Celebrate Recovery Small Group Guidelines

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings. Please limit your sharing to 3-5 minutes.
   
2. There will be no cross talk please. Cross talk is when 2 individuals engage in dialogue, excluding all others. Each person is free to express feelings without interruption.
   
3. We are here to support one another. We will not attempt to "fix" another.
   
4. Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the group stays in the group!
   
5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered group.
   

Focusing on Others:  Concentrating on others needs and problems.  Analyzing their motives and behavior.  Asking questions of others.  Telling stories about what he/she did.

• Negative Results:  Helps us avoid our own issues.  Makes us observers, not participants.   Puts a safe (and lonely) distance between ourselves and others.
• Guideline #1:  Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings.  Please limit your sharing to 3-5 minutes.
• Guideline #2:  We are here to support one another.  We will not attempt to "fix" one another.
• Goals:  Keeps the focus on ourselves.  Share personal needs, feelings, ideas and problems.  Allow time for all those who need share.

Breaking Confidentiality:  Telling outsiders what was said or done in group.  Gossip disguised as a prayer request.

• Negative Results:  Violates trust and safety.   Makes members afraid to share risky material.
• Guideline #3:  Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements.  What is shared in the group stays in the group.
• Goals: Celebrate Recovery is a safe place.

Cross-Talk:  Interrupting people, asking questions, having a dialogue with one other member of the group.

• Negative Results:  Members fear that they won't be able to finish sharing, that their ideas are not valued, or that they won't get a chance to speak.
• Guideline # 4:  There will be no cross-talk please.  Cross-talk is when two individuals engage in a dialogue, excluding all others.  Each person is free to express feelings without interruption.
• Guideline #5:  Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group.
• Goals:  Listen respectfully to what others choose to share.