Wisdom of Women: Peer Support for Women with 
Co-Occurring Disorders and Histories of Trauma 
Women, Co-Occurring Disorders & Violence Study
December 2001 
Innovations From the Sites 

WISDOM OF WOMEN is a 
gathering of women who share their 
experience, strength, and hope with 
each other and find support and 
understanding as we face life on 
life’s terms. Wisdom of Women 
meets to help heal the wounded 
areas of our lives whether those 
wounds are the result of abuse, 
neglect, drug use, or physical or 
mental challenges on the part of 
ourselves or from others. Our primary 
purpose is to help ourselves 
and others in our journey of recovery 
and empowerment. The only 
requirement for membership is the 
desire to live a healthy life with 
right human relationships. We 
grow through being open, honest, 
and willing as we share our life’s 
experiences. 
—Preamble, Wisdom of Women 


Wisdom of Women (W.O.W.) is 
a peer support group for women 
affected by substance abuse, 
mental illness, and trauma. The 
program provides an empowering 
combination of educational information, 
mutual support, and 
opportunities for shared leadership. 
Women who participate in W.O.W. 
believe it plays a critical role in 
their recovery by giving them the 
help and hope they need to grow 
and heal. 


W.O.W. is part of the Triad Women’s 
Project, one of nine SAMHSA-funded 
Women, Co-Occurring Disorders 
and Violence Study sites. The Triad 
Women’s Project is a multi-dimensional 
integrated services program 
serving women with co-occurring 
disorders and histories of violence 
in a three county area in rural, 
central Florida. The project is being 
operated by Tri-County Human 
Services, a substance abuse prevention, 
intervention, and treatment 
agency and the Louis de la Parte 
Florida Mental Health Institute. 


CREATING WISDOM OF WOMEN 
The idea for W.O.W. grew out of the 
concerns of consumer/survivor/ 
recovering (C/S/R) women who 
completed trauma-specific psychoeducational 
group therapy, then felt 
“dropped” from the program 
because there were no other group 
opportunities to continue their 
recovery. C/S/Rs felt strongly this 
service gap needed to be filled in a 
way that fostered empowerment and 
mutual support. 


With this charge, the Triad 
Consumer Coordinator, along with 
other project staff and a consultant 
with expertise in creating peer 
support groups, met with women 
who were currently in treatment to 
develop the focus, structure, and 
operating procedures for a new 
group. Planning was consumerdriven, 
allowing the women to create 
the type of group they wanted. 
W.O.W. draws on traditional peer 
support group models, including 
Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), 
Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.), 
AlAnon, Adult Children of 
Alcoholics, Emotions Anonymous, 
and Trauma Survivors Anonymous. 
However, W.O.W.’s unique focus on 
creating a safe, supportive, empowering 
atmosphere for women with 
mental health, substance abuse and 
trauma experiences caused the planning 
group to break with tradition in 
important ways. For example, 
instead of employing a deficit-based 
approach centered on limitations 
and labels (“I am an addict”; “I am a 
major depressive”), W.O.W. partici- 
pants present themselves as women 
with specific challenges (“My name 
is ___ and I have these challenges”). 
W.O.W. allows women to talk about 
addiction along with other challenges 
they face and other experiences that 
impact their lives (e.g., trauma and 
abuse). Because many women do 
not feel safe sharing experiences of 
victimization in groups with men, 
W.O.W. is for women only. 


Once the general framework for the 
group was established, women in the 
Triad project and other women in the 
community were invited to participate. 
Invitations and brochures were 
broadly distributed to several residential 
treatment programs and other 
local support groups. The Victims’ 
Advocate of the County Sheriff’s 
Department, the agency that administers 
Temporary Assistance to Needy 
Families (TANF) and other local 
service agencies were asked to tell 
women about the group. Advertisements 
also were placed in the 
newspaper and brochures were posted 
on community bulletin boards. 
The first W.O.W. group was established 
within a half-way house for 
women in recovery from substance 
abuse and mental health issues and 
their children. The group began in 
April 2000 and included many of the 
women who helped to create the 
program. There are now five W.O.W. 
groups meeting in various service and 
community settings, and plans are 
underway to start a sixth group at a 
local jail. The groups range in size 
and organizers believe that any size 
can work, but that five to six women 
per group is ideal. Triad’s Consumer 
Advisory Board and its Consumer 
Coordinator provide on-going oversight 
and management of the W.O.W. 
groups. 

~ 
Women who 
participate in W.O.W. 
believe it plays a 
critical role in their 
recovery by giving them 
the help and hope they 
need to grow and heal. 
~ 


HOW WISDOM OF WOMEN WORKS 


W.O.W. groups meet weekly for two 
hours. There are no fees or dues. 
Members receive a “starter kit” when 
they begin that includes: preamble 
and guidelines, 12 Steps (adapted 
from A.A.), Bill of Rights (Adult 
Children of Alcoholics), Just for Today 
(AlAnon), the Twelve Promises (A.A.), 
inspirational writings, and various 
exercises. Groups are on-going and 
women may join at any time. 
Women do not have to be affiliated 
with the Triad project to participate. 
Each meeting is divided into two 
sections. The first section (approximately 
50 minutes) includes an 
opening and an educational program. 


The Chairperson (a group member) 
opens the meeting by reading the 
W.O.W. preamble, guidelines, and 
12 Steps. The group is provided with 
topics they may wish to address 
during the educational portion of the 
meeting; members are free to select 
other topics. A brief presentation is 
usually made, and readings and exercises 
may be provided followed by 
a group discussion. Topics may 
include: safety; serenity; sense of 
self; support system; and solving 
life’s problems. 


After a short break, the second section 
(approximately 60 minutes) 
begins with a meditation followed by 
group sharing and a closing. A member 
leads the group in a brief meditation—
a poetry reading, listening or 
dancing to music, or reading one of 
the daily devotionals from A.A., N.A., 
AlAnon, or another source. During 
the “sharing your week” portion of 
the meeting, members spend a few 
minutes talking about their week and 
the issues they have been working 
on. Members are allowed to “pass” 
if they wish. The meeting closes with 
the Chairperson reading the 12 Steps, 
“Just for Today” or other reading, and 
a statement of affirmation and support 
for the group and its members. 
The “We” version of the Serenity 
Prayer is recited by all. 

Because the group is self-directed, 
the nature and content of W.O.W. 
groups varies. For example, groups 
with women in early stages of recovery 
focus on sobriety, basic issues of 
trust, and how to interact with each 
other in meaningful ways. Groups 
whose members are further along 
in their recovery are more likely to 
discuss more painful issues and 
experiences. 

Each group is facilitated by a C/S/R 
woman who manages the group’s 
operation (e.g., opening and closing 
the meeting space, providing written 
materials, etc.). Facilitators often 
lead the educational component of 
the meeting until other members feel 
comfortable doing so. Although she 
is compensated for her time, the 
facilitator is a member of the group 
and participates accordingly. 

A “SPIRITUAL GLUE” AMONG WOMEN 

W.O.W. has been very well received 
among C/S/R women and providers 
alike. The on-going success of five 
separate groups suggests W.O.W. is 
providing something women like, 
want, and need. Several local 
service agencies have requested 
that groups be started within their 
programs. W.O.W. seems to be 
successfully filling a gap in the 
traditional service delivery system. 

Sharon Slavin, Triad’s Consumer 
Coordinator, believes the special 
healing ingredient of W.O.W. is a 
“spiritual glue” formed among 
women in the group. She believes 
the group’s sense of belonging and 
fellowship can not be gained through 
traditional, professionally-run services, 
or through peer-run services not 
designed to meet the unique needs of 
women who have substance abuse, 
mental health, and trauma histories. 
Slavin observes, “Sometimes it is easier 
to hear things from a peer.” 
~ 
“By allowing women to 
come together, talk, and 
support each other, the 
groups create situations 
where women can really 
feel and believe there is 
a reason to recover.” 
– Arthur Cox, Sr., Principal Team Leader 
~

Anita Cape, the consultant who 
helped to create W.O.W. and actively 
participated during its first year-anda-
half, sees the group as a way for 
women to “begin to heal by regaining 
a voice for ourselves. As women 
share their experience, strength, and 
hope with others they gain a sense of 
self...as I listen to your experiences, 
strengths, and hopes, I gain added 
insights for my own personal growth 
and healing. This kind of sharing is 
empowering to women and helps a 
person to feel as if life has meaning 
and purpose beyond just trying to 
survive every day.” 

W.O.W. is now viewed as an essential 
component of the Triad intervention. 
Margo Fleisher-Bond, the Triad 
Project Director, believes that the 
groups have “filled a critical gap in 
service delivery and expanded the 
continuum of care in meaningful 
ways for women.” She believes the 
groups’ flexibility and openness have 
been extremely helpful and appealing 
to women and notes that, “the groups 
are able to support women wherever 
they are in the recovery process.” 
Arthur J. Cox, Sr., Principal Team 
Leader for Triad, believes that 
W.O.W. plays a critical role in 
women’s recovery. “By allowing 
women to come together, talk, and 
support each other, the groups create 
situations where women can really 
feel and believe there is a reason to 
recover.” 

Karen, a longtime member of one of 
the W.O.W. groups, finds it a place 
to “share and work on stuff that I 
couldn’t talk about in A.A.” For her, 
the group was not like going to a 
counselor. She found it very helpful 
to be with other women “who know 
what it’s like to be where I am.” 
Equally important is the opportunity 
to develop healthy friendships with 
others and to “experience feelings of 
being cared for by others.” She concludes, 
“when you know others care, 
that helps you heal.” 

LESSONS LEARNED 

The Triad Women’s Project has 
learned much through the process 
of creating and sponsoring W.O.W. 
groups that is applicable to others 
interested in such efforts. Primary 
lessons include: 

	Making C/S/R involvement a 
reality is critical and sometimes 
challenging. 
The idea, creation, and on-going 
operation of W.O.W. comes directly 
from C/S/R women. This is the 
essence of self-help. Professionals 
need to respect the wishes and opinions 
of C/S/Rs, and allow them to 
create and manage their own efforts. 

	A facilitator is key to the group’s 
success. 
The facilitator must be able to handle 
a range of organizational tasks, and 
should be well-versed in trauma and 
how it relates to mental health and 
substance abuse. This person must 
be a C/S/R with significant time in 
recovery. Experience in leadership 
development is also helpful to 
support members’ progress toward 
leading group activities. 

	Facilitators require on-going 
support and training. 
W.O.W. facilitators have a complex 
role to play. They are responsible for 
managing the group, but they are full 
participants as well. They serve as 
role models to other members, but 
have their own vulnerabilities and 
challenges. Providing on-going 
support and training helps facilitators 
navigate these multiple roles. Instead 
of formal supervision, this support 
can be provided by other facilitators. 


The community must be 
educated about the project. 
Triad found that service providers, 
agencies, and the general public 
needed to be educated to help build 
support for W.O.W. For example, 
some traditional peer support group 
sponsors did not understand W.O.W. 
and as a result discouraged women 
from participating since they did not 
see it as central for recovery from 
addiction. 

The location of the group 
is important. 
The location must feel safe for 
women who are trauma survivors. 
The outside of the building should be 
well-lighted and secure; the indoor 
space should be private (e.g., not in a 
room with large windows or one to 
which others have access during the 
meeting). It is helpful if the location 
is convenient and accessible since 
many women do not have their own 
transportation. 

Careful consideration should be given 
to whether the group should be 
housed within a service program/ 
agency or not, and if so, what type of 
program/agency. Location of the first 
W.O.W. group within a half-way 
house made involvement difficult 
because most of the women in the 
program were already very busy 
working and participating in a full 
array of required treatment activities. 
This location also discouraged 
involvement of women who were 
not residents in the program. 

	Getting women to participate 
can be difficult. 
Triad’s efforts to encourage service 
agencies to refer women to W.O.W. 
proved challenging and time-consuming. 
They found written material 
about the program to be extremely 
helpful. Triad also learned that once 
relationships are established with 
agencies, they need to be actively 
maintained. 
~ 
“When you know 
others care, that 
helps you heal.” 
Karen, 
W.O.W. group member 
	Learn from others, but stay 
true to your focus. 
Using the work of established peer 
support models as a spring-board 
was extremely helpful in launching 
W.O.W., but the program’s success is 
anchored in the critical adaptations 
that were made to ensure sensitivity 
to the needs of women with mental 
health, substance abuse, and trauma 
histories, and to facilitate W.O.W.’s 
central goal of empowerment. 

For more information on W.O.W., 
please contact: Sharon L. Slavin, 
Consumer Coordinator, 
Triad Women’s Project 
100 W. College Drive 
Avon Park, Florida 33825 
863-452-3858 (phone) 
863-452-3862 (fax) 
triad@strato.net 
~
When women first learn about 
W.O.W., many express an understandable 
hesitation to participate. 
Personal contact with current 
W.O.W. members and word-ofmouth 
helps to overcome this 
initial barrier. 


RESOURCES: 

W.O.W. Starter Kit 
Available from: Sharon L. Slavin, 
Consumer Coordinator, Triad 
Women’s Project, 100 W. College 
Drive, Avon Park, Florida 33825 
863-452-3858 (phone) 
863-452-3862 (fax) 
triad@strato.net 

Consumer/Survivor-Operated 
Self-Help Programs: A Technical 
Report 
Center for Mental Health Services, 
SAMHSA 
Available from the Knowledge 
Exchange Network: P.O. Box 42490 
Washington, D.C. 20015 
800-789-2647 (phone) 
ken@mentalhealth.samhsa.gov 
mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/ 

Starting a Self-Help/Advocacy 
Group: Technical Assistance Guide 
National Mental Health Consumers’ 
Self-Help Clearinghouse 
1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 1207 
Philadelphia, PA 19107 
800-553-4539 (phone) 
215-636-6312 (fax) 
info@mhselfhelp.org 
www.mhselfhelp.org 

The Self-Help Movement: Review 
of the Past Decade of Research 
Linda Farris Kurtz 
In Social Work with Groups, Vol. 
13(3), 1990, The Haworth Press, Inc. 

Helping Characteristics of Self-Help 
and Support Groups: Their 
Contribution to Participants’ 
Subjective Well-Being 
Miriam Schiff and David Bargal 
In Small Group Research, Vol. 31, 
No. 3, June 2000, 275-304, Sage 
Publications. 

Alcoholics Anonymous 
Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 459 
New York, NY 10163 
www.alcholic-anonymous.org 
Check web-site for local telephone 
numbers 

Al-Anon Family Group 
Headquarters, Inc. 
1600 Corporate Landing Parkway 
Virginia Beach, VA 23454 
757-563-1600 (phone) 
757-563-1655 (fax) 
wso@al-anon.org 
www.al-anon.org 

Co-Dependents Anonymous 
Fellowship Service Office, 
P.O. Box 33577, Phoenix, AZ 85067 
602-277-7991 (phone) 
Info@codependents.org 
www.codependents.org 

Emotions Anonymous 
P.O. Box 4245 
St. Paul, MN 55104-0245 
651-647-9712 (phone) 
651-647-1593 (fax) 
Info@emotionsanonymous.org 
www.emotionsanonymous.org 

Family Trauma Survivor’s Network 
Anita Cape 
FamilyPTSDnet@aol.com 
http://familyptsdnet.tripod.com 
Narcotics Anonymous 
P.O. Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409 
818-773-9999 (phone) 
818-700-0700 (fax) 
www.na.org 

On-Line Recovery – 12-Step Groups 
www.onlinerecovery.org 
Survivors of Incest Anonymous 
World Service Office, P.O. Box 190 
Benson, MD 21018 
410-893-3322 (phone) 
www.siawso.org 

Women for Sobriety 
P.O. Box 618 
Quakerstown, PA 19851 
215-536-8026 (phone) 
215-538-9026 (fax) 
www.womenforsobriety.org 

This publication was made possible by grant number 5 UD1 TI11404 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Center for Mental Health Services, and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. The contents are solely 
the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Center for Mental Health Services, and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. 

The Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence Study is generating knowledge on the development of integrated services approaches for women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders who also have histories of physical and/or sexual abuse. 

This Innovation From The Site was written by Dawn Jahn Moses of The Better Homes Fund, and is a product of the Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence Coordinating Center which is operated by Policy Research Associates, in partnership with The Better Homes Fund and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The Coordinating Center provides technical assistance to program sites, conducts cross-site process and outcome evaluations, and develops a range of application products from the study sites. 

The Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence Study is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s three centers – The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, The Center for Mental Health Services, and The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. 

For more information on this Initiative, please contact Policy Research Associates, 345 Delaware Avenue Delmar, NY, 12054, 518-439-7415, e-mail: wvcc.prainc.com, web: 
www.prainc.com/wcdvs