Drug Addiction Treatment: What Is Group Therapy Like?

Lana Seiler:

So I talked a little bit about that already, but they’re very… So we have a few different kinds. I’ll get into some of the more specifics. We have… Or are called psychoeducation groups. And those groups are like they sound, they’re more like a classroom setting. I or another clinician who’s leading it will be teaching concepts, teaching neurobiology of addiction, for example, or teaching about trauma reactions. And in those groups, it really is about learning with your peers.

And then we have process groups, which are different in that it’s less about a facilitator being the group leader and lecturing to the community, and it’s more about processing assignments, processing feelings, experiences, and really being together in a journey of healing.

And those groups, a lot of times we find the group runs itself. And what I mean by that is the community takes ownership of the healing process. And you’ll find that your peers will help you, sometimes even more than the clinicians will in terms of processing through assignments. And then we have experiential groups, which are so fun and so different and active.<p/p>

We have psychodrama, which is putting therapy into action. And we have outdoor activities that we go hiking in the mountains, horseback riding, and we can bring a clinical spin onto any of that. And clinicians go along so that we make it a therapeutic adventure, but it’s very experiential and active. We really try to engage our brains in different ways when we’re in different group processes. So art-based groups, for example, will engage your brain differently than a narrative therapy group, something like that.