Description of group therapies

Daily morning groups

Goals Group:
The Goals Group helps focus your desired goals and outcome while receiving treatment in the Adult Day Hospital-Intensive Outpatient Program.  At the beginning of the program, you will work on a treatment plan with the multidisciplinary team.  Your treatment plan will specify the goals you want to accomplish in the program.  The goals group will help you to break the treatment goals down into daily goals.  Setting achievable goals helps you to realize your progress, build your self-confidence, and improve your self-esteem.  The group also involves monitoring your mood (i.e. How are you feeling emotionally and how are you feeling physically) on a daily basis as well as assessing from 1-100 how you would rate your mood (1 being you are not feeling well and 100 being the best you are feeling).   Monitoring your mood and setting daily achievable goals are skills that will be utilized after you have left the program and will assist your recovery toward improved behavioral health.

Group Psychotherapy:
Group Psychotherapy is a group to share openly about issues that are related to what brought you into treatment.  Support and feedback is given both by clinicians and other group members.  Initially, what you gain in group psychotherapy is a feeling that you are not alone with what you are experiencing and that other group members have experienced similar feelings and behaviors.  Group psychotherapy is experienced as a safe place and healthy community to share about important issues. Confidentiality and non-judgmental acceptance within the group promotes this sense of safety and healthy community.  As some time goes on in group psychotherapy, you might experience your relationship to the group members and clinicians have similarities to other relationships in your life.  Group psychotherapy will be a forum to challenge yourself with exploring these issues and to make positive changes in your life for optimal behavioral health.  For example, if a group member struggles with putting others' needs first, this might be something they will do in the group also. The group will help challenge such behavior and support the group member to make healthy changes with their behavior in order to experience healthy intimacy with oneself and others.

Psychological Education Group:
In the Psychological Education Group behavioral health topics are discussed.  It is an opportunity to learn and become psychologically minded, develop emotional intelligence, if you will.  The group combines presentations by clinicians in conjunction with discussion, reading materials and experiential exercises so that different learning styles will be addressed.  A range of topics are covered within the time frames of one to five group sessions.  Topics will include: depression, anxiety, assertive communication, boundaries, self-esteem, anger management, cognitive-behavioral therapy, grief and loss, feelings, stress management, trauma recovery, as well as other topics. 

Afternoon groups

Occupational Therapy Group:
Occupational Therapy (OT) project group is a group that promotes skill development, coping skills, and increased functional independence through the use of structured activities.  Group members are encouraged to set individual goals, choose a craft project that addresses the set goal, and process the group outcome.  Examples of goals that will be addressed are: identification of strengths, increased organization of thoughts and concentration, decreased perfectionism, increased stress management, and exploration of new work/leisure skills.  Group members are encouraged to explore applications of group material to situations outside of group. 
Other OT groups explore the importance of developing a balance between work, leisure, self-care, and socialization.  The effects of illness on functioning are also explored.  Most importantly, strategies to promote increased functioning and coping skills are discussed and practiced through various activities.

Expressive Therapy Group:
The Expressive Therapy Group is a structured group utilizing various art-based themes, exercises, and activities.  The purpose of expressive therapy work is for personal growth, creative problem solving, self-reflection and self-discovery.  Issues that can be difficult to put into words can be given form, color, line, and design and then reflected on in the group setting.  Art talent is not required for creative expression.  This is art for you, not for other people.  There is a creative person inside everyone - what is important is to find your flow and start creating.  This group can also allow you to explore your wishes and needs while integrating those with other demands, plans, and expectations.  Additional purposes/goals of the expressive therapy group are as follows: expressing feelings, emotions, exploring conflicts, confidence building, self-validation, realization of ones' own potential, developing relaxation skills, increasing personal autonomy and motivation, making decisions, experimenting and testing out ideas, working with fantasy and your unconscious in order to develop insight, self-awareness, and reflection about who you are and what you want to create in your life.

Medication Education Group:
The Medication Education Group utilizes teaching, discussion, and handouts to address medication issues.  Issues discussed in the group include: use of medication in the treatment of mental illness/behavioral health issues, symptoms of mental illness/behavioral health issues, self-administration of medication issues, communicating with your doctor regarding action and side effects of medications, relapse issues, proper storage of medications, pain assessment and use of pain medication as well as other measures utilized to relieve pain.

Values Group:
Values Group focuses on discussing the impact Spiritual values may have on your emotional well-being. Values group is a place where you will share your concerns and explore the connection between your values and your emotional/behavioral health.  The goals of values group are to assist you with identifying critical values issues that will help you in experiencing a healthy community with other group participants as well as with your own family members/significant others in your life.  Values group will further assist you with exploring your own value system when your beliefs create challenges in your life along with exploring your own value system as a resource for growth to create a sense of purpose in your life.  Topics covered in the group are forgiveness, creating hope, love, self-esteem, coping with change, and the benefits of humor.

Relaxation Therapy Group:
In the Relaxation Therapy Group you will learn about stress and the impact of stress on the mind, body and spirit.  You will participate in various types of relaxation techniques.  The techniques include breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, meditation, and autogenic exercises.  The exercises will range from ten minutes to nearly an hour of guided imagery for relaxation.  Clinicians generally use guided imagery and music to guide the group members to reach a sense of peace and harmony with oneself and others.  You will gain a repertoire of relaxation and stress management skills that will be practiced as well as developed to further help reduce anxiety and achieve a greater peace of mind.