Group therapy activities are an informal way of helping people who are victims of unstable minds. These activities ensure speedy recovery in a fun way.
Most therapy modules aim towards making the patients talk about their problems to find out the root cause. However, not always may a patient respond to such a conventional therapy. Bringing in a little bit of fun to the treatment can help the patient cope up faster and better. Group therapies are the perfect combination of fun, frolic and medical treatment. They provide a platform to understand and be to understood.
For instance, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ (AA), is a group for both men and women, which helps the members break free from the shackles of alcohol abuse. It uses means to promote, ‘stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety’. It gives members a chance to open up and share their experiences. Coming together, sharing experiences and solving the problem collectively keep the group of patients motivated and determined.
Activities for Group Therapy
Ice Breakers
Ice breakers focus on creating a positive atmosphere by breaking down any sort of initial barriers between the participants. Animal Sounds is a great group therapy activity in which everyone is blindfolded, given an animal name, and made to recognize each other by making animal sounds. ‘2 Lies and 1 truth’ is another fun game. Each player has to list two lies and one truth about oneself and read them aloud. The remaining then guess lies and the truths.
Mine Field
In ‘Mine Field’, members are divided in to pairs of two. One in each pair is blind folded. Scatter objects around the place and make one person lead the other to collect the items without tripping over any. Swap partners and find out which pair worked out the best and why. Make them go through the analysis, this is the only way they will learn to trust and build a relationship with each other. Some other activities for group therapy are, Wind in the Willow, Trust Lean, and Running Free.
Fear in a Hat
To play ‘Fear in a Hat’ make all the participants anonymously write their fears on a piece of paper and collect hem in a hat. Then one by one, each person will get up to read out the fear and explains how the person may feel. This helps in empathizing and comprehending the fear in a new aspect. Talking about the fear also helps the person deal with it. Another interesting group therapy game is ‘Solo Hour in Nature’. Go for a nature trail and observe the nature in silence.
Free Fall
Make all the participants stand in a circle, while one of them stands in the center of the circle. The person standing in the center must have a rigid posture with his hands and feet together. As the facilitator blows the whistle, the person must fall freely sideways, backwards or forwards. In whichever direction he may fall, the others have to push him up to the upright position. Each participant must get the opportunity to stand in the center of the circle to learn to trust others players.
Activities for Recreation
Recreation group activities are meant for stress management. Activities like dancing, painting, composing and listening to music are all ways of expressing innate emotions. Indulging in such activities lets the mind wander for more knowledge, giving it an undiscovered space to fill it with inspiration all over again.
These activities are essentially meant for helping one cope with behavioral issues. Many psychologists use them to improve speeches and correct destructive tendencies too. The above mentioned activities can also be used as adolescent group therapy activities. A well-planned and formulated group therapy can bring about a profound transformation for a better quality of life.
