When you or someone close to you participates in addiction or mental health recovery, one of the best ways to facilitate long-term success is to involve family. Addiction, in particular, doesn’t just affect the individual; it affects all of the family and friends closest to the individual.
As a result, interactions between family members because of mental health issues or addiction issues can eventually lead to unhelpful behaviors, poor communication, conflict, and a breakdown of the family dynamics.
One way to help with this is through family dynamics group therapy activities.
What Are Family Dynamics Group Therapy Activities?
Family dynamics group therapy activities are group-based activities in which family members participate in an effort to learn how to better communicate, express needs, set boundaries, and otherwise repair relationships and improve emotional bonds.
These types of activities take place during family therapy at a treatment center and they are facilitated by a therapist who can mediate and encourage participation and provide insights into ways that individuals can better themselves and their expression or communication with family members.
Examples of Family Dynamics Group Therapy Activities
There are many ways that families can learn to develop more empathy, rebuild broken relationships, rebuild trust, and move beyond unhelpful emotions like anger.
Role Playing
Role-playing is one common example of family dynamics group therapy activities in which family members are able to imagine themselves in the shoes of another family member, such as a parent or child.
This can be a helpful way to improve understanding of the impact that things like addiction have had on those around you. It’s also a way to better express difficult emotions and learn to practice new skills. With the right type of role-playing, individuals can see situations from a different angle and develop greater compassion.
Mirroring
Mirroring is another way to better understand family relationships and to improve nonverbal communication in particular. In this method, family members are paired off, and they take turns mirroring the facial expressions and movements of the other person.
In recovery, this can help family members be more attentive to nonverbal cues and to better understand which nonverbal cues or facial expressions might indicate individual emotions for a specific family member.
Emotions Ball Discussions
Another activity is one where individuals may be uncomfortable expressing their emotions, and this can be a result of upbringing, challenging emotions associated with addiction, or family members who have built barriers or blocks because of years of mistrust and other problems.
With this activity, family members write down their emotions on different parts of a ball, like a beach ball that is already subdivided. As the ball is passed back and forth, family members share experiences based on the emotion they face when they catch the ball. This is a way to encourage open discussion with easy and more comfortable promptings.
Art Therapy
Another way that families can participate in family dynamics group therapy activities when there is an emotional block or communication problems involves art therapy. Art therapy is a way for family members to express themselves in a nonverbal capacity, expressing their emotions through hands-on artistic activities.
This not only provides tactile engagement but can also give people something else to focus on if they are uncomfortable with emotional expression. It still provides useful information that can build stronger family relationships.
Family Dynamics Group Therapy Activities with Multi-Concept Recovery
There are many types of activities in which family members can participate, including group therapy for family members of addicts. What works well for one family may not work as well for another, which is why it’s important to participate in family programs at qualified treatment centers.
At Multi-Concept Recovery, we recognize that treating substance abuse and mental health requires individualized care, and that’s why we offer programs that treat your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
A big part of this success is grounded in family participation. Clients whose families help with recovery and are actively involved in things like family dynamics group therapy activities or individuals who participate in these activities and apply the principles to their family lives are more likely to succeed in their long-term recovery.
Whether you participate in a partial day program, intensive outpatient program, or our family approach, you can expect a comprehensive intake assessment that gets updated regularly throughout your treatment plan so that you can trust your recovery is heading in the right direction.
Call our team at 866-935-6081 to learn more about our family dynamics group therapy activities, financing options, and insurance verification for treatment.
