You Are a Firestarter — Now What?

• Download Circles of Recovery Firestarter Tip Sheet PDF Brochure

Most Firestarters will invite several people to start a Circle for working through the Medicine Wheel and 12 Step Tapes. This check sheet of reminders should help you get started with your Circle.

Make Arrangements for the Circle Meetings

Find a convenient location. This could be a room at the community center, at a church, or even at someone's home.

Recruit 5-8 people who have an interest in Recovery and invite them to come a meeting.

Decide when the most convenient time for the members would be and make a commitment to that time and day for the duration of this particular Circle. Most last 14-16 weeks.

For each meeting you will need:
a coffee pot and coffee (have people bring treats), VCR, circle of chairs, sage or cedar, and a feather or other Talking Circle object.

The first few meetings you might have to contact people to remind them about the meeting. Remember building the circle is about creating relationships. So you will have to reach out on a consistent basis.

Be sure to review your notes from the training, think through your role as a facilitator.
Here are some reminders:

Take the time to think through and plan how your meeting will go. Recommendations for nurturing your Firestarter Circle are in Firestarter Tip Sheet #2.

Review the video tape for the session and think through what you could do to help people really understand the lesson in that tape.

Make sure that you remind people of the Rules for Talking Circles. Setting boundaries and rules for the Circles will provide models for people to use in other areas of their lives.

Encourage people to share stories about how they are applying the concepts from the tapes. This can be done after the Talking Circle. They need to be focusing on the application of the MW and 12 Step concepts.

Many Firestarters find that regular contact with the White Bison staff will help them in fulfilling their commitment and in making their Firestarter Circle run smoothly. Here are some ways to stay connected with the larger circle of the Wellbriety Movement.

If you have any questions at all about your Firestarter Circle, call the White Bison office immediately. Someone will be available to talk with you. (719-548-1000)

The Firestarter Coordinator will be contacting you every so often to ask about your Circle and to find out if people have created new circles after completing the series in your circle. Please keep track of who starts new circles so that we can contact them and provide support for them as well.

Visit the chat room. Here you can talk to other Firestarters around the country. You can post notes here when you have time, or send comments to another person. Share ideas about what works with them. Ask questions about how to solve problems. They are probably having the same challenges and successes that you are having. Creating a circle of resource people like this can make your experience really rewarding in many ways.

Use the resources provided for you on the website and in the catalog. Tip Sheet #2 contains a list of resources that can be very helpful for you and for the members of your Circle.