May 2026 Community Update!

Dear Community,

I hope you all are well! May is already here. My middle daughter graduates from high school this month and is then off to school where her big brother is a senior. We’ll just have one left in the house!

We’ve been busy at work on a number of fronts. One big focus for me lately has been the process of peer support and credentialing. Our training Academy, under the excellent leadership of @hope already meets about 80% of the criteria needed for accreditation. However, we have to build and expand different modules to make sure we are meeting all of the requirements and learning objectives. We are working on these modules now.

Certified peers can be seen as the middle layer in between volunteer listeners and licensed therapists. Many of you have already taken all of the peer support courses. The new curriculum will be much more robust. Look for more from us on this soon!

I’ve also been working on a mental health certification for faith organizations. Religion plays a big part in most people’s lives. William James (one of the first psychologists) famously said: "To the psychologist the religious propensities of man must be at least as interesting as any other of the facts pertaining to his mental constitution."

Many people turn to their religious or spiritual leaders before seeking mental health support. I think it’d be great if faith organizations could signal to people in pain in their membership and community - hey we are a safe place and we care for you! 

I also wanted to take a moment to point to some beautiful, recent, posts if you haven’t seen them. I often open the app and read the feed before I go to bed. Talk about the warm fuzzies. Like a warm cup of tea for the heart! Check them out here:

-Before and After 7 Cups: What Changed in You?
-Appreciation to Listeners and Members
-From Strangers to Support System

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Best,

GlenM

H

Thanks to everyone who took part in April’s events; the overarching theme was Volunteer Month, and there’s some excellent content written by our very own community members that I urge you to check out when you’re finished here. Here’s the link to April’s masterpost.

May is another crucially important month to 7 Cups: Mental Health Awareness Month. The lineup is (here), and you can earn the MH Awareness Month badge for contributing content! 

Speaking of contributing, listeners, we are actively onboarding new hosts to open the Listener Community Room and provide a lighthearted space to hang out and play games. See how you can get involved by clicking on this post.

I'd been reflecting on the core, the heart, and the soul of 7 Cups, from the community to the foundation upon which we stand. There's a lot of 7 Cups lore that most who've come here in recent years may not be aware of. I launched a special 7-week forum series aptly called The 7 Cups Values Series to explore our values and what they mean to us. Each value has its own dedicated post that will be added to the bottom of the introductory series post linked here.

The Weekly Beacon Campaign invites help from the entire community in the form of everyday acts of participation to support one another. Get credit for what you’re already doing and earn the All for one badge! Join this week’s challenge here.

Hope

April has been a steady, behind-the-scenes kind of month. Work officially kicked off on the Peer Specialist Track, with early drafting and content development now underway. It’s still in progress, but things are moving forward. A big shoutout to @soulfullyabutterfly for putting in consistent work on shaping the content for this track.

We also introduced a clearer breakdown of how volunteer hours are calculated. This is especially useful for listeners who need their hours verified for external requirements but aren’t part of an Academy program. The goal here is simple: reduce confusion and make expectations easier to understand so people can plan ahead. You can access the post here. 

The Tulip Award also went through a major update. Milestone certificates are now being introduced for nominations, adding an extra layer of recognition along the way. The badge will still remain, but the Tulip counter is no longer limited to a single year. All nominations, from the time Tulip was launched, will now count cumulatively. More details are available in the full post.

Lastly, we have also added new elective options to the Quality Listening Program (QLP) to better reflect the work listeners are already doing. The total number of electives required hasn’t changed, but there’s now more flexibility in how you complete them. This includes updated credit for topic-specific training guides and a new elective based on Tulip nominations. Check out the post for the full breakdown and details. 

SoulfullyAButterfly

This month, we have been working behind the scenes to develop a peer support curriculum. Additionally, we will be launching our FC Mother partnership based training content to support maternal health in May in honor of Mother’s Day. We are also developing new growth paths based on faith-based interventions.

One of our therapists, Ashley Flewellen (@AshleyNFlewellenLPC), held a workshop on the importance of self-care this month. You can read some insights and copies of activities that a participant documented here. 

Continuing our monthly events, expert workshops and activities, we are excited to launch several new closed group initiatives. This includes a Stress Management Huddle (a closed group), and an openly accessible Social Support Room. You can expect announcements for these initiatives soon.