Group Therapy for Addiction: Our Approaches

Strength in Connection: Group Therapy for Addiction: Our Approaches at Purpose Healing Center

Skill Building Opportunities

In some therapy groups, providers may guide you and other group members through learning a variety of life skills and coping strategies. Group treatment models may help you to facilitate skills for:

• Navigating triggering situations (e.g., saying no when someone offers you alcohol or another drug).
• Stress management (e.g., mindfulness, deep breathing, making sure that you have time for yourself, asking for help, not taking too much on).
• Distress tolerance and emotion regulation.
• Healthy self-expression.
• Daily life communication.
• Setting boundaries.
• Teamwork.
• Self-awareness.
• Decision-making.
• Problem-solving.
• Self-care.

Different skill development groups you participate in during treatment may focus on distinct skill areas or use specific activities to promote skill development.

Enhancing Motivation for Change

Hearing other people talk about their motivations to change addictive behaviors can strengthen your own drive to get and stay sober. Specific groups organized around this goal, like motivational enhancement therapy, may be particularly beneficial, especially during the early stages of treatment.

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Substance Abuse Group Therapy at Purpose Healing Center

Every type of substance abuse treatment group at Purpose has its own unique benefits. Here are some of what you can expect from the groups offered at our centers.

Experiential Therapy Groups

Experiential therapy groups use hands-on activities to support the treatment process. One example at Purpose is art therapy. In art therapy groups, clients follow instructions from an art therapist and make creative projects.

Another example of a hands-on therapy approach is psychodrama. In psychodrama sessions, group members role-play and act out events. For example, navigating a substance abuse trigger that might occur in a real-life scenario.

Psychoeducational Group Therapy

Psychoeducation is a brief therapy. It focuses on educating people about their condition and the treatment for it. In psychoeducational group therapy sessions for addiction, therapists may discuss information regarding various aspects of living with and recovering from substance abuse.

Examples of topics a therapist might cover in these sessions include:

• How drug use affects the brain and body.
• The cycle of addiction (and how to disrupt it).
• Healthy habits (e.g., sleep, nutrition, exercise) and how they support the recovery process.
• Building a support system.
• Relapse prevention.
• Coping skills.

In addition to groups, psychoeducation can be helpful for family members. Some of the same topics (e.g., the nature of addiction) may be discussed in family therapy sessions, too, if suitable.

Interpersonal Process Groups

In process groups, members are encouraged to talk about things like what’s been on their mind or how they feel in the moment. These are a regular part of clients’ treatment schedules at most recovery centers. The therapist’s job is to create and maintain a supportive environment, encourage emotional exploration, and help group members reflect.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral groups are very popular in addiction and mental health treatment. CBT focuses on understanding how your thoughts impact your behaviors. Goals of CBT usually involve:

• Help people challenge negative thoughts (called cognitive distortions – for example, all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing).
• Build healthier thought patterns (e.g., replace negative thoughts with thoughts that better support your recovery and mental health).
• Learn and practice coping skills.
• Modify behaviors.

CBT can be adapted to treat a range of different concerns, including addiction. In the field of substance use treatment, CBT has been proven effective when used both on its own and in combination with other treatments.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT was derived from CBT. It focuses on four core skill areas:

• Observing thoughts, feelings, and urges (e.g., drug cravings) in the present moment without judgment or acting on impulse.
• Distress tolerance. Working on skills like radical acceptance, self-soothing, and distractions.
• Interpersonal effectiveness. Practice communicating clearly, setting boundaries, maintaining self-respect in relationships, and other skills to help you foster healthy attachments and social support.
• Emotion regulation. Learning how to identify, understand, and manage intense emotions productively.

DBT combines accepting your current reality (e.g., past experiences, painful emotions) with commitment to changing addictive behaviors and building a better future. It treats setbacks as learning opportunities and, like CBT, discourages all-or-nothing thinking.

12-Step Models and Facilitation

The twelve steps provide structured, practical recovery guidance. They were created by the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In research, 12-step facilitation has been linked to benefits like higher rates of abstinence.

We find that it is particularly valuable as part of a combined approach. Our team uses 12-step facilitation in group therapy settings alongside therapies like CBT, DBT, and art therapy as a core part of our programs.

You may also attend local AA and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings as a part of your treatment schedule at Purpose, in addition to formal therapy groups.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) helps people find their internal desire to make a change in their lives. It’s used to address ambivalence and promote motivation, which can be essential for sobriety and staying in treatment.

MET can be adapted for group settings. Group MET sessions connect people with others who are facing similar challenges while using nonconfrontational, collaborative techniques to work through resistance.