Tribe is a community for anyone committed to refining who they are, for life. Small Circles, practical skills and an ancient five-element wheel help you grow in every part of your life: purpose, relationships, health and habits, mind and emotions, and spirit.
Every human has challenges, and every part of a life can be improved. Tribe uses the five elements as a map of the whole person. Sobriety, mental health, physical health, spirituality and relationships aren't separate programs here. They're all part of the same process of becoming who you want to be.
Direction, goals, learning, and the person you are becoming.
Family, friends, partners, community, and how you show up for the people around you.
Sleep, health, movement, routines, and freedom from any habit or substance you've come to feel controlled by. Sobriety lives here.
Mental health, anxiety, anger, grief, and honest self-examination.
Stillness, purpose, faith or no faith, and the deep well you draw from.
Whether you're thriving and want more, working through a hard season, or changing a habit that's holding you back, you belong here.
Not willpower alone. Not shame. People change most when they're seen, supported and part of something. Tribe builds personal growth inside real relationships, with the friends you already have or a small Circle of committed people who become your tribe.
Small Circles of 3 to 8 people meet weekly, in person, by video or both, and show up for each other turn after turn.
Practical tools from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and other proven approaches: mindfulness, handling stress, working with emotions and communicating well, practiced together, not just talked about.
Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, atheist, or never thought about it. Spiritual growth is part of the wheel, and no Gate depends on a particular answer. Agnosticism and atheism are complete belief structures, not absences.
Nobody graduates from becoming a better person. When the wheel completes a turn, the Circle turns it again, a little deeper each time.
“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.”
— Researcher Bruce Alexander, on his “Rat Park” studies. The lesson reaches far beyond addiction: people thrive, and change, when they belong.The Circle has exactly one standard: self-refinement, and helping each other, and yourself, become a better version of who you already are.
Every challenge is equal: a habit, a substance, a temper, a relationship pattern, a season of anxiety or grief, or simply the next version of yourself you're reaching for. Therapy, medication, faith, meditation and a run at sunrise are all tools, not verdicts. No one is ever condemned for their challenges or for the tools they use to grow.
The program takes its shape from Wu Xing, the Taoist five-element cycle: Wood feeds Fire, Fire's ash becomes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal enriches Water, and Water nourishes Wood again. A Circle moves through five Gates in that order — each paired with an emotion and a DBT skill — and then begins again.
Tap an element to explore its Gate.
Meeting weekly, two meetings per Gate, one full turn takes about ten weeks. Faster or slower is fine — what matters is that the wheel keeps turning.
Every design choice asks one question: does this make people want to keep showing up — and does it protect the friendships involved?
3 to 8 people who commit to showing up for each other, usually weekly. A Circle can be:
Each Circle writes a one-page covenant together: confidentiality, cadence, and a promise that no member will ever condemn another.
A gentle nightly check-in — a 1–5 “fire level,” sleep, whether you connected with someone, and an optional private note. It exists to help you see your own patterns.
Seen by no one but you — not even a facilitator.
One tap sends just an icon — steady, okay, or in a wave.
You choose to tell your Circle what's going on. Always your call.
Each meeting opens and closes the same way, led by a rotating Fire Keeper. The words are secular and universal — and a Circle that shares a faith is always welcome to use its own prayer instead.
“We gather again — not because we have arrived, but because the wheel keeps turning. Wood becomes Fire. Fire becomes Earth. Earth becomes Metal. Metal becomes Water. Water feeds Wood again. So do we. Whatever brought you here tonight, you are welcome exactly as you are, with no story required.”
Then a one-word round: a single word for how you're arriving tonight. “Pass” is a complete answer.
“The fire doesn't go out between turns. We just bank the coals and carry them home until we're back together again. Go well.”
Before it, a closing round: one thing you're taking with you tonight — or pass.
A small, unprompted note of warmth to a Circle-mate between meetings — appreciation, not an accountability check.
Leadership of each meeting moves around the Circle, so ownership is shared instead of resting on one person.
Optional display names and avatars — a small layer of distance that makes it easier to say the true thing, even among friends.
An optional one-on-one pairing for a closer layer of support — what works about the sponsor model, without the stranger hierarchy.
A simple repair script for when a pattern or a moment causes hurt: name what happened, name what you'll do differently, stop there.
Every turn ends with a low-drama moment to adjust cadence, welcome new members, or step back with warmth.
Weekly meetings hold a Circle together week to week. The annual gathering holds it together year to year — the way tribal and ancestral communities have always come together to renew their bonds.
Tribe is a peer-support and personal-growth community. Mental health, sobriety and physical health are part of the work, but Tribe is not therapy or medical treatment, and it works best alongside professional care whenever that care is needed.
Every member completes a brief screening. Anyone showing signs of severe dependence, withdrawal risk, suicidality, or untreated serious mental illness is connected with professional resources before — or alongside — joining a Circle.
Circle-holders are trained in the DBT skills taught at each Gate, in recognizing warning signs, and in exactly when and how to escalate. They hold structure and warmth — they never diagnose or treat.
Every Circle agrees on a documented escalation path at its first meeting. Circle-mates are not a 24/7 crisis line; real emergencies go to real crisis and emergency resources.
Private check-ins stay private. Facilitators only ever see that someone has gone quiet — and the response is a warm “we miss you,” never a reference to private data.
Existing members and newcomers alike. Certification makes sure every facilitator can hold the skills, the structure, the crisis protocol and the non-condemnation ethic with real competence — without turning it into a clinical credential.
Self-paced online modules plus one practicum — about 8–12 hours. Free during the pilot.
For active Circle-holders who have led at least one full turn of the wheel.
We're starting the way the idea started: with a real friend group. Each phase is shaped by what the one before it actually proves.
8–15 people across 1–3 Circles, meeting weekly by video and in person. Simple, honest outcome tracking.
Tune the curriculum, train the first facilitators, and build only the tools the pilot shows we need.
Launch the platform publicly — Circle video rooms, the Fire Check, matching for people without a group.
Certified trainers and regional leads help Circles take root in new places. Quality before quantity.
These are the pilot's starter Circles. Times are proposals: each Circle settles its own rhythm once its members arrive. Don't see your fit? Start your own.
Open meetings welcome newcomers. Join by video, listen as long as you like, and pass whenever you want. "Pass" is always a full sentence.
Tell us a little about yourself and we'll match you with a Circle by hand. This isn't a medical or clinical assessment, just enough to find people you'll want to keep showing up for.
About two minutes. Share only what you're comfortable sharing. A first name or nickname is fine.
Have friends who'd show up for each other, or a group you want to gather? Hold your own Circle. We'll send you the Circle-holder guide and walk you through your first turn of the wheel. Open Circles are added to the directory.
Want to become a certified Circle-holder, or partner with us as a therapist, practitioner, faith group or community organization? Let's talk.
Free during the pilot. A free membership tier will always exist, because price should never be the reason someone goes without a Circle. In crisis? Call or text 988, or call 911.