Ground Rules and Group Agreements for Peer Support Groups

Ground rules, also called group agreements, are the handful of shared commitments a peer support group agrees to follow together, such as confidentiality, respect, no interrupting, and the right to pass. They are not imposed by a facilitator alone. The group reviews and agrees to them, usually at the first meeting, and the facilitator's job afterward is to remind the group of them when needed, not to enforce them like a rulebook.

What Is a Ground Rule, and Why Does a Group Need One?

A ground rule is a short, plain statement about how the group will treat each other and the material shared in the room. It is different from a personal boundary, which is a limit one individual sets for themselves. A ground rule belongs to everyone in the group at once. Peer support involves both giving and receiving support, where everyone's experiences are treated as equally important and no one is more of an expert than anyone else (Mental Health Foundation). Ground rules are the practical mechanism that keeps that equality real in the room. Without them, the loudest voice or the most confident opinion tends to dominate, even when nobody intends it.

Groups that skip this step often discover the need for it the hard way, after a difficult moment has already happened. Setting the agreement before that moment arrives gives everyone, including the facilitator, something plain to point back to.

What Should a Group Agreement Actually Cover?

Most peer support ground rules cluster around a small number of recurring concerns. The list below is a starting point, not a template to copy without discussion.

Area	Typical agreement	Why it matters
Confidentiality	What is shared in the group stays in the group	Builds the trust needed for honest sharing
Respect	One person speaks at a time, no interrupting	Protects equal airtime
No fixing	Share from experience, do not give advice or diagnose	Keeps the space peer-led, not clinical
Right to pass	Nobody has to share more than they are comfortable with	Protects emotional safety
Attendance	Arrive on time, let the group know if you cannot make it	Keeps the group predictable for everyone
Outside contact	Agree what, if anything, happens between sessions	Prevents unclear dual relationships

A group does not need every item on this list. Smaller, newer groups often do better with three or four agreements they can actually remember, rather than a long document nobody rereads.

Who Writes the Ground Rules?

The facilitator usually proposes a starting set, drawing on what has worked in similar groups, but the agreement is not final until the group has had a chance to discuss and adjust it. A ground rule the group had no part in shaping tends to be followed less, because nobody feels ownership of it. Asking "does this work for everyone, or would you change something?" at the first meeting takes a few minutes and makes the eventual agreement far more durable.

This matters most for the confidentiality rule, since members will test, consciously or not, whether the group actually holds to what it says. A rule the group helped write is also a rule the group is more likely to hold each other to, without needing the facilitator to play enforcer every time.

How Do You Introduce Ground Rules at the First Meeting?

Introduce ground rules early, before anyone has shared anything personal. A short, plain run-through works better than a long explanation. State each rule in one sentence, ask if anyone wants to add or change anything, and move on. Members should leave the first meeting able to repeat the two or three rules that matter most, even if they cannot recite the whole list.

It also helps to revisit the agreement briefly at later sessions, especially when new members join. A rule stated once at the first meeting and never mentioned again tends to fade from memory within a few sessions. A short reminder, such as "quick recap of our agreement for anyone new," keeps it active without turning every session into a rules lecture.

What Happens When a Ground Rule Is Broken?

Most breaches are small and unintentional: someone interrupts, or shares a detail from a previous session outside the group. The facilitator's role is to name it calmly and privately where possible, and to remind the group of the agreement rather than treat it as a personal failing. A simple, "let's come back to our agreement about one person speaking at a time" usually resolves a minor moment without embarrassing anyone.

Repeated or serious breaches, particularly around confidentiality, need a direct private conversation between the facilitator and the member involved. The principle is simple: address what is actually happening, not what you fear might happen, and keep the group's safety the priority over any one person's comfort, including the facilitator's own.

How Do Ground Rules Differ From Personal Boundaries?

Ground rules and personal boundaries work together but are not the same thing. A ground rule is a shared agreement the whole group holds, such as confidentiality or no interrupting. A personal boundary is a limit one member sets for themselves, such as choosing not to discuss a particular topic or declining contact outside meetings. Our boundaries and safety guide covers the individual side of this in more depth, including what to do when a personal limit is tested. A well-run group needs both: shared agreements that apply to everyone, and room for each person to set their own limits within them.

What Is the Simplest Version of This to Start With?

If you are launching a group and feel overwhelmed by the list above, start with three rules: what is said here stays here, one person speaks at a time, and nobody has to share more than they want to. Add to that list only as the group itself identifies a real gap, rather than trying to anticipate every situation in advance. Our guide on starting a peer support group and our facilitation basics article both cover the wider context these agreements sit inside, including where ground rules fit into opening a session and guiding the discussion that follows.

A group agreement is a living document, not a contract. It exists to protect the equality and safety that make peer support work, and it is worth revisiting whenever the group itself starts to feel the need.