Stuck in the waiting room of your own life?

You know the script: "Once I feel better, then I'll..."

Except "better" keeps rescheduling. Meanwhile, the person you used to be—the one who spent time with friends, electively washed the dishes, let out full-belly laughs on occasion—feels like a distant acquaintance you can barely remember.

Here's the thing nobody mentions: You're not lost. You are not broken.

You've been sold this idea that you have to feel better first—fix the sad, calm the anxiety, tolerate the distress,—and then you can start connecting with what’s important to you.

But what if you just. keep. waiting? What if "better" is a moving target that never quite arrives?

Plot Twist

You can struggle with your mental health and still do things that matter to you (or, that used to matter). You can do both. Messily. With dirty dishes in the sink. In the same sweatpants you've been wearing since last Tuesday.

Stop waiting. Start showing up.

Showing Up
(in Sweatpants)

Coaching Program

A hands-on group coaching program to help you gently start doing the things that are important to you, even when you’re struggling.

Showing Up (In Sweatpants) offers the community, encouragement and strategies to help you feel less stuck and more connected to the things that matter to you—without pressure, shame, or pretending you’re okay when you’re not.

This isn't about getting rid of sadness or white-knuckling through life. This is about living with the ups and downs while honoring who you are and what you care about.

Together, we’ll explore:

Making room for painful emotions instead of battling them
Reconnecting with what matters to you (even if it’s felt far away)
Taking aligned actions that fit your real capacity and energy
Bringing compassion and flexibility to your routines and goals

This is a collaborative process. We walk beside each other—offering mutual understanding, gentle accountability, and shared wisdom from lived experience.

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Feeling seen?

This pilot is for people living with persistent mental health challenges who:

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May be in therapy/on medication but also wish they had more practical support for doing what they want & need to do
Want hands-on support for the 'life stuff' that they might have a hard time talking about (laundry, texts, remembering to eat food)
Feel disconnected from who they are and what they care about (wait, didn’t I used to like going outside?)
Want realistic support and encouragement for following through on tasks and getting back on their feet
Are in an uncomfortable grey area where typical outpatient support isn’t enough but higher levels of care are too much and/or not desired
Crave authentic community that gets the raw, unfiltered part—no need to mask or hide
Are curious about new approaches to care driven by people who also live with mental health conditions

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Made for people living with mental health challenges, for people with mental health challenges

What you're actually signing up for…

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Weekly Group Sessions (1 hr + optional 30 min)

Not a lecture. Not a “how-to-fix-yourself” webinar. These are real, gentle spaces where we:

Check in on how the week went - honestly. Celebrate the “pros” and reflect on the “grows”
Problem-solve together (because collective wisdom > struggling alone)
Share resources, tools, and tidbits for doing all “the things”
Set small, doable intentions for the week ahead
Connect with each other, without needing to put on a mask
Optional 30-minute "Do It Now" session following main meeting

Come as you are: lying down, half-awake, video off, tea in hand.

Sessions may be recorded with group consent. The vibe is camaraderie and accountability, not rigid curriculum you have to keep up with.

Self-Paced Audio Course

Get short podcast-style episodes of strategies to try on from peers who get it. Listen wherever — walking, cooking, driving, or resting - this format was intentionally so we don’t have to sit down & watch (IYKYK).

Module 1: Introduction & Naming About The Challenge

Module 2: How to Do Things When…Emotions Feel Too Big - Making space for difficult emotions using the ALLOW framework

Module 3: How to Do Things When…You Can’t Find the Motivation - Reconnecting with meaning and motivation through values determination

Module 4: How to Do Things When… The Task is Overwhelming - Meeting yourself where you actually are, not where you ‘should’ be

Module 5: Putting It All Together – Keeping this going moving forward

Ongoing Community Support

Stay connected between sessions in a private, shame-free space for celebrating wins (brushed your teeth counts), strategizing stuck points, and peer support through the tough moments. Show up when you can, lurk when you need to.

Tools & Frameworks

Bandwidth assessments, values inventory, ALLOW guides, action-scaling templates. Practical stuff you can actually use, not more theory to add to the pile.

Meet Emily

Cereal for Dinner Enthusiast

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I developed Showing Up (with Sweatpants) because I know that space between surviving and living—the one where you want life to feel fuller but can’t find your footing.

"I know very deeply what it's like to feel so incredibly stuck, in the spot where traditional mental health treatments aren't cutting it."

I’ve spent years navigating chronic mental health challenges, and years studying what deeper questions to address when it comes to supporting sustained, meaningful recovery. I bring my background in public health, behavioral health coaching (specifically, Acceptance and Commitment coaching), group facilitation and psychiatric rehabilitation—but mostly, I bring empathy, solidarity, and lived experience.

This is not about reaching a finish line. It’s about walking alongside each other as we learn, fall, and keep showing up for what matters.

Emily Derecktor, MS – Certified Behavioral Health Coach, MS Medical Sciences, Population Medicine, Founder of Cereal for Dinner

What actually changes

You’ll move from:

Waiting to feel “ready” → Taking gentle, realistic steps now
Self-criticism → Compassion and curiosity
Isolation → Connection with others who get it
One-size-fits-all strategies → Flexible practices that fit your life
Viewing emotions as barriers → Making space for them as part of living

By the end, you'll have practical strategies to add to your toolbox, new approaches for connecting with what’s important to you and a community of people who understand your experience. Above all, you’ll come to understand that even when you’re feeling stuck, you are never broken.

Pricing plan

What it costs (and what it doesn't)

Pay-What-You-Can Pricing

Equitable Rate

$30/week

$150

For those in a comfortable spot financially and want to help keep this program accessible for others.

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Sustainable Rate

$20/week

$100

For those who can meet their needs — covers the baseline cost to sustain the program.

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Accessible Rate

$10/week

$50

For those with limited income or financial strain who would otherwise not be able to join.

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Same full access regardless. If costs remains a barrier, please reach out. We'll figure something out.

Payment options: Pay in full or 2 payments (50% upfront, 50% at week 3).

The questions you're probably asking

"I've tried support groups before and they just become negative."

We hope to cultivate an authentic community of individuals who are supporting each other though difficulties and successes. We stay grounded in curiosity and values-driven sharing- acknowledging things are hard AND exploring what's possible.

"What if I'm in crisis?"

This program is best suited people who are exploring ways to rebuild and reconnect outside of urgent crisis situations. If you’re in a period of intense distress or have intentions to harm yourself or someone else, you deserve care and support that’s more immediate than what this program can offer. You can find crisis resources anytime on our Help Now page.

"I barely have energy for basic tasks."

Totally get that. This program is specifically geared toward people like you who find themselves in a similar situation- where they are looking for a shift but are feeling stuck , exhausted and overwhelmed. As long as you have some openness to trying on new approaches at a pace that works for you, Showing Up (in Sweatpants) might just be the perfect fit.

"I can't afford this."

Pay-what-you-can starts at $10/week. We don't want money to be the reason you don't get support, so if it remains a barrier, please contact us at info@cerealfordinner.org.

"This sounds too simple to work."

The concepts in this course are grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a therapeutic approach focusing on promoting flexibility to live a meaningful and fulfilling life, as well as the lived experience of many peers with extensive lived experience. This program "working" isn't about making emotions go away—it's about movement toward connection, meaning, compassion, and flexibility. It's a process-based, values orientation.

"Is this therapy?"

No, this is not therapy and it is not run by professional mental health clinicians. This was intentionally developed by a behavioral health and wellness coach who lives with mental health challenges to offer a peer-centered model of support that celebrates the power of community & collective wisdom of lived experience outside of traditional clinical approaches. This program isn't therapy or crisis support—it’s what helps between those points: the daily-life bridge between care and living.

The practical stuff

Limited to 8 people

Pilot begins: Sunday, November 16th. 10-11:30 am EST

Dates: 11/16, 11/23, 11/30, 12/7, 12/14

Enrollment closes: 11/15

This offering is years in the making—we're just starting with a low-key, low-bandwidth launch to test it out. After this program, we'll likely keep going, but there's zero pressure to continue if it's not working for you.

Testimonials

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“I didn’t realize how much I needed a space like this — one where you can say ‘today was hard,’ and people don’t rush to fix you. I started to see that even on bad days, small actions still matter.”

— Marisol T.

“I started where I was — tired, disconnected, and skeptical — and I didn’t have to hide any of that. Each week helped me remember that I’m whole even when I’m struggling. I’m not waiting for the perfect moment anymore; I’m learning to live in the life I already have.”

— Brianna L.

“I’ve been in treatment for years, but this was the first time I felt like a lot of the real beliefs holding me back were OK for me to say out loud. The mix of accountability, humor, and honesty helped me reconnect with myself without pressure to be ‘better.’”

— Devin R.

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You don't have to have it all figured out.

You are already whole to begin with. You don’t need to wait until you feel different to begin. Just come as you are, take one step, and see what unfolds.

Join Showing Up (In Sweatpants) and start living a life that matters to you—right now, exactly as you are.

Join Us

Get started

Showing Up (In Sweatpants) is a program of Cereal For Dinner, a shame-free space for people navigating the messy, real side of mental health. It is not a replacement for clinical mental health support.

Showing Up (in Sweatpants)

We do the things we don’t think we can do.

Stuck in the waiting room of your own life?

Here's the thing nobody mentions: You're not lost. You are not broken.

Plot Twist

Stop waiting. Start showing up.

Showing Up(in Sweatpants)

Coaching Program

Feeling seen?

Weekly Group Sessions (1 hr + optional 30 min)

Self-Paced Audio Course

Ongoing Community Support

Tools & Frameworks

Meet Emily

Cereal for Dinner Enthusiast

What actually changes

The questions you're probably asking

The practical stuff

Testimonials

You don't have to have it all figured out.

Showing Up
(in Sweatpants)