Reports & Research
Group peer support among immigrants and refugees: a scoping review
This study, originally published in the International Journal of Mental Health, aims to synthesize and evaluate the evidence on the effectiveness, implementation, and outcomes of group peer support among these immigrants and refugees worldwide. Group peer support is a promising intervention model that can be adapted to various settings and needs. It provides critical support and fosters resilience among immigrants and refugees.
Learning Impact Report: GPS Facilitator Training For St. Thomas Lutheran Church 2025
The partnership between GPS and St. Thomas reflects a powerful convergence of values. By bringing GPS facilitator training to its congregation, St. Thomas Lutheran Church has taken a bold and faithful step toward transforming spiritual harm into shared healing—embodying a theology of grace through action and creating a lasting model for faith communities committed to trauma-informed care.
Learning Impact Report: GPS MASStrong Facilitator Training September 2025
The September 2025 GPS Facilitator Training was a transformative experience for participants, equipping them with the skills, confidence, and tools to lead trauma-informed support groups. Group Peer Support (GPS) facilitator trainings are designed to create welcoming spaces, uplift varied perspectives, and remove barriers to participation. Via a hybrid format, GPS delivered 20 hours of interactive training designed to enhance facilitation abilities, improve group dynamics management, and strengthen trauma-informed approaches.
2025 MASStrong Impact Summary: April 1-June 30 2025
MASStrong is already shaping a new culture of mental health in healthcare—one where connection, equity, and peer leadership redefine what support can look like. With strong early momentum, a diverse facilitator network, and evaluation systems now in place, the program is poised to deliver a transformative, system-level impact in the months ahead.
Learning Impact Report: GPS MASStrong Facilitator Training June 2025
With a range of backgrounds and experiences represented in the June 2025 GPS Facilitator Training cohort, the training fostered an environment where participants felt heard, valued, and empowered. Based on their experience, 100% of participants would recommend the GPS Facilitator Training to their colleagues, underscoring the training’s relevance and effectiveness.
Desde 2023, GPS Group Peer Support ha ofrecido la capacitación de facilitadores de GPS para la comunidad hispana, presentada totalmente en español. El objetivo de la capacitación es capacitar a líderes de la comunidad hispana para liderar grupos usando el modelo de GPS para comunidades hispanohablantes en su lengua materna. Que la capacitación se presente en español y esté específicamente adaptada a la comunidad hispana es sumamente beneficioso y valorado por los participantes. Este informe resume las experiencias, el aprendizaje y el crecimiento de los participantes de la cohorte de junio 2025 de la capacitación de facilitadores de GPS para la comunidad hispana.
Learning Impact Report : GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic Community June 2025
Since 2023, GPS Group Peer Support has offered GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic Community delivered entirely in Spanish. The purpose of the training is to train Hispanic community leaders how to lead GPS groups for Spanish-speaking communities in their native language. Having the training presented in Spanish and specifically adapted to the Hispanic community is immensely beneficial and valued by participants. This report summarizes the experiences, learning, and growth of participants from the June 2025 GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic community cohort.
Learning Impact Report : GPS MASStrong Facilitator Training Spring 2025
With a range of backgrounds and experiences represented in the Spring 2025 GPS Facilitator Training cohort, the training fostered an environment where participants felt heard, valued, and empowered. Ninety-two percent of participants agreed GPS effectively prepares facilitators to navigate complex group dynamics, ensuring structured, meaningful group support.
Learning Impact Report : GPS Facilitator Training Winter 2025
By investing in GPS training, organizations expand access to high-quality, peer-led mental health support. The Winter 2025 Facilitator Training reinforced the essential role of peer support in addressing emotional well-being, stress, and trauma. With universal participant endorsement, measurable skill growth, and a commitment to creating safe, effective support spaces, GPS continues to set the standard for facilitator training.
Learning Impact Report : GPS Facilitator Training Fall 2024
The Fall 2024 GPS Facilitator Training was a transformative experience for participants, equipping them with the skills, confidence, and tools to lead trauma-informed support groups. Group Peer Support (GPS) facilitator trainings are designed to create welcoming spaces, uplift varied perspectives, and remove barriers to participation. Over four weeks, GPS delivered 20 hours of interactive training designed to enhance facilitation abilities, improve group dynamics management, and strengthen trauma-informed approaches.
GPS Circles of Connection for the Jewish Community Facilitator Training Impact Report
Participants in the GPS Circles of Connection Facilitator Training represented a broad spectrum of expertise and leadership, including academic leaders, educators, clergy, clinicians, human resources professionals, experts in conflict resolution and related disciplines, executives, and engaged community members. A variety of organizations participated in the training, underscoring the initiative’s far-reaching and inclusive impact. Participants praised the GPS Circles of Connection Facilitator Training for its thoroughness, structure, and relevance, with all attendees indicating they would recommend it to colleagues.
GPS Circles of Connection for the Jewish Community Pilot Program Impact Report
GPS Circles of Connection for the Jewish Community pilot program was designed to mitigate the stress, anxiety, and trauma experienced by Jews in the Greater Boston area. The pilot was implemented in partnership with Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Boston and JCC Greater Boston. It was funded by The Beker Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Center for Combating Antisemitism, The Ruderman Family Foundation, and other foundation partners across Boston. Circles of Connection provided participants with a free group-based support session, known as a circle, based on the GPS model.
Outcomes were remarkable: 97% of participants said they would recommend the program to their peers.
2024 GPS Supervisor Training Report for MA DPH Bureau of Substance and Addiction Services (BSAS)
The GPS Supervisor Training delivered in June 2024 provided a variety of information and skills-building. Participants learned more about GPS’s trauma-informed foundational principles & evidence-based modalities, how GPS increases engagement and reduces challenging situations in groups, key components of the GPS model, as well as GPS’s approach to supporting peer specialists. Participants also learned how to adapt GPS for unique populations, how to best support their team in implementing the GPS model, and how to utilize the GPS model in staff meetings and supervision.
2024 GPS Facilitator Training Report for MA DPH Bureau of Substance and Addiction Services (BSAS)
Since 2019, GPS Group Peer Support (GPS) has contracted with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance and Addiction Services (BSAS) to provide facilitator training to the BSAS workforce. Through this endeavor, over 650 BSAS-affiliated providers and recovery coaches have been trained in the GPS model of group-based support. As a result, GPS Support Groups focused on recovery from substance use disorder are available to diverse populations across the Commonwealth through BSAS-affiliated programs.
2024 GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic Community Learning Impact Report
Since 2023, GPS Group Peer Support has offered GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic Community delivered entirely in Spanish. The purpose of the training is to train Hispanic community leaders how to lead GPS groups for Spanish-speaking communities in their native language. Having the training presented in Spanish and specifically
adapted to the Hispanic community is immensely beneficial and valued by participants. This report summarizes the experiences, learning, and growth of participants from the GPS Facilitator Training for the Hispanic community cohort.
GPS for Refugee Support Pilot Program Impact Report
Refugees experience high levels of emotional distress during the process of resettlement. This can lead to high rates of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health resources that can mitigate these conditions are extremely difficult to secure during and after the relocation process. For this pilot program, GPS adapted its model of trauma-informed, group-based mental wellness support for a group of teenage Afghan girls evacuated from the country in 2021 and relocated to Saskatoon, Canada. Outcomes from the pilot program demonstrated that participants broke through the intense isolation they were experiencing and increased their resilience and self-efficacy. Learn more in the GPS for Refugee Support Pilot Program Report.
MASStrong Pilot Program Report
The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on frontline health care workers’ mental health is well documented, and post-pandemic staffing shortages persist throughout the Commonwealth’s healthcare sector as a result. MASStrong for Healthcare Workers was launched as a pilot program to mitigate the pandemic-related stress, anxiety, and burnout experienced by healthcare workers. Outcomes from the pilot program were overwhelmingly positive. Learn more in the MASStrong Pilot Program Report.