• Family sculpting provides an insightful activity for substance abuse treatment.family image by vanda from Fotolia.com
  
  Group therapy for substance abuse treatment provides a support system for members struggling with recovery. The Addiction Info website says that people who abuse substances stay in recovery more often if offered therapy in a group environment due to the support system and the confrontation affiliated with groups. Fun exercises for substance abuse group therapy help the group build relationships and feel comfortable with one another.
  
  

Media Manipulation

• Find three to four popular songs that mention drugs and alcohol. Print out the lyrics of the songs. Have the members of the group underline words in the song that might trigger a relapse. Discuss why these songs may contribute to a relapse and how to avoid listening to the songs in the future.
  
  

Teamwork

• Split the group into teams of three. Give each group building blocks. Blindfold one member of the group, tell one member of the group that she can only talk but not touch the blocks and tell the third member of the group that he can help the blindfolded member build but cannot touch the blocks himself. Then tell the groups that they have to build the tallest tower using the building blocks. After the activity is completed, discuss how each group member utilized the other members. Then discuss how important a support system is in recovery. Ask the group members about times that they have felt powerless in certain areas. Then discuss how the activity was similar to the times that they have felt powerless.
  
  

Family Sculpting

• The client is asked to make a human sculpture of his ideal family life. He uses the other members of the group to represent members of his family and place them how he would like his family to look. When this is completed, initiate a discussion about why his family does not current look like this and what changes need to be made for the family to look ideal. Then discuss how the family system has affected initial substance abuse and recovery.
  
  

Self Esteem

• 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 her recovery. Then once the paper gets back to the original member, that person should read aloud what the other group members said. This helps encourage self-esteem in the group members and allows the members to take responsibility for the recovery of others.