How can I sign up to a Recovery Circle?

Recovery Circles are virtual support groups that are professionally facilitated by a physician and psychotherapist.

Signing up for the Recovery Circles is a 6 week commitment. This is done to to promote accountability, maintain group integrity, maintain group safety, build group cohesion, and group trust. Recovery Circles are facilitated by a physician and a psychotherapist.  There is a fee associated with attending these meetings.

Participants are limited to 6 per group and these groups run for 90 minutes once weekly. At the time of signing up, a commitment to attend the group once weekly for six consecutive weeks is required. To sign up for a Recovery Circle, you must have first completed an individual assessment in order to assess whether joining a Recovery Circle would be an appropriate addition to your treatment at this time. Click here to signup to the patient portal and start the process by booking an individual assessment. Read more about the individual assessment here.

What happens in Recovery Circles?

Recovery Circles are virtual support group sessions that are professionally facilitated by a physician and a psychotherapist. They are limited to a maximum of 6 participants in order to allow ample time for each participant to share as well as to allow for group discussion at the end.

Each Recovery Circle starts with a participant reading out the Group Agreements for everyone. This is followed by each of the facilitators sharing a check-in of current feelings, stressors, life events, things they are working on in their personal or professional growth.

Each participant will then follow by providing a check-in as well of their current feelings, stressors, life events, prior personal issues or life events that they would like to share, process, or ask for feedback from the group.

Once everyone has shared, each of the facilitators will provide a reflection of the themes that have emerged in the session. The facilitators will then allow for group discussion, inviting participants to share further if they would like, to ask any questions, or to request any feedback on personal issues.

Each Recovery Circle ends with a ritual of one of the participants volunteering to read an inspirational quote from a book provided by the facilitators.

Is there a cost for the Recovery Circles?

Signing up for the Recovery Circles is a 6 week commitment. This is done to to promote accountability, maintain group integrity, maintain group safety, build group cohesion, and group trust. Recovery Circles are facilitated by a physician and a psychotherapist.

The total cost associated with this 6 week commitment is $360. The Recovery Circles take place on the same day per week and at the same time, for 90 minutes, with each group limited to a maximum of 6 participants to allow each participant ample time to share as well as to allow for group discussion. The $360 cost averages out to $40/hr of group session time (6 weekly sessions at 90 minutes per week), which is professionally facilitated by a physician and a psychotherapist.

This is quite economical compared to current rates for individual therapy services where social workers and psychologists in Alberta charge $220 per 50 minute session for individual therapy.

What are the benefits of the Recovery Circles?

There are unique benefits to group sessions as they allow for the lessening of feelings of shame, isolation, and loneliness as participants hear others share similar struggles, they allow participants to learn from others as they hear about how they navigate life challenges, and group sessions also allow for the development of relational skills through improving interpersonal communication and forming new support networks.