Ideas for Drug & Alcohol Groups

The National Institute on Drug Addiction (NIDA) classified over 23.2 million people over the age of 12 as drug addicts or alcoholics in 2007. With such a prevalent addiction, ideas for drug and alcohol groups ought to focus on getting and keeping people in treatment. If you stick with ideas that highlight these qualities, you may increase the success rate of your group.

Camping Trip

• Use a camping trip or weekend getaway to prevent drug addicts and alcoholics from relapsing on an often too-tempting weekend night. To implement this idea, carpool to a prearranged place and give each person his own tent. If you need more sleeping space, divide tents among two or three people.

  Because boredom contributes greatly to relapse, according to Relapse Prevention's home page, plan activities for the whole weekend. Build a bonfire and share stories, create a mini-ropes course and hold two meetings a day in the woods. Allow each person the freedom to explore her interests; while one person takes time collecting bugs, another can take a spirit walk.

Spiritual Study

• Evidenced in several of the steps, Alcoholics Anonymous believes that the incorporation of faith into the rehabilitation process aids in an addict's recovery. If your group centers around a specific faith or religion, use group time to study religious lessons. Focus on those lessons that relate to healing, forgiveness and recovery. For example, in the Bible, study Proverbs that speak to overcoming gluttony.

  Even atheist groups can incorporate a pseudo-spirituality: research historic examples of alcoholics and addicts to help the members learn from the lessons of people before them.

Family Night

• The support of family and friends is paramount in recovery. With that in mind, create a family night for your rehabilitation group. Although treatment groups often prefer to remain anonymous, many addicts, especially those advanced in their programs, do not mind sharing their recovery status with family. Do not create the family night as a place to work out long-standing psychological problems. Instead, facilitate a place to try a different kind of socializing--socializing without substances.

Global Sponsorship

• One of the major principles of any recovery program, encourage your group to "give back" recovery lessons. In Alcoholics Anonymous, the twelfth step requires the recovering addict to sponsor another alcoholic. You can move outside of this box to increase global awareness of addiction. Encourage and enlist members of your group to speak at local college function. Although this may challenge "young" members, those with a year or more of sobriety might relish the chance to share their stories. .