Heyung (hello)
The following format was used by the Red
Road meetings I used to facilitate at Coyote
Valley in Northern
Ca. We found it to be successful because we made it family
friendly. During the meetings we allowed the children to color or play a
game at a separate table as quietly as possible. Many times mothers also
brought their babies who were infants or toddlers in walkers. Sometimes
it would be a little distracting but for most of the meetings everyone took
part in the meetings. We always allowed the kids to sit at the
"grown up" tables if they wanted to (but they had to be quiet) which
were in a circle more or less and we always asked them if they had anything to
say about their life or about drugs and alcohol when passing the talking
stick. This included them in the process and many times they talked about
what was going on at home or school. It was a very positive and
empowering experience for them to be listened to and valued by adults. As
a leader of the group and a lifelong student of counseling and sobriety I would
facilitate the meetings by making appropriate comments. I would also
point out and praise individuals to recognize their mental and spiritual growth
when they talked about ideas of truth that they came to realize about
themselves, their behavior and attitude. People in sobriety need this pat
on the back and it helps them realize the steps they are taking which motivates
them towards taking more steps. In order to serve the group in this way
you must have a leader that is mentally and spiritually mature to some degree
(no one is perfect but you need to have a leader that is honest and disciplined
in certain areas of their life i.e. no addictions preferably). The facilitator
must be humble enough to admit to the group his own faults and / or failures
if they occur. This demonstrates to that no one is above making mistakes.
It also demonstrates that no matter how long we have been sober we
have to keep a level of humility in our attitude so that when we make mistakes
we are able to go to those we have offended and ask for forgiveness. No one
knows everything and we are all still learning and must pray for wisdom to keep
our hands and our hearts clean before the Creator. With this
format you allow everyone in the talking circle to speak and then the
facilitator speaks. With this process it allows you to speak to specific
things that are brought up by individuals in the talking circle. These
are the basic guidelines that we ran the meeting by with the format below:
Opening Prayer (may be a prayer song or both)
Talking Circle (w/ talking stick)
Facilitator Shares Life Lesson For Maintaining Sobriety / Wisdom
Potluck Dinner