Royal Life Centers staff utilize the power of group therapy to bring out the positive change in our guests’ lives. Group therapy is an extremely powerful tool when it comes to treating substance use disorder. Therapy sessions held in a group setting create a natural support network in which all of our group members can feel comfortable in openly sharing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
The men and women within our groups hold each other accountable throughout treatment and help one another to come up with solutions for their problems.
What is Group Therapy?
Group therapy is a key part of quality addiction treatment and recovery from substance use disorders. These therapy sessions engage each guest in guided group discussions that promote healthy communication, self-reflection, and unique insights on the perspective of other individuals participating.
In doing so, the men and women in our care join in collaborative therapeutic efforts, offering comfort and support as they work to overcome obstacles, process unresolved trauma, and instill healthy coping skills to strengthen their resolve in recovery. As they participate in therapeutic group discussions, our guests become a unified front focused on motivating one another to continue striving toward a life of joy and fulfillment in recovery.
What Happens in Group Therapy?
With group therapy at Seaglass, our team of certified group facilitators create a comfortable, welcoming environment to encourage the building of connections and learning of healthy coping skills alongside other Seaglass guests.
Group therapists promote healthy discord through thought-provoking questions that encourage guests to share their unique perspectives and actively listen to others who choose to share. As each guest engages in group therapy, they learn how to identify the situations that trigger their cravings and brainstorm and discuss ideas on how to avoid stressful events with peer input. Additionally, the men and women in our groups work together to find the best ways to implement adaptive coping skills into their routine to assist in combatting cravings.
Group sessions are typically an hour long, and include but are not limited to: 12-step oriented groups, relapse prevention techniques, problem solving skills, gender specific groups, trauma, and expressive therapy groups. Guests are encouraged to be open and honest with others, allowing them to get the most out of the group setting.
Timeline for Group Therapy in Inpatient Treatment
Guests in our residential inpatient treatment program at Seaglass participate in five group therapy sessions per day, each lasting one hour.
Group Therapy In Rehab
Psychoeducational Group Therapy
Psychoeducational group therapy educates our guests about their substance use disorders and the co-occurring disorders that may often fuel their drug and/or alcohol abuse. In these groups, our certified group facilitators offer information while promoting healthy, collaborative discussions that introduce new coping strategies to help each guest overcome their addiction.
Skill-Based Groups
While in our Skill-Based Groups, guests cultivate the skills they need to successfully maintain a recovery lifestyle. Group facilitators work with the group to instill healthy, alternative ways to refuse the offer of drugs, avoid triggers for use, or cope with cravings. Likewise, the men and women in our care practice life skills that promote their continued sobriety once out of treatment. For instance, guests learn anger management skills, problem solving practices, as well as techniques for relaxation and emotional regulation.
Trauma Therapy Groups
Our trauma therapy groups promote positive change by strengthening of their self-awareness, acceptance, and identity. Within these groups, men and women dive into the impactful moments within their past, identifying key events within their lives and core belief systems that have negatively affected their ability to heal. Following this, our guests assist one another in finding new, healthier modes of thought that promote positive self-talk and behavioral change.
Group Therapy Topics in Rehab
As guests participate in individual therapy sessions, their therapist focuses on therapeutic topics that address their needs and goals for recovery. Due to the nature of these sessions, guests are provided with one-on-one time with their primary therapist to engage in in-depth discussions about their current situation as well as fears and hopes once they complete the residential level of care and re-enter society.
Group Topics
With the support from their peers, people can open up and share about troubling experiences or emotions and receive input on how best to cope. Group facilitators pose thought-provoking prompts and topics to encourage self-reflection and discussions such as:
- Societal expectations
- Impact of gender roles
- Effects of sexism in work and life
- Codependence: setting boundaries
- Financial well-being
- Family influences
- Interpersonal relationships
- Healthy communication
- Redefining beauty and self-worth
- Toxic masculinity and hyperfemininity
Discussing shared experiences can bring guests together, and mature the healing process. Our aim is for guests to generate a support network within their own community. Indeed, having a strong sober network is an integral part of recovery.
Growth and Healing in Group Therapy
During groups, our group therapists utilize prompts that smoothly guide the group conversations through challenging topics. For instance, the people in our group therapy sessions are encouraged to examine their substance use disorder to identify the unwanted behaviors that may have occurred in the past. By reviewing their addictive behaviors, our guests learn to associate their substance abuse with the negative consequences that they have experienced as a result of binge drinking, including alcohol-impaired driving, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence.
Supported by our empathetic community, guests begin to understand the influences behind their addictions. Moreover, our guests learn to process their past traumatic experiences and, in doing so, can find love and acceptance from both themselves and others within the group.
Why is Group Therapy Important?
An incredibly beneficial piece to our guest’s treatment plans is their participation in group therapy. This is because group therapy sessions are an effective way to become acquainted with and have the opportunity to relate to other guests on a similar journey. Treatment can be overwhelming when you feel a huge part of yourself being stripped away, which is why we believe that building a support network with group therapy is advantageous to guests’ recovery process.
Group Therapy at Seaglass
Seaglass at Royal Life Centers provides group therapy sessions for our guests in conjunction with other forms of therapy. During our groups, one or more of our addiction therapists facilitate therapeutic discussions and activities with each of our guests. As guests participate in group, they sit in a circle, ensuring that each individual can hear and see each person they address throughout the session. Within our group layout, we encourage socialization and empathetic interactions as guests uncover the similarities they share with other men and women in recovery from substance use disorders. In doing so, we remind our guests of the supportive community that surrounds them– they are not alone in overcoming addiction.
Group Therapy in Our Continuum of Care
Within Seaglass at Royal’s residential inpatient program, and each of our programs offered at Royal Life Centers, we do not use a one-size-fits-all treatment plan for our guests. On the contrary, we strongly uphold the belief that each individual deserves a personalized plan for treatment. To meet the needs and goals for the men and women in our care, each individual meets with their personal care team to create a treatment plan that is tailored to their unique set of circumstances. Our team of medical professionals work hard to emulate our person-first values throughout these customized treatment plans to assist in the successful healing of the mind, body, and spirit while in treatment at Seaglass.
During detox and residential treatment, guests attend 5 one-hour group therapy sessions every day of the week. As guests rejoin their community outside of treatment in outpatient treatment, guests in PHP participate in 6 hour-long group sessions Monday through Friday and 3 groups on Saturday. As they transition into IOP phase 1, our guest’s time in group is lessened to 5 hour-long sessions on weekdays and 3 groups on Saturday. Once in IOP phase 2, guest’s are provided more freedoms to pursue an active involvement with their community and place of employment. As such, guests attend 3 groups on 3 days within the week of their choosing.
As our guest’s progress through our levels of care, we encourage their participation in the workforce as well as their community and home life. For this reason, group therapy sessions are gradually reduced within our 12-week aftercare program in order to provide each individual with a less-restrictive schedule while continuing to provide support and accountability measures to motivate them throughout their recovery process.
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