I’ve made a decision about The Healing Circle, and I want to explain it clearly and honestly.

Moving forward, I’m separating it into two different spaces:

• The Tapering Healing Circle
• The Protracted Healing Circle

This wasn’t a quick or casual decision. It came from paying attention—and really listening—to how best to support our communities safety and healing.

The truth is: these are two very different journeys.

Those who are tapering are working carefully, slowly, intentionally—often with the goal of preventing protracted withdrawal altogether. For them, hearing intense protracted stories can be frightening, overwhelming, or destabilizing. It can plant fear where there doesn’t need to be fear.

And for those who are already protracted, that path carries its own reality—one that deserves space, depth, honesty, and understanding. In the Protracted Healing Circle, I will also use breakout rooms when akathisia or intensity becomes overwhelming, so that individual experiences can be honored without flooding the nervous systems of the group.

Trying to hold both journeys in the same room hasn’t felt right.

Not because one is more valid than the other—but because they require different kinds of support.

Separating the circles allows each group to feel safer, more regulated, and more seen. It honors where each person is right now, without comparison, without unintended harm, and without crossing nervous systems that are working very hard to stay stable.

This is about care.
This is about containment.
This is about respect for the nervous system.

What This Looks Like Moving Forward

• The Tapering Healing Circle
  🗓 Starting this Thursday, January 8th at 7:00 PM ET
  This circle will meet bi-weekly and will focus on slow, supported tapering, nervous system safety, and prevention.
• The Protracted Healing Circle
  🗓 Next meeting: January 15th
  This circle will continue on a bi-weekly schedule and remain a space for those navigating protracted withdrawal and long-term healing.

Both paths matter.
Both deserve support.
And neither should have to hold the weight of the other.

This separation isn’t about division—it’s about honoring the individuality of each journey and creating spaces where healing can happen without fear, comparison, or overwhelm.

Thank you for trusting me with this work.
Thank you for trusting your own bodies.
And thank you for allowing this community to evolve in a way that supports everyone more fully.

One Love,
Malissa

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