Join a Meeting

Now Matters Now hosts free, online peer support meetings throughout the week. These meetings offer a place to connect. Members share their stories, practice evidence-based coping skills together, and learn from one another. Everyone is welcome, exactly as they are. You can choose to join without audio or video.

Resources

Welcome Video

Sign Up

If you’re interested in joining a meeting, email us [hello (at) nowmattersnow (dot) org]. Just say hi and tell us your name—we’ll send you the details.

Even if you email us, there’s no pressure to join! We’ll send you more information, you can ask us questions, and you can join later whenever you’re ready.

If you submitted an interest email in the past two weeks and did not receive a response, please resend. Our apologies.

Get in Touch
At first I thought this was therapy and I was gonna come and it was gonna fix me, but that’s not at all what it was. I’m the boss.
Others told me when I joined to just sit back and relax ‑ not to worry about taking it all in. It takes three to five meetings to really get the hang of things.
Being really socially anxious, it was SO HARD to get to the first meetings. It helped knowing I could join incognito, pass and keep my camera off.
I came in really anxious ‑ we call it the Red Zone for stress. Now I know if I’m that stressed, I’m probably not going to remember much. Instead, now I focus on listening to others stories and letting go of what doesn’t make sense right now.
When I joined I didn’t realize how important the surveys were at the meetings. I filled one out and offered a suggestion, and I noticed the next meeting improved after I gave feedback. It felt really good to not only be participating but being part of making something better.
Really, this is not a place to share all your most hopeless thoughts, it’s really a place to share one of the hard things that is happening right now, learn skills, and remain open to hope.
In these meetings I’ve heard stories that are really hard, they can be distressing and it’s been helpful to remind myself that my job is just to listen and show that I care. That’s also what is helpful for me.
I think coming to a new group is one of the brave things we do in life. When I was first coming to these groups, I had a lot of questions and doubts, but I realized nobody trying to force me into anything. It is just offering up this plate of options which feels very different than someone saying you must do life in this way.
I do individual therapy twice a week and that's like me being in the hard part of the work for a full hour and that has its place and its role. But I think what I found helpful about this meeting is I might have five minutes where I'm in my own touching the hard thing inside of me, and then I can let it go by focusing on connecting to other people. It's reciprocal in a way that individual therapy is not. So it's helpful for me because it can be less daunting.
Even though I live in a huge city, I can feel totally alone and being amongst the group of like‑minded people worth more than all money in the world. Meetings are not only about learning and relearning skills, it’s having the connection with others and to know that I'm cared for.
In the first a few weeks, I kept thinking like okay I'm learning these skills each week, so why can't I use them? Why do I still get angry and feel I cannot control my anger? But over time‑ I think maybe five months‑ I realized that I'm doing them without even knowing. Maybe not completely all the steps, but some part of it. So just give yourself time and don't criticize yourself if you are a self‑critic like me.

FAQs

Anyone who wants to find more peace or fulfillment in life. Some of us struggle with suicidal thoughts, substance use, or impulsive behaviors. Some of us struggle with intense emotions, burnout, or general stress. We all have experienced suffering. And we all want to help one another get out of suffering. We believe that healing happens in community. We’re doing our best to create that community.

While every meeting has its own flavor, they all follow the same general structure. They usually last one hour, and will include:

  • Review of the community guidelines.
  • 15-20 minutes of members sharing their experiences from the past week (if they would like to share).
  • The teaching of a coping skill, followed by a group practice, with concrete advice about how the skill may be helpful.
  • Time for questions, and the sharing of stories related to struggles and successes with that skill.
  • A survey for members to give Now Matters Now feedback.
  • At least 15 minutes after the “official” meeting time for members to talk freely and connect.

No. We invite anyone to join our meetings, just as they are.

We do, however, strongly encourage all members to complete personalized “Safety Plans.” Safety Plans are personalized, step-by-step guides for what coping skills you can use during times when you’re emotionally overwhelmed and/or having suicidal thoughts. Every person will face life situations that are very painful. Preparing a Safety Plan can help you protect your physical and emotional wellbeing.

We also request our members to do their best to follow Now Matters Now Community Guidelines when they are in meetings or interacting with other Now Matters Now members.

No! Now Matters Now is free. Meetings have always been free, and they will always be free. Our online resources and library of skills teaching will also always be free and available to everyone. Our primary mission is to make life-saving coping skills and social connection available to anyone who wants them.

Not exactly. We prioritize the privacy of our members, but right now meetings are not totally anonymous. In order to join a meeting, you will need to give Now Matters Now your name and email address, at least, so we can connect you with a specific meeting time. The peer leader of that meeting will also receive your name and email. But, within the group, you’re welcome to keep your video off, choose not to speak, use only your first name or nickname, and do anything else you’d like to protect your privacy. You will have the option of sharing your real name, email, or phone number with other members, if you would like to connect with them outside of meeting times. It’s up to you!

While our meetings may be similar to certain types of group therapy, Now Matters Now groups are NOT therapy. All members are peers, and meetings are run by member volunteers. There are no licensed mental health professionals in charge or keeping track of individual members’ wellbeing. You’re welcome to join our meetings whether you’re in therapy or not. If you’d like to find therapy or mental health treatment, check out these resources.

At least for now, people can only join meetings if they’ve been directly invited by our team. We try to keep meetings small (fewer than 15 people) so that members can get to know one another. If you’d like to join a meeting, email us. We’ll connect you with our next meeting that has space!

The simplest way to volunteer is to fill out a post-meeting survey to help us improve the meetings. We’re also always looking for volunteers to run meetings.

Community Guidelines

The Now Matters Now principles and guidelines were created to help all members feel supported, valued, and connected. This document is continuously updated —we welcome your feedback!

As peer meeting members, we agree to follow these guidelines the best we can.

Learn More