’ or check your Substack Inbox weekly to find my free posts.)
How to Search on Topics on My Substack
Looking for information about a specific topic? Visit my Substack’s home page from a browser (as described above). Then use the ‘search’ feature via entering your chosen topic into the magnifying glass icon located at the upper right of your screen. For example, enter ‘worksheet’ to find worksheets, or ‘siblings’ to find past conversations involving sibling FSA, or ‘boundaries’ to find articles on boundaries relating to FSA. A list of articles will then come up and you can then click directly onto the ones that interest you.
On the Substack Mobile App, click on ‘Inbox’ next to ‘Home’ on the bottom of your screen. Click into one of my articles. Click into the three vertical dots at the top right of your screen. Click on ‘View Publication’. You’ll see they ‘search’ icon at the top right of your screen to the left of the three dots.
Getting Notified of New Community Content
You can choose how you’d like to be notified of new content I put out by following the instructions below.
On a Browser:
1. Head over to your Substack account Settings page and scroll to the Notifications section.
2. Click on the toggle next to each option to disable / enable.
On the Substack Mobile App:
1. Tap your Substack profile picture and select Settings.
2. Tap Notifications and on this page, toggle off what you do not want to receive push notifications for. To ensure you don’t miss my new content, you may want to be notified by both email AND push notifications. Not receiving my emails? Check your ‘Promotions’ or ‘Spam’ folders and then find / move my emails to your Inbox to alert your email provider that you want emails from me to go there.
UPGRADING FROM FREE TO PAID: If you sign up for free to my Substack but want to upgrade to a paid subscription later, you’ll want to visit my home page using a BROWSER and not the Substack Mobile App.