Families & Supporters in Recovery / GRP621
Children Are Not Recovery Monitors — Shared Pattern Map
Identify adult support responsibilities and avoid assigning children monitoring or emotional-care roles.
25 minutes · 3–10 people · Adults with trained group facilitation
Facilitator PDF · Fillable participant PDF · Open activity / add to session
UNDERSTAND THE IDEA
Supporters need choice, information, and limits too.
A supporter can care about someone while maintaining boundaries about money, space, time, or behavior. A useful request distinguishes what help is wanted from what the supporter can freely offer. Neither person controls the other's recovery.
Facilitation lens: Include consent and a realistic backup. Do not assign family members a surveillance role or require joint work when safety is uncertain.
Explore the conceptual background · Broad background, not validation of this original exercise.
Try a different interactive experience in the Activity Lab →
Fictional example
A fictional family has relied on a child to check whether an adult attended care.
Open with choice — 3 minutes
Explain the purpose, privacy limits, and the option to observe, use fiction, adapt, or pass. Check access needs and group readiness; do not promise absolute confidentiality.
Meet the fictional case — 4 minutes
A fictional family has relied on a child to check whether an adult attended care. Ask what is known, what is assumed, and what the person in the case wants.
Practice: Mapping — 11 minutes
Identify adult support responsibilities and avoid assigning children monitoring or emotional-care roles. Each person privately maps the fictional case. Offer optional contributions to a shared map, then compare where context, access, and support change the picture. Do not interpret another person's map.
Reflect and compare — 4 minutes
Which responsibilities need to return to adults and services? Ask what fits, what does not, and what external conditions or supports affect the options. No personal disclosure is required.
Close and integrate — 3 minutes
Invite an optional observation, support request, or small next step. Passing is welcome. Agree how to revisit questions and seek appropriate help outside the exercise.
Practice output
A map with at least two possible support or choice points.
Scope and adaptation
Use ordinary or fictional examples, not graphic substance-use stories or cue exposure. No competitive abstinence scoring, forced disclosure, or required pathway. These plans do not manage intoxication, overdose, withdrawal, or medication changes; follow individualized care and appropriate medical assessment. Joint exercises are unsuitable where coercion, violence, fear, or retaliation may be present; arrange private clinical assessment and appropriate support.
Offer reading aloud, typing, drawing, pointing, or observation. Avoid mandatory movement, eye contact, touch, and body focus.
Original AI-assisted educational draft; independent clinical review pending.
Conceptual background
References inform broad principles and do not validate or endorse this original plan.