Group therapy is proved extremely effective for people have trouble maintaining relationships and face other issues in life. It's basically a shared therapeutic experience arranged under the supervision of a trained professional. There will be other people present working through similar issues as you. An important thing about this collaborative form of healing is that it can focus on particular concerns or on interpersonal relationship issues faced by group members.
Types and Functions of Group Therapy Activities
Some activities encourage insight and communication, while others are great for personal growth and building trust. These activities can be sit-down interactions involving reading and sharing stores or they can be physically engaging exercises as well.
Icebreakers
These are the most common types meant to help group members get to know other members in a non-threatening way. In some groups, you will need an expert using small objects such as beanbags, balloons, and balls.
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Names of Activities |
How to Play |
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Balloon Activities |
You can use balloons for different activities with the simplest one being the passing of balloon to one another with the person holding the balloon sharing his/her story. |
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Group Juggle |
The activity involves throwing balls to others in a systematic order. |
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Categories |
It's a fun and highly interactive group activity that involves asking a group to organize them into smaller groups on the basis of different categories such as favorite color. |
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Gotchya (Grab the Finger) |
It's a fast-moving activity that involves arranging people in a circle with right finger on the left palm of the person sitting next in the circle. You have to grab a finger before yours get grabbed. |
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Human Knot |
Group members get in a circle while holding someone else's hand and then try to unravel the knot while maintaining the circle and not letting go of hands. |
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2 Truths & a Lie |
Group members write down two truths about themselves as well as a lie and then ask others to identify the lie by asking three facts. |
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Fear in a Hat |
Group members write their innermost fears anonymously on paper and then every person picks a paper, reads it and identifies who may have written it. |
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Have You Ever? |
Finish the sentence have you ever…It helps members explore and share their experiences with others. |
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Zoom |
Group members create a unified story using a set of sequential pictures. |
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Animal Sounds |
Participants are blindfolded and then are required to make animal noises. The task is to find other animals of same species. |
Building Trust
It is important for all group members to trust others in the group as well as the person arranging these group activities. Several group therapy activities help nurture trust, collaboration, and respect. These activities can be as simple as acting, painting, and playing music.
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Names of Activities |
How to Play |
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Mine Field |
Two players play this game with one blindfolded and looking for objects scattered everywhere with the help of the other partner.
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Willow in the Wind |
Eight people take part in this activity with one in the middle with his eyes closed doing a "trust lean".
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Trust Lean |
Two people take part in this activity with one being a Faller and the other one the Catcher. It is important to first learn the methods of falling, spotting, and catching.
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Running Free |
A blindfolded person works with a partner who helps him/her start from a slow walk and lead to a brisk walk and then fast running.
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Slice 'N Dice |
It involves forming a gauntlet and asking a person to walk down it with arms out in front.
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Eye Contact |
It involves staring each other's eyes for 60 seconds and helps group members understand the importance of maintaining eye contact.
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Proximity |
It teaches the importance of physical proximity by making them work in a pair with faces towards each other. People have to move a bit closer to someone and share their feelings and then walk away to increase the distance.
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Trust Fall |
It involves making a person fall backwards from a high table without looking behind just trusting that the rest of the group members will catch them.
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Rappelling / Abseiling |
It involves using harnesses, ropes, and frictional devices to perform control vertical descent from a height up to 100m.
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Bungee Jumping |
A group member leaps into space from a height of up to 100m completely relying dynamic rope.
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Psychological Exercises for Self-Awareness
These group activities and exercises help you understand why you and others in your group behave or think about something in a certain way.
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Names of Activities |
How to Play |
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Get To Know You Sociometric Questions |
It consists of a number of questions to help group members learn about one another.
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Locus of Control |
It explains more about external and internal locus of control using self-scoring questionnaires.
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Illusions: Exercises Which Illustrate Perceptual Fallibility |
The activity involves making use of 17 illusions to trick the human mind and help understand more about their perception.
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Write Your Own Eulogy |
Performed in a church or graveyard, the activity helps understand the meaning of life and death.
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Free Lunch for a Life Story |
The task involves looking for someone over 60 and asking them to share their life story.
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Group Mandala |
Every group member is represented by an object, and they share their feelings one by one.
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Solo Hour in Nature |
The idea is to spend at least an hour in silence to observe everything around you.
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Sensual Awareness Inventory |
It is one of the best group therapy activities because it makes participants share what feelings they have through each of their five senses.
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Mirror Image |
It involves making one person imitating or mirroring the actions of the other participant.
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Get Lost |
Walk until you are lost and find your way back.
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