The reconciliation process group (rpg) model is designed to structure a conversation necessary between wounded parties to bring about social and personal healing (for an overview of the entire program that incorporates rpg click here). The healing process can be thought of as the successful operation of core healing principles. The rpg group model fits into Phase Two and is designed to facilitate and operationalize 6 healing principles.
Reconciliation (as viewed in the rpg model of healing) is a healing process. The healing process is regarded as innate and its end result brings greater integration and wholeness that empowers us to live our fullest lives–together. Reconciliation is the road to justice. Justice is the road to healing and peace. Peace is the design The Creator had in mind when he made us.
Many people carry wounds deep within them. Rpg is a model that readily applies to the wounds of life in a world that sometimes hurts us. Abuses insult our basic selves at our most foundamental levels and come from all kinds of sources. Physical and emotional abuse. Neglect. Violence. Traumatic events. Relational failures. Sustained unmet human needs. Social trauma. Societal injustice. Historical trauma. The list is long.
As human beings living in an imperfect world we can be at risk at points all along our journey through life. Sometimes we need to stop and attend to the injuries in order to move on and become more effective in our lives.
Sitting down at the table and facing our wounds can mean many things. It can mean sitting across from those who hurt us. It can mean addressing institutional wrongs. It can mean sitting down with ourselves and looking within and attending to old issues we have not wanted to face before. All of these things can be handled within the format of rpg.
Because rpg is a group-oriented format it can lend itself to the human healing process in ways that individual formats don’t. It is experiential. It is done in the “holding environment” of the group itself. Rpg becomes a safe platform to address issues that are overwhelming to face alone.
In the rpg model reconciliation means healing our injuries of the soul and spirit and is best done within the guidelines of our own sense of spirituality and faith traditions. Rpg presupposes a personal spirituality. Rpg does not impose a specific spirituality; it draws upon the spirituality that each person brings to the table.