Group Therapy Activities for Adults

Self-help groups across the globe use group therapy as a tool to propagate better living and educate participants on the benefits of striving for a better living. Self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) have been using group therapy activities for adults since the mid 1930s. These groups used the medium of sharing experience, strength and hope, as they discovered the therapeutic value of helping one another. Realizing the benefit of these activities, psychologists have also included group therapy as an integral part of psychotherapy.

One of the advantages of group therapy over one-on-one counseling is that participants get strength from knowing that they are not alone. When individuals share their experience, others in the group identify and in turn are able to deal with their work areas. Group therapy activities can help deal with a wide range of shortcomings ranging from psychological to physical disabilities. Activities in a group session revolve around self discovery, self-esteem, trust building, character building, etc.

Group Therapy Activities

For most people it's difficult to open up in front of other people even if it's a therapist, hence one of the mainstay of most group sessions are ice breaker games. These group therapy games are generally used to acclimatize the participants to the group dynamics. They are also quite efficacious in setting the right tone for a group session which requires all individuals to contribute. One of the most important elements of group sessions is 'trust', so a few trust building games will be played. After people are comfortable a journey of self discovery begins with the help of activities and counseling.

Ice Breakers

Funny Intro
One of the essential group therapy activities is to introduce oneself to the whole group and for some it can be a daunting task. The funny intro is one of the best group therapy ideas to get people to introduce themselves to the group. You ask the participants to tell their first names and tell 3 funny things about themselves. For example : Hi my name is Sam and I talk in my sleep, always walk with my hands in my trouser pockets and make noise when sipping coffee.

Mimic
Imitating celebrities is one of the sure fire ways of getting a few laughs and lightening the mood of the participants. If you feel like it you can even assign each participant a celebrity that they have to mimic in front of the group. It is one of the most interesting group therapy activities as participants explore their talents of acting and socializing.

Building Trust

Blind Artist
Trust is a very important group therapy topic and to assist the participants in understanding this at an experiential level is by playing trust building games. Form teams with two members in each team, blindfold one member and give a diagram to the other member. The blindfolded teammate has to draw the diagram on the board by listening to the instructions of the other teammate. After the diagram is finished give another diagram to each team this time reversing the role of the team members.

Walking Backwards
Clutter the floor with obstacles and arrange pieces of furniture in a haphazard manner. Divide the group in teams of two, one member from each team will be the navigator and the other will navigate the course. The person navigating the course has to do it walking backwards without looking behind. It is the responsibility of the other team member to give correct directions to help the team member successfully navigate the course. People with depression find this game very therapeutic as they realize the importance of trust.

Self Discovery

Ask it Basket
Sharing is one of the integral tools of group therapy activities and to get the participants to share on relevant subjects is crucial. Give all the participants a piece of paper and a pencil, ask them to write one of their strongest negative emotion. Once they have done writing ask them to fold the piece of paper and put it in a hat. Randomly call anyone from the group and ask them to pick a chit from the hat and share their experience on that emotion. For example, you could have chits with emotions like anger, fear, resentment, jealousy, etc.

Spin the Bottle
A good game to get people talking about their strengths and work areas is spin the bottle game. Get a bottle and paste a (+) sign on the cap and paste a (-) sign on the bottom. Ask the participants to form a circle and then spin the bottle in the middle. Once the bottle stops spinning identify the members who are in direct line of the positive and negative signs. Whoever is directly in line with the (+) sign will have to talk about their strengths and the one in line with the (-) sign has to talk about the work areas.

Using group therapy activities is one of the most innovative ways of behavior modification, education, and transforming the participants outlook. Group therapy is being effectively used for people suffering with disorders like schizophrenia, depression, addiction, obesity, etc. Group therapy also has wider application and can be used to propagate well-being and personality development.