Healing-Centered: Lily Black Reflects on GPS Facilitator Training

“GPS’s facilitator training was one of the most thoughtful and healing-centered experiences I’ve ever had.”

 — Lily Black, Perinatal Mental Health Advocate, Recovery Peer Leader, and Spring 2025 GPS MASStrong Facilitator Training Participant

The Spring 2025 GPS MASStrong Facilitator Training brought together a committed group of 82 individuals across various communities, united by a shared goal of expanding access to peer support. The training was a transformative experience for participants, equipping them with the skills, confidence, and tools to lead trauma-informed support groups. 

Lily Black, a Massachusetts resident with a background in both perinatal mental health and recovery work, was one of the participants who came away from the training not only with a variety of new skills when it comes to being trauma-informed, but with the desire to implement the GPS model to help her community.

“GPS’s facilitator training was one of the most thoughtful and healing-centered experiences I’ve ever had,” Lily tells GPS. “As someone working in both perinatal mental health at PSI and in peer support within the recovery community, I felt deeply seen and supported throughout the process. The training didn’t just teach skills — it fostered real transformation. I walked away feeling more grounded, more equipped, and more inspired to show up for the communities I serve — and I’m grateful for that.”

Lily works for Postpartum Support International (PSI), where she focuses on supporting perinatal families through a mental health lens, with a particular passion for working with parents of color. She’s also part of the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color (PMHA-POC) collective, which continues to be a deeply grounding and inspiring space for community care, shared learning, and advocacy. 

Lily has also spent years in peer support spaces within the substance use disorder and recovery community, where she’s learned the value of meeting people exactly where they are, without judgment. Holding space through a trauma-informed, person-centered lens is foundational to all that Lily does — and it’s what made GPS’s approach resonate so deeply for her.

Pathway to GPS Facilitator Training

Lily heard about the training through a coworker at PSI and signed up for the Spring training with a colleague. She was hoping to find a better way to run groups. 

“We’re really just trying to make a push to provide more trauma-informed and inclusive care, and to utilize a model that drives that peer initiative and that peer approach,” says Lily. “We’re all people. We’re all human. And we want to humanize the experience. We want to learn how to cater to our community better.” 

Lessons Learned From GPS Facilitator Training

“I loved it so much,” says Lily about the Spring training.  “The GPS model was just really such great information, and you got to see each different module in action.”

Lily appreciated how each module focused on a specific aspect, which allowed her to really grasp it as well as better understand how it worked as part within the whole GPS model. While running groups for about a year at PSI, Lily participated in training to become a group facilitator, but she says that GPS’s training brought her skills to a whole new level. 

“I think what’s different with the GPS model is you really learn how to meet your participants where they’re at, and you affirm and validate what they’re going through. A lot of times with peer facilitation, you’re trying to change the language of the participants and make a common language for the group,” she explains. “I really loved how GPS wasn’t about that. You reflect what the participant is saying and you’re affirming and you’re understanding what they’re saying and you’re being a support to them. And providing a holistic, centered atmosphere for them to grow in.”

A Growing Moment

During the training, Lily said she surprised herself a bit when it came to the GPS Realities — a part of the GPS model that describes the real challenges, including taboos and common difficulties, that participants may experience in relation to the topic being discussed. Realities implicitly give participants permission to say difficult things they may not share elsewhere. This resonated with Lily “We tell our participants to give themselves grace and give themselves time, but a lot of times we don’t give ourselves that,” she says. “I noticed that when Nelly was demonstrating the trauma-informed aspect of the Realities, she asked, ‘How are you going to be here for yourself right now? And I hope to keep that in mind as I’m running other groups, because it’s true, right? Especially when it’s peer groups, because we’re part of that same population.”

Next Steps

After taking the training and seeing what GPS has to offer, Lily’s already thinking about what a customized GPS curriculum would be like for her community. “I would love to have a curriculum for our population. I feel like the perinatal community deserves its own kind of outline and I would prefer a concrete evidence-base to facilitate the group.”

She notes that her current model provides an outline for group facilitating, but they’re too general. Lily hopes that with GPS she can improve the care and support she offers to the perinatal community.

If you’d like to learn more about GPS training and how it can help you hold space for others while nurturing your own growth, visit our calendar to explore upcoming trainings and resources.