Addiction recovery is a long process that often involves both individual and group therapy. Group activities for recovering addicts can build interpersonal bonds, critical thinking, and the development of healthy habits. Here are four activities that encourage group members to share, grow, and dream:
1: Start With a ‘Positivity Moment’
Each group member can share one happy thought or experience that has happened since the last meeting. Anything counts, no matter how small.
The belief that a happy future is achievable is a key factor in long term addiction recovery. This exercise will help group members develop the skill of identifying and savoring life’s happy moments. They can remember these during challenging times.
2: Create a ‘Healthy Living’ Challenge
Health is multifaceted. To many, the main pillars of health include: quality time with loved ones, exercise, a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and personally or spiritually fulfilling activities like reading an uplifting novel or volunteering.
Pick one pillar of health and challenge group members to work together to hit a goal. For instance, it might be ‘do a total of 25 hours of exercise this week.’ For a group of ten people, that works out to 2.5 hours of exercise each, or just half an hour, five days a week.
3: Visualize a Life Without Financial Limitations
What would you do if you were given a million dollars? This question can spark a good conversation about values, current struggles, and dreams for the future.
For a bonus round, talk about what can be done to achieve that future even with the group’s current means. This could include trimming spending to build a financial safety cushion, carving out a few hours on the weekend to learn a new skill, reconnecting with family and friends, etc.
4: Picture Your ‘Happy Place’
This exercise is a variation of the ‘million dollars’ question above. Here, the group leader challenges members to imagine the most relaxing place in the world. This could be someplace like their grandparents’ home, a tropical beach, or a spa.
Next, brainstorm ways to build a ‘happy place’ into their real life, such as investing in candles and bath salts to create an at-home spa experience. The idea here is to encourage a healthy refuge from life’s daily stresses.
Group activities for recovering addicts are a keystone for lifelong sobriety. These games, challenges, and conversation points aren’t just fun and feel-good. They also help people build bonds within the group and inspire one another. The right group activities encourage people to visualize a healthy and fulfilling future, so they’re less likely to stray off the path of sobriety.