Support Group Activities for Teens Recovering From Chemical Dependency

The teenage years are difficult for most people and this difficulty is only accentuated when a teen has a problem with codependency. That being said, addressing those problems at a young age before they have the opportunity to lead to more damage later in life can spare the teen from a lot of pain. While in treatment for chemical dependency, teens go through a gamut of emotions that were covered up through their chemical use. Appropriate activities in the group setting can help them to heal and move forward.

Drawings

• Ask the teens in your support group to create three drawings. In the first drawing, have them depict their life in the midst of their chemical use. Next, have them draw what their life is currently like in treatment. Finally, have them draw what they hope their life might be like in the future. Go around in a circle and ask each teen to explain their drawings and the meanings behind them.

Support Webs

• Support is vital to recovering from chemical dependency. Oftentimes, teens need to create new support networks that do not include their old chemical-abusing friends. Ask the teens to list all of the support people and venues available to them in their recovery and to draw a web illustrating how they are all connected. During group discussion time, ask them to talk about how they will use their support resources to stay clean and sober once they graduate from treatment and aftercare.

Feelings Charades

• Many teens struggling with chemical dependency have a hard time identifying their feelings. Help them to learn to identify their feelings using a game of feelings charades. Write down different feelings on index cards and circulate them randomly. Have the teens act out the emotion listed on their card while the other teens guess which emotion they are acting out. Following the game, go around in a circle and have the teens talk about which feelings they are currently experiencing, why, and what they are doing to cope with those feelings. Learning to cope with their feelings without the use of chemicals will help them to stay clean and sober.

Higher Power Poems

• The industry model for chemical dependency treatment is based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. These steps require recovering people to identify and place their trust in a Higher Power. Ask the teens to identify their Higher Power, whether it is God, Allah, the group conscience, or some other force. Next, ask them to create a poem revealing their feelings, positive or negative, towards their Higher Power, along with important attributes of their Higher Power. Ask the teens to put on a poetry reading featuring their poems and then talk about the meaning of the poems. Expressing themselves creatively may help many teens to work through any issues they may have with their Higher Power and help them to remain clean and sober.