Facilitators

This program aims to provide participants with the tools to take responsibility
for their own wellness and stability; to manage and reduce their symptoms using a variety of self-help techniques; and to effectively reach out for and use the support of a network of family members, friends, and health care professionals.

Who can facilitate the program?

To reflect a peer-support model, the ideal facilitator is a person who has lived with mental illness and who understands recovery. A recovery-oriented service provider or family member could work alongside the facilitator to help organize and deliver the program.
It is essential that all facilitators understand and support a common set of values and ethics.

Facilitators must:

• lead the program in a spirit of self-help and peer support by encouraging interaction and supporting the active participation of all group members
  
• honour and model the values of recovery: hope, self-determination, choice, and empowerment
  
• support the concept that each participant is the expert on his or her experience
  
• accept participants as they are, as unique individuals
  
• remind participants that there are no limits to anyone’s recovery

The program is presented as five sessions, each designed to take an hour or an hour and a half. Facilitators can vary the order in which sessions are presented. Session length can be adapted to the desires of the group.
The sessions include presentation information, group activities, and discussion questions related to the topic.

Facilitators can download PowerPoint presentations of the following:

These presentations will download directly to your desktop when selected. They can be opened and viewed from there.

• Session 1 - What is Recovery?
• Session 2 - Quality of Life
• Session 3 - Self Management
• Session 4 - Medication as a Tool for Recovery
• Session 5 -Moving Forward: Personal Action Planning

Facilitators can also download the following PDFs & Word documents:

Each session has a brief accompanying video presentation. In the videos, people living with mental illness, family members, and service providers address different issues discussed in the sessions. Facilitators can watch the videos in advance, then plan how to use them during the session. For example, a video might be used as a way to initiate discussion or to end a session. Facilitators can also choose not to use all the video presentations below.

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