Bucket Lists

Explain the idea of a bucket list to patients.  Assist patients in creating their own bucket list of things they want to do in their lives.  Have them share their lists at the end.

Talk about the importance of setting goals and discuss how we can work to achieve these goals.

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You Are Special: Stars and Dots Drawings

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Give patients the picture with a dot in the upper corner.  Have patients draw their negative traits, weaknesses, things they don’t like about themselves, etc.

Read the book “You Are Special” with the patients.  Talk about the book and how people judged each other by giving dots or stars out.

Give patients the picture with a star in the upper corner.  Have patients draw their positive qualities, accomplishments, things they like about themselves, etc.

Compare the two drawings.  Ask patients which one they like better, and their reasons for that choice.

Talk about how we are sometimes judged by our diagnosis.  Explain that we can choose if we will let it be a dot or a star in our lives. Ask for examples of each scenario.  Discuss with patients ways in which their diagnosis makes them unique and how they can turn their diagnosis into a strength and not a weakness.

Potential Drug Free

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Another idea submitted by Jill Sederberg.

Kick a ball in the goal as many times as you can in 30 seconds.  Do it a second time, but this time blind folded.  Notice the difference in success between the two attempts.

Discussion questions:
How can you relate this activity to addiction?
How does addiction limit your potential?
How can you eliminate the "blindfolds" in your life, or the things that hold you back?

Self Esteem Statements

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Each group member needs to put her name on a piece of paper.  Then the group passes the paper around in a circle.  Under each name, the other group members write something positive about that person regarding his/her progress in treatment.  Then, once the paper gets back to its original owner, that person should read what the other group members said aloud.

This helps encourage self esteem in the group, build unity, and allow group members to take responsibility for recovery.

Thanks Jill Sederberg for the activity!

Gemstone Art Activity

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Talk about the different birthstones for each month and the healing properties of the various gemstones. 

Have each patient draw/paint/sculpt/create their own gemstone.  What does it look like?  How come they decided to make it look that way?

Afterwards, discuss what healing properties their gemstone would have and why those particular healing properties are important to them.

Crisis Intervention Model

Found this on Pinterest!

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Dictionary Definitions

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Group Size: 4 to 10

Equipment: pencil, paper, dictionary

Focus: social interaction, family involvement

Before there was Balderdash, there was Flibbertigibbet. Before there was Flibbertigibbet, there was just a dictionary. What ever the name, a dictionary can be a source of fun for everyone in the group.

Description: Invite one person to look through a dictionary till he finds a word he believes no one else would know its meaning. This person reads the word aloud and spells it out for others.

The other players tries to think of a good definition for that word.

Encourage players to try to make the definition sound as if it really belongs in the dictionary as they are attempting to fool others as if there definition is the real one.

Meanwhile, the player who shared the word from the dictionary writes down the real definition on a sheet of paper.

When everyone is done, the definitions are collected and read aloud one at a time. Everyone listens and tries to guess which is the real definition.

Point distribution:

• Anyone who guesses the correct definition gets a point.
• The writer of a false definition that is voted upon gets a point for each vote he receives.
• The player who shared the word from the dictionary gets a point for every person who guessed a wrong definition.

Continue the game with each person having an opportunity to share a word from the dictionary.

Discussion: What family games do you play within your family? How do you think that games can promote communication within the family? Would a regular family game night help improve communication in your family?

Expected Outcome: participants will learn a new leisure activity and add to their repertoire of leisure interests and skills. Participants will understand the need for family activities.

submitted here