Substance Abuse Group Ideas

Group therapy for addiction treatment has become popular and is widely used because of the benefits that it provides for those involved. Coping skills, communication skills, confidence, emotional support and education can all be part of group therapy.

Icebreakers

• Icebreakers are great for getting a group started. Using icebreakers allows the leader to become familiar with the participants, and for the participants with each other.

  Categories is a good ice breaker. The leader will have a list of categories such as "loves swimming" or "has an exotic pet." Then each participant with a piece of paper will go around interviewing others and get their signatures if they fall into one of the categories.

Trust

• Building trust is an important factor for any therapy to work. "Minefield" is a great start to building trust. The leader should place a variety of items on the floor and scatter them. One person is blindfolded and must be led by a partner through the minefield.

Types

• Art, drama and dancing are all great activities for group therapy. Going green is a better group activity. Growing a garden will get individuals active, give them an outlet, build confidence and give them a sense of purpose. Work in groups and assign different sections to the group to be responsible for.

Community

• Each member of the group will have strengths and skills. Getting them to help the community can build self-confidence, pride and coping skills. Allow group members to use skills to help clean up graffiti, clean parks, plant flowers and trees or build playground equipment.

Effects

• Group therapy can help the members learn many different things to cope with their addiction, recovery and prevent relapse. Members will learn coping skills and things that can trigger their addiction. They can learn communication skills and team work. They will learn the value of family and trust.