Twelve sessions, one building
The program builds like a house: the ground floor first, the top floor last. Tap a stone to see what happens in that session. The full curriculum has every session in detail.
★ extra care: a second facilitator in the room and a clinician on call that day★★ high care: a clinician consulted before and after◆ a safety check-in before it starts
Each session builds on the one before, so the order never changes. Missed Session 2, 6, 7, 8 or 12? Meet one-to-one with a facilitator before the group meets again. New members join only before Session 2.
What it is, and what it is not
Twelve sessions of ninety minutes, once a week. One closed group of six to ten adults. Every week has the same shape and ends with the same words. It grows out of Books 1–5 of the K–12 curriculum.
It is
- A structured group for adults, run in clinics and community programs.
- A good partner to trauma therapy, medication-assisted treatment and recovery programs, once a person is stable.
- Practice, not treatment. The work happens between you and the page. The group listens; it never pulls a story out of you.
It is not
- A self-help book to work through alone.
- A replacement for trauma therapy, medication-assisted treatment, or psychiatric care for active suicidal thinking, psychosis or severe dissociation.
- A religious program. It is taught without religion and sits well beside a chaplain’s own work.
Who it is for
Adults who
- carry shame or blame toward themselves that has become how they see themselves — in recovery, after harm they caused, or after a loss they blame themselves for;
- hold a long resentment toward someone, when making up is not possible, not safe, or not wanted;
- carry shame that a family, culture or community handed them before they could say no;
- cannot tell taking responsibility apart from punishing themselves.
Good settings: recovery after about sixty days of stability; trauma recovery after first treatment; the months after leaving incarceration, once housing and work are steady; chaplaincy; grief groups where the grief carries self-blame.
Before anyone joins
- Eighteen or older, and here by choice.
- Has at least one way to calm down that has worked in the last thirty days.
- Thirty days on a steady medication plan, and no hospital stay in the last fourteen days.
- In trauma therapy? Their therapist agrees in writing that this group fits alongside it.
Being steady comes first. Too early, looking inward can shake someone whose supports are still forming. At the right time, it locks in the gains they have already made.
The four phases
The phases come in this order for a reason. Sessions are never skipped, swapped or shortened.
Foundation
The group, its promises, and four big ideas. Shared words come first, and the inside voice becomes something you can hear.
Interior
Looking inward. Feelings carry messages. The Backpack: what you carry, written down. The Witness: an honest, fair, kind inner voice.
Repair
The heart of it. Telling grief from resentment. Forgiving the younger self. Giving back shame that was never yours. The Living Amend.
Legacy
Forgiveness is not the same as making up. Then the Final Audit: put down, carry differently, or choose to carry.
Ninety minutes, the same shape each week
The same steps in the same order help people settle. Tap a stretch of the session to see what happens there.
Try two of the ideas
The whole program rests on telling things apart. Tap an answer to see why. Nothing here is saved or sent.
What the group promises
The group writes these five promises together in Session 1, and they stay on the wall for all twelve.
- What is said here, stays here.Except where the law says otherwise: immediate danger to yourself or others, abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, or a court order. These are named on day one. The group never promises more privacy than the law allows.
- You may pass at any time, at any prompt, without explanation.Passing is part of the work. It is you choosing for yourself.
- We do not give advice unless asked. We listen.
- We do not narrate other people’s stories. We speak only to our own.
- The work is between you and the page. The room witnesses; it does not extract.
Who leads it
Two facilitators are in the room every session. One person alone cannot run this program, whatever their training.
The lead facilitator · the voice
- A master’s-level mental-health license (LCSW, LMHC, LMFT, LPC, LPCC, psychologist or equal), or a credentialed addiction counselor with three years of leading groups after licensing.
- At least twelve hours of trauma-informed training and forty hours of co-leading groups first.
- Two private hours doing the participant’s own work before Session 1.
- Clinical supervision every week.
The co-facilitator · the eyes
- A credentialed peer recovery or peer mental-health specialist, a master’s-level intern supervised by the lead, or a licensed clinician.
- In the room the whole session, and at the twenty-minute debrief after.
- Watches for distress and responds without stopping the session.
Faith-based, peer-led and community programs for people returning from incarceration can run it only with a licensed clinical consultant who has read the manual and can be reached the same day, lighter content in the high-care sessions, and referral paths in place before Session 1. Facilitator certification is coming to this site.
Inside the program
The curriculum
The whole program, free: every lesson, every timed step, the practices and the safety checks, in the manual’s own words.
Read the curriculum → Open · teach itThe lessons
The twelve lessons one at a time, with the words to say, each step, and a tick when you have taught it.
Open the lessons → Open · build it with the groupAnchor charts
One chart per session. Start with the skeleton, reveal a line at a time, and add what the group says.
Open the charts → Open · for participantsThe workbook
Twelve pages, one per session. It saves on your own device as you write. Sessions 7–12 come after a check-in with your facilitator.
Open the workbook → Open · print and postThe anchor cards
The twelve big ideas, one card per session. Tap a card to turn it over. Print them for the wall.
See the cards → Open · for facilitatorsThe sessions
Run a session step by step, with a Done tick for each step and a private log on your device.
Open the console →Crisis & safety resources
Free, private, any time. Every group also posts its local crisis line and its own emergency contacts.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988. 24/7, free, confidential.
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741.
- SAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-4357. Free, confidential treatment referral and information, 24/7.
- Veterans Crisis Line — dial 988, then press 1 (or text 838255).
- Immediate danger — call 911 or your local emergency number.