Radical Recovery Peer Support

Radical Recovery Peer Support and Radical Recovery Peer Support Liberation:

have been approved by Community and Peer Services, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC provider #343538. Community and Peer Services is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Be sure to click the expandable lists at the bottom to see specific examples from each of our programs!

Radical Recovery Peer Support

is a program that utilizes Peer Support to help individuals achieve wellness and personal growth. The author of the program uses first-person inspirational passages to draw parallels between concepts and recovery. The Program Involves group sessions that can be done either in-person or online.

For the group programs, we have 4 options

• The first is a general wellness and personal growth group which is simply called Radical Recovery Peer Support.

  
  

• There is also a group with a focus on higher education called “RRPS-University”,

  
  

• and there is a version of RRPS for Criminal-reentry called “RRPS-Liberation”.

  
  

• We have also recently created a version for Veterans called "RRPS 4 Those Who Served."

***Please note that NAADAC-approved CEs are NOT available for the following trainings:

• RRPS UNIVERSITY and RRPS 4 Those Who Served.

What is it About?

Over the course of five sessions each group covers important concepts like the Linear Growth Model and Parallel Recovery Concepts. It Also Focuses on the nine Recovery Fundamentals which include principles like Honesty, Trust, Acceptance, Hope, Personal Responsibility, Self-Advocacy, and others.

How each group presents the concepts and fundamentals is unique.

The Linear Growth Model recognizes that

• while growth and recovery are not always linear,

  
  

• putting in effort does often lead to progress over time.

Growth may appear uneven, with periods of progress and periods of struggle.

However, making consistent effort through programs like Radical Recovery Peer Support can help us move closer to our hope of achieving stability and wellness.

RRPS is a Whole Health Program.

What Makes it Whole Health?

• It offers education on wellness concepts and tools, in a broad range, that can be viewed as holistic. it communicates the idea of the interconnected nature of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social health while also examining social determinants and other dimensions of wellness.

  
  

• It does this, all while maintaining a person-centered focus. This means that the individuals seeking support are in the drivers seat, and it is their goals, values, needs, preferences, and motivations that are considered important throughout the process.

What Makes it Great?

It offers basic to intermediate education in Peer Support concepts that promote recovery, improve relationships, and can build careers.

It incorporates elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) because the description of the Concepts and Fundamentals, as well as the person first descriptions of the recovery journey address beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors commonly experienced in a specific but large audience. Each program addresses thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that held the author back and provides a solution of improving our thoughts and beliefs, and control over our feelings and behaviors by getting more aligned with positive expressions of Recovery Concepts and Fundamentals.

Examples of how this is done include

• changing thoughts for people with criminal history's such as "Only my failures matter," to "I have hope even though its tougher with a record." Changing thoughts of "All probation officers are out to get me" to many of them want to help." Reduces Dichotomous thinking by encouraging the view that its not all black or white or one or the other, but that there are levels of growth on a continuum and a new start can be made at any time.

  
  

• The program also utilizes a wide variety of homework questions that are done outside of group (common of CBT programs) which reinforce the goals of the program. Each Passage that relates an experience based on a Concept or Fundamental usually focuses on a change in thinking that improves each outcome.

Each program also incorporates themes of Rational Emotive Therapy in the different events emphasized in each program. With more general distressing circumstances in the original RRPS, to more specific events such as educational neglect in RRPS -University, and the stigma of having a criminal record in RRPS -Liberation, to our beliefs about these issues, and the consequences for results of those beliefs.

Here are some of the provided insights for the Fundamentals of Honesty, Trust, and Acceptance used in all of the programs.

Here are some passages connected to honesty, trust, and acceptance and questions to help us think about these fundamentals for wellness. ***From the Original RRPS***

Question - 1:

 List three ways that your life has been affected by decisions that you have made.

Question - 2:

 Name one mistake that you have made in your life and what you learned because of it.

Question - 3:

List three things that you want to improve in your life and what you can do to make them happen.

Question - 1:

 List the names of three people who you can trust if you are having an intense challenge. Question - 2:

 How do you manage a tough situation when you don’t have someone to talk to for support?

Question - 3:

 Why is being able to trust others important to your recovery?

Question - 1:

Take five minutes and ask a safe person to talk with you about any topic that you are interested in that is unrelated to your struggle. How did things go for you?

Question - 2:

Then take five minutes and ask that same person how they are doing today. Then ask that person to ask you how you are doing. This is Peer Support.

Question - 3:

When things happen that are out of your control, what are three things that you can do to help yourself feel better and to have a Better Day?

Here are some passages for Honesty, Trust, and Acceptance ***From RRPS Liberation***

Some questions related to honesty:

1. How Does the Passage Connect to Honesty or Resonate with You?

2. How easy or difficult do you find it to be honest with yourself about ways you have been hurt by others or have hurt others through your own actions? What is one experience that has led you to feel this way?

3. When sharing aspects of your experiences and struggles with others, how do you balance being honest while also feeling comfortable?

4. Have you ever found yourself blaming others for your own behavior or actions? How has this affected your ability to be honest with yourself and others?

Some questions related to trust:

1. How Does the Passage Connect to Trust or Resonate with You?

2. Have you ever felt like a system or authority figure had too much control over your life? How did that make you feel about trusting them?

3. How have your actual experiences with authority figures or systems affected your ability to trust?

4. Do you trust that with time and effort, anyone can overcome their past and achieve their dreams?

Some questions related to acceptance:

1. How Does the Passage Connect to Acceptance or Resonate with You?

2. What are your thoughts on accepting your past, and what steps have you taken to do so?

3. How can time be a gift when it comes to making up for past mistakes?

4. How does your experience with addiction or the criminal justice system relate to your understanding of acceptance?

Here are passages and some questions related to honesty, trust, and acceptance ***From RRPS-University***

Question - 1:

How easy or difficult do you find it to be honest with yourself about ways you have been hurt by others or have hurt others through your own actions? What is one experience that has led you to feel this way?

Question - 2:

When sharing aspects of your experiences and struggles with others, how do you balance being honest while also feeling comfortable?

Question - 3:

What could you do to build your level of trust in others so that honest disclosure feels less risky? Give an example of something that might be good not to talk about with people you're not sure you can trust, and give an example of something that is usually OK to share with others that will not lead to consequences?

Question - 1:

Do you feel like college or technical school is built on a lie or is a trap to get you to owe someone money or that it is something that can provide a valuable experience?

Question - 2:

Do you trust that college or technical school will be worth the cost and effort?

Question - 3:

How can learning to accept uncertainties and having trust in your ability help you persevere when you are in doubt?

Question - 1:

What past mistake or difficulty do you most struggle to accept?

Question - 2:

How can accepting your limitations allow you the opportunity to create problem solving solutions that will help you strive to grow?

Question - 3:

How can acceptance help you move forward in a healthy way and commit more fully to your goals?