Have you heard about adult mental health activities but aren’t certain what they are or where to find them? While much of healing from mental illnesses takes place in individual therapy sessions, much progress can happen within the framework of a group of adults.
Renewal Oasis offers group therapy to help people with a variety of mental illnesses. They provide a much-needed opportunity to discuss the trials and difficulties of having poor mental health with those who understand. Our staff of licensed and dedicated therapists unites a small group of people in a room to help them process their emotions and struggles. The resulting peer support can open everyone up to enjoying better mental health. We offer group therapy as part of our outpatient care and our residential care.
Importance of Mental Health Group Activities for Adults
Adult mental health group activities provide people with a safe place to speak candidly, troubleshoot their problems, and build bonds with others. People tend to feel they are on an even playing field in the group because each person shares the goal of improving their mental health. They pass along ideas for healthy coping skills and encourage one another to stay on a healing path.
Group therapy activities can take place in a residential treatment center or at an outpatient facility. Support groups that take place outside of formal treatment can also use some of the examples below to allow people to know each other and support each other.
List of 9 Adult Mental Health Group Activities
Here is our list of 9 adult mental health group activities to help elevate each person and allow them to enjoy good peer support.
1. Practice Self-Care
Too often, poor mental health means ignoring one’s personal needs. The group can list out the ways they need to take care of themselves and check in with each other to make sure they are doing it. This can include getting enough sleep, eating healthy meals, showering, attending medical appointments, taking time out for oneself, and more.
2. Identify a Support System
Each person in the group lists the people in their life who support them in positive ways. They also identify those who are toxic to them and discuss ways to put up boundaries with them or eliminate their presence in their lives.
3. Get to Know You Games
It’s easier for people to open up to one another when they have a sense of knowing them. Try games like “What Songs Are on My Current Playlist?” and “2 Truths and a Lie”. Group participation in this helps people identify things they have in common with one another.
4. My Life Story in 5 Minutes
Each person takes a turn highlighting five minutes’ worth of the big events and turning points of their life. This provides a jumping-off point for speaking in more detail later and allowing others into their private worlds.
5. Art Therapy
For art therapy, each person brings a sketchbook and a drawing pencil. Set topics, such as “What happiness looks like” and “How I want to feel,” and then start a timer. Each person has a set time to draw their thoughts and feelings. The goal isn’t to create great art but to express themselves creatively.
6. Affirmations
Someone writes out affirmations with one per page on small pieces of paper and puts them in a bowl. Affirmations are positive statements meant to uplift a person’s self-esteem and ability to recover from many disorders. Each person takes one out, reads it, and discusses what the affirmation they chose means to them.
7. What I Did
The group goes around the circle, and each person talks about one thing they did to try to improve their mental health that worked and one that did not work. Example: “I started jogging again” and “I drank a lot of alcohol.”
8. Thought Replacement
Each person writes down a negative or self-defeating thought that often plagues them. When it’s their turn, they read the thought out loud. The person sitting next to them suggests positive thoughts they can use to replace them.
9. Set Goals
Discuss as a group what goals each person would like to achieve. Brainstorm the first step to each one and make plans to work on it before the next meeting. The next time the group meets, each person checks in with their progress and any challenges they faced.
Contact Us to Learn About The Mental Health Group Activities at Renewal Oasis
Do you need help addressing a mental health disorder and want more than just one-on-one therapy? Our group therapy can be completed while in residence with us or on an outpatient basis. We believe in the power of peer support and foster it in our adult mental health group activities. When you come to Renewal Oasis for treatment, you receive the best care available for mental health disorders. Our staff is recognized for their dedication and experience in helping you address your symptoms of mental illness and make sense of them. Through group and other therapy modalities, you will learn to shed your inhibitions, open up through conversation, and minimize your symptoms of mental illness. Contact us now and find out more about how our group therapy empowers you. We are happy to answer your questions and get you started on a brighter and more peaceful future today.
