Freedom Session is well suited for resident recovery home ministry and needs very little "tweaking" to make it effective.

Our suggestions are as follows.

1. Peruse the Facilitator Training DVDs in the FS Director Kit and decide which ones will be helpful for your staff.  I think they would all be helpful.  The Step Meeting outline taught in the Training DVD - Session 5 Going Deeper might be especially helpful.  The Going Deeper Facilitator Briefings (back of Sessions 03, 06, 10, 14 & 19 teaching scripts) may also be helpful.
2. Run whichever chapters from the Session 00 DVD you feel would be most beneficial.  Even though you are likely making FS a mandatory part of your program, this gives me an opportunity to build a relationship with them by sharing my testimony.  This will be important later on if you are running the program via DVD.
3. Change the schedule/calendar sampler included on your Master DATA CD in the FS Director Kit.  The ideal schedule would be to complete 2 sessions each week over 4 meeting times.  Below is a  Monday - Friday suggested schedule I encourage you to consider.
   • Monday morning:
     • Freedom Session teaching (taught live or on DVD)
     • Coffee break
     • Session small group experience but don't discuss the Step/homework.  Spend your time more thoroughly answering the Small group questions.  (place a counselor/staff member in each group to keep discussion moving and effective.)
   • Tuesday early afternoon:
     • Group therapy session:  have your group counselor pick through the best Step/homework questions for residents to discuss and work through in a group setting.  I am assuming your counselors will be well skilled in selecting appropriate questions.  Groups should be no more than 6 and remain consistent.
     • We are suggesting the group therapy session occurs Tuesday afternoon to give residents ample time to complete the Step/homework in advance which may take them 1-2 hours to complete.
     • Once you get to the Step 4 Moral Inventory Step/homework, you will need to be a little more careful with the group therapy questions.  Note:  residents should be encouraged to complete their Step 5 Confessions with a staff counselor or chaplain.
   • Wednesday:
     • no Freedom Session activity
       
       residents can follow up on any other homework assigned in group therapy
   • Thursday morning:
     • Same as Monday morning
   • Friday early afternoon:
     • Group therapy session:  same as Tuesday afternoon.

If you represent a recovery home where funding is an issue, we encourage you to apply for co-sponsorship through Freedom Session International.