Progressive Group Drawing

Submitted by Mallory Diepen, CTRS, Adventist Glen Oaks Hospital, Behavioral Health Department


Materials Needed: Paper, art supplies (markers, colored pencils, crayons, etc.)

Group size: 4-12

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Instructions: Give each participant a blank sheet of paper and pass out art supplies. Have everyone take turns being the “leader”, giving a directive to the rest of the group. The directive will be to draw one picture on their sheet of paper. For example, the first participant might say “draw a house” and everyone, including the leader, will draw a house. The next person might add to that “draw a purple tree next to the house.” The directive can be as simple or detailed as the leader wants (with consideration to the ability level of the group). The activity will end when each person has had a chance to be the leader. Have everyone share their picture when complete.

Processing:
• How did you feel during this activity?
• Did you like being the leader or the one receiving the directive better and why?
• What skills did you need to participate in this activity?
• Discuss how each person gave input to complete the activity
• Talk about how each picture is different and that everyone has their own point of view
• How can it be helpful to be able to view things from multiple angles?

There are several directions you can go with this activity. It can be related to leadership skills and self-esteem, communication and being assertive, creativity and self-expression, following directions and focusing, etc. This activity can be adapted for all populations; however, I have found it to work well with a lower functioning population or those who have difficulty staying focused.

Thanks again Mallory!

Cups

Here is an activity submitted by Molly Gilbert, an RT intern at Sycamore Springs in Lafayette, IN.  

Objective/Goals: ­­To improve skills in the areas of stress and frustration management.

Population: ­­higher functioning patients dealing with mental health and substance abuse 

Materials Needed: one plastic cup per patient

Activity:

This is an activity based on the routine/song “Cups” by Anna Kendrick. 

Begin by discussing how patients currently deal with stress and frustration.  Discuss the difference between positive and negative coping skills and ask each patient to identify a positive way of dealing with stress and frustration.  Ask the patients to keep this in mind as they complete the activity, as it has the potential to increase their stress and frustration. 

Before passing out the cups, explain that the group will be learning a routine with the cups and that their end goal is to be able to do it all together as a group. (For even higher functioning groups, you can identify the goal as being able to do the routine along with the song).    Show them this video as an example (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2mawaBrvFg – Anna Kendrick Cup Song Audition - Pitch Perfect).

Teach patients the cup routine step by step:

·         Clap, clap

·         3 hits on table (right, left, right)

·         Clap

·         With right hand, lift cup and set back down

·         Clap

·         Grab cup with upside-down right hand

·         Opening of cup to palm of left hand

·         With right hand, tap bottom of cup on table

·         Place cup, up-right, in left hand

·         Right hand on table

·         Place cup upside-down on table to the right of your right hand

Once the group has the concept, practice the entire routine continuously.  Slowly increase the speed as patients become more confident.  As patients improve, add the challenge of passing the cup to the right at the end of each set.  When done correctly, the cups are passed around the circle.  For higher functioning groups, play the song and have them try to do the routine along with the music.  

Debriefing:

Review the positive coping skills patients identified at the start and discuss any that were used during the activity.  If negative coping skills were used, discuss why those were negative and brainstorm more positive coping skills.  End with a discussion on how it feels to be stressed/frustrated by something, but to keep working on it and then accomplish it. 

Choices in a Jar

As a school psychologist, this quickly became a favorite intervention. It didn't take me long to realize that these cards could be adapted and used for just about any grade level!

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Choices in a Jar, available on Amazon, is a set of cards. Each card has the question "Would you rather _______ or _______?"
-Would you rather not eat for two days or not sleep for two days?
-Would you rather have no long term memory or no short term memory?
-Would you rather live in a house with no walls or a house with no ceiling?

Sometimes I used this as a getting to know you activity when I had a new student in my group. Other times it was a good conversation starter when the kids weren't talking much. I also used it to talk about choices and consequences, and we would discuss what the consequences of each option would be.

How would you use this in your work?

Water in the Face

This is always a fun game for those hot summer days when the patients (and us!) want to be outside and not stuck inside all day. This idea was found in the book Team Building Activities for Every Group by Alana Jones (available on Amazon). It's perfect for hot summer days when you're looking for a way to stay cool but don't want to get too wet. ;)

Water in the Face!

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Objective:
Practice social and communication skills in a fun, interactive game

Group Size:
8 or more

Materials:
Paper cup
Jug of water (or some other water source)
Towels

Description:
Gather the group in a circle, either sitting or standing.  One person stands in the middle holding the paper cup of water. (You can decide how full to fill it!) The person in the middle chooses a category (i.e., type of car, color, kind of cereal, ice cream flavor, candy, etc.) and tells the rest of the group the category.

The person in the middle secretly selects an item in the particularly category chosen! If you're worried about the person changing his mind, s/he may whisper his selected item to the facilator. Once the item is selected, the game can begin!

One at a time, each person in the circle guesses what the person in the middle is thinking of. Each person can only guess one item per turn, and cannot repeat what has already been said. As soon as one player correctly guesses what the individual in the middle was thinking of, that person gets the water splashed in his face! The correct guesser also becomes the next person in the middle of the circle.

Processing:
There are numerous ways to process this activity. You could talk about the importance of clear communication. You could discuss the necessity of social skills. Or you could have participants think about what it was like to have water thrown in their face and how we react to different things that happen in our life. Be creative! Use what happens during the group to lead where the processing goes, as that will help you best meet the needs of your clients.

Adaptations: I have also seen this done with the lid of a water bottle instead of a paper cup. This made it a little more "inside friendly" for patients that were not able to go outside for group.

Advertising

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From Donica

Advertising

Size: 2-10

Equipment: Magazines, Scissors, Glue, Construction paper, Markers, Pencils

Objective:

• To promote increased self-esteem
• To identify positive personality traits

Description: Introduce the group to advertisements. Talk about their purpose and the method in which ads get the message across - visually and with words. Ads promote the positive aspects of a product, the finer qualities. Ads also persuade a person into buying the product. The individual's task in this project is to come up with and advertisement persuading someone to be their friend. Individuals should depict positive aspects of themselves through pictures, words, or a combination of the two.

If an individual has a difficult time thinking of reasons someone would want to be their friend, have them think of characteristics they look for in a friend. At the end of the session have participants share advertisements with one another. Let other participants confirm the positive qualities of the presenter.

Blanket Names

Spend a short amount of time introducing everyone in the group.

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Separate the players into two teams.  Have each team form one line.  Each team chooses one player and does not reveal whom they chose.  One person from each team volunteers to hold up a blanket between the two teams.  The chosen players face the blanket directly.

The players who are holding the blanket should drop the blanket.  The first player to name the person they are facing correctly wins.  The other player is out.  

Continue selecting players to represent each team and naming them until an entire team is out.

Random Words

Prepare a list of random words ahead of time.

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One person will go at a time.  Have that patient close his eyes and point to a word on the list.  Patient will then open his eyes and tell of an experience or memory they have in connection to this word.  Have each person go a few time.

Talk about the importance of boundaries and how we should be aware of what information we share with others.

This is a great activity for the geriatric unit because they love to reminisce.

Space Ball

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Group Size: 8 to 30

Equipment: a beach ball or a soft ball

Focus: group challenge, energizer, frustration tolerance

Description: Participants either form a circle or place themselves equal distance from each other around the gym. The object of the activity is to keep the ball afloat without letting it hit the ground. Challenge the group to set a goal and try to set their personal best or "world" record.

Discussion: Groups and individuals sometimes become frustrated. Discuss what people do when they become frustrated (escape, sabotage, anger, etc.). Have participants suggest specific behaviors they can do to prevent frustration and its subsequent behaviors. Continue the game and encourage everyone to act on the + actions suggested by the group.

Ways to Improve as a Group: invite the group to suggest ways they can improve and obtain higher scores.

Expected Outcome: group cohesion, understanding of frustration and reactions to frustration, laughter, physical exercise

Concerns: encourage participants not to dive for the ball if playing on a rough surface

submitted here