RRPS Facilitation Process

Facilitation Process

Level 1 Groups

The slides that can be read in the workbook or PowerPoint will be divided between all those wishing to receive a certificate of participation or completion, including participation from the facilitators. The Facilitators will start by explaining why we request full participation and the reward of either a certificate of completion or participation. The Information on participation requirements is on page two underneath the table of contents.

The Facilitators will read the first two slides of the first presentation. After that, all slides will be divided up between the participants. The exceptions to this are the slides in the first session's presentation following the slide title “Why We Present the Recovery Fundamentals and Parallel Recovery Concepts in this Order.” These slides sometimes contain more than one Fundamental or Concept and there will be a different reader for each of these.

At the end of each session, the Facilitator will read the last slide that conveys information related to the upcoming session. After this, the remainder of the time will be spent on open discussion of the day's session. For session one this will be the full span of 2 hours, for the remaining session it will be the span of 3 hours.

The remaining sessions also have sections titled ‘How does this passage connect or relate to the concept or fundamental.’ These questions entail a short response that should connect the passage read just before this question to the Recovery Concept or Fundamental being discussed at the time. Everyone has the capability to answer these questions so everyone desiring a certificate of participation or completion will answer these including the facilitator, unless facilitator participation means some participants will not have the chance to participate.

Participation points will not be lost for these questions if there were not enough questions for everyone to get a chance to participate. A participation sheet will be provided which specifies how many participation points a person will need in each category of participation. For those who have not had a chance to answer these questions, they will have an opportunity to revisit them at the end of the group.

Sessions 2 – 5 also have many short questions. There are usually 3 questions for each passage. These are divided between all those seeking a certificate of completion and the Facilitators. These questions are not required to be answered by those seeking a certificate of participation.

The Facilitator will not participate or read unless there are fewer than 5 people attempting a certificate of completion, in which case, only participating when they have the least amount of participation compared to those seeking a certificate. Participants can choose when they would like to participate in order to get the right amount of participation points, however when some of them are close to full points, the facilitator will begin asking specific people to participate if a participant has the least amount of participation.

If participants do not have a response to a particular question, the Facilitator will step in and answer the question. If participants did not get enough participation points from this question-and-answer section, we can allow them to answer other questions from the session at the end as a revisitation.

To revisit a question requires them to have completed enough of their answers to share them and receive the required completion points. This might be useful for participants that did not complete enough of their questions before the group where the questions they did answer in the book were answered by other participants. Even if the participant did not complete a question before group, we can allow them to develop a quick answer on the spot if they are able.

Once the presentation process is over for the session, we allow the rest of the time to be open discussion starting with the facilitator asking the group if they have any questions, allowing participants to ask questions here. Next, we will do a check in, asking the group how they are doing with the concepts or fundamentals covered in the session. Once 2 hours have elapsed for session one, or three hours for all other sessions, the session is complete.

This is how the group will be Facilitated.

Continuum Groups – Level 2 Group

The continuum groups are meant for people who have already participated in a regular group and who have a desire to participate in a longer-term group. Also, in cases where a Facilitator does not have a Co-facilitator, they can provide Continuum Groups instead. If a Co-facilitator is available, we should always try to do the level 1 group first so that people who want either of the two certificates can get them and they can receive a reward or token from the group in the form of a certificate of participation (not of completion) or a coin (coins which we will make soon.) Level 2 groups will also provide a certificate or coin, however only after 1 year’s worth of meetings have been completed.

In this type of group, the Facilitator does not need to discuss participation requirements. Also, the first session will be given out as a packet of paper to any participants attending the group for the first time. By doing this, we skip session 1 and actually present material starting with session 2.

Sessions 2-5 will be broken down into 3 groups apiece. Instead of presenting all of the material for session 2, we will present the material for the concepts of Self-care, Recovery Planning, and Mentorship on three different days. We will separate the fundamentals from sessions 3-5 in the same way, tackling them in three days rather than in one.

The participants do not need to bring their books or read any slides. In this version of the group, the Facilitator reads everything. There is the introduction material starting with each concept or fundamental, followed by an inspirational passage, followed by asking the question “How does this passage relate to the ‘concept’ or ‘fundamental.’

In the asking of this question, in the level 1 group, we like everyone to have already answered this question in their books and to read their response for the group. In this case, we ask them to answer the question spontaneously with the thoughts they have at the moment. This should ensure that even if they answer the question similarly each time, they may have noticed a connection today different from what they wrote in their books or answered in a previous level 2 group.

After this question, there are generally 3 questions asked that relate to the passage or recovery in general. These questions will also be answered spontaneously without the use of their book. These questions are usually something that they have experienced in more than one way and can provide different answers to each time they come across them.

Level 2 groups are meant to be an hour long. If the group runs shorter than this period, facilitators can do a check-in, asking how participants are experiencing the concept or fundamental in their lives. This group is meant to be continuous, thus the word Continuum in the name. While we will present the material in 12 weeks, people may want to continue them longer because with new participants being added consistently there should be diversity in how people answer questions over time.

This is how the group should be operated.