The Big List of Motivational Group Therapy Activities for Adults

Adopting a variety of approaches to complement traditional therapy can have profound effects on a person’s well-being. This is especially true for group therapy activities.

Engaging in creative and interactive group activities can help people build meaningful relationships. These sessions can elevate a person’s self-esteem and improve their conversational skills.

If you’re looking for a spell of inspiration to bring creativity to your class, you’re in the right place! We’ve created a list of some wonderful motivational group therapy activities for adults. So, let’s get into it.

Why Are Group Therapy Activities Helpful?

Group therapy activities and games offer a multitude of benefits. They serve as creative outlets to help individuals process their emotions, work through conflicts, and improve their sense of self. Here are the key benefits of motivational group therapy activities for adults:

Benefits of Group Therapy

Address Emotional Roadblocks

Creative activities in a group setting can help people better process their emotions. Opening up in a safe, non-judgmental, and supportive environment reduces feelings of isolation and promotes acceptance.   

Boost Self-Esteem

Group activities allow individuals to receive feedback and validation from their peers. A group dynamic also improves interpersonal skills, which can boost a person’s sense of self-worth and belonging.

Improve Communication

Collaborating with a group in a structured setting encourages participants to practice empathy and active listening. It allows them to understand different viewpoints, ultimately improving communication skills.  

List of Motivational Group Therapy Activities

Here is your ultimate list of motivational group therapy activities for adults:

Cognitive Behavioral Activities

The Cognitive Behavioral Approach tackles a person’s thought patterns, beliefs, and attitudes. It teaches helpful coping mechanisms that individuals can apply in times of difficulty and ultimately become their own therapist.

Thought Logs

Thought logs involve recording and analyzing automatic thoughts to challenge irrational patterns. For this activity, pass a sheet to each group member with seven prompts, including:  

• A specific issue
• How it made them feel at first
• Unhelpful thoughts they had regarding the issue
• Evidence to support those thoughts
• Evidence to challenge those thoughts
• Neutral or realistic thoughts about the issue
• How they feel now  

After each member is done filling it out, ask them to share their recollections with the group. This activity can help participants address their feelings and approach problems calmly.

Behavioral Experiments

Ask the participants to take turns initiating conversation with other group members or strangers in a controlled setting. Taking this step can help them overcome their fears regarding social interaction.  

Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning is a method of asking questions that challenge existing beliefs and underlying assumptions. Encourage members to assess their ideas by asking them a series of carefully prepared Socratic questions. Here are some examples:

• Can you give an example to support X (their belief)?
• Can you offer a point of view that challenges X?
• How does X affect you or others around you?

Psychodrama Techniques

These techniques require you to work directly with each member as the others offer a supportive environment or take on roles as needed.

Empty Chair Technique

The empty chair technique is a constructive way for people to face and work through inner conflicts. It involves dialoguing with an absent person or a part of oneself, depending on the person’s situation. Ask members to talk to the empty chair as if it were filled by a specific person in their life or a version of themselves.  

Future Projection

Future projection is a technique that allows individuals to imagine a desired future. It can help them envision the life they want or prepare for tough future scenarios. Ask members to enact a future scenario where they are free from their current worries. This helps them imagine constructive ways of getting there and shifts their perspective.

Role Reversal

In this technique, members enact a conflict from their lives by taking on the role of the second person. Engaging in dialogue from a different perspective helps them understand the other person’s feelings. This helpful exercise can promote empathy and improve conflict resolution skills.

Expressive Arts Activities

Expressive art exercises can be a therapeutic experience. Allowing individuals to demonstrate their feelings through drawings, music, or dance can help them de-stress and improve their mental health.

Art Therapy

Ask members to draw, sketch, doodle, or paint whatever they feel like. Creating art from their emotions, memories, or challenges can help them process their feelings.

Music Therapy

Composing or listening to music can promote relaxation, reduce negative thoughts and help envision positive images. Ask members to pick out a song that invokes a certain feeling. After listening to it, encourage them to tell you what comes to their mind and how it makes them feel.

Movement and Dance

Movement and dance therapy focuses on strengthening the bond between the mind and body. Allow the group to express their emotions through physical movements, incorporating a variety of props and sounds.

Mindfulness and Relaxation Activities

Mindfulness therapy is a way for individuals to become more self-aware. These activities encourage growth by helping individuals understand their feelings and thoughts.

Guided Meditation

Ask the members to sit on the ground, with their eyes closed, legs crossed, shoulders rested, and chin slightly downward. Encourage everyone to focus on their breathing and empty their mind. Following a guided narrative can help individuals focus on the present, let go of their negative thoughts, and achieve a state of relaxation.

Mindful Eating

Mindful eating teaches body acceptance and ways to establish a healthy relationship with food. Encourage participants to practice awareness by eating a small piece of food. Ask them to take their time and savor each bite, reflecting on the texture and taste. This process engages all the senses, allowing individuals to appreciate what’s in front of them.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

PMR exercises are effective in reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. For this activity, have all the participants tense up a muscle group for 10 seconds. Then, ask them to relax for 20 seconds and move on to the next muscle group. This simple act can help individuals learn about different body cues and identify signs of stress.

Activities to Boost Self-Esteem

You can organize specific group therapy activities to build self-esteem and improve overall well-being. Here are some examples:

Compliment Circle

A supportive environment and a few words of affirmation make a huge difference to a person’s self-esteem. Form a circle and ask each person to pay a compliment to the individual to their right.

Personal Strengths Inventory

Ask each participant to make a list of their strengths and accomplishments. This simple activity is believed to improve levels of motivation, productivity, and engagement.

Journaling

Journaling is a wonderful way to inculcate improved feelings of self-worth. Ask everyone to write about their daily achievements and instances that made them feel good. They can go over their experiences with the group in the next session.   

Activities to Improve Communication Skills

Communication exercises can help improve interpersonal skills and teach individuals how to better navigate social settings. Here are some example activities:

Non-Verbal Communication Games

Non-verbal communication techniques teach individuals how to identify cues and read body language to communicate. As a fun game, you could split the group into pairs. Assign a role or scenario to one member per team, such as “smelling a flower.” They must use their creativity and body language to act out their role while the other member guesses.

Conflict Resolution Role-Play

Break the group into pairs and assign conflict-based scenarios to each. Both members must act out different sides of the scenario and try their best to resolve the issue. Afterward, ask everyone to reflect on what they saw. For example, how the issue was resolved, what made it worse, and if anyone has experienced something similar in their life.

Two Truths and a Lie

This game involves each participant telling two truths about themselves and one lie to the group. By reading body language and tone of voice, the group must guess which one is the lie. This fun ice-breaker can serve as an effective communication exercise.

Emotional Intelligence Activities

Activities to build emotional intelligence focus on empathy, compassion, and self-awareness.  Here are some examples of such motivational group therapy activities for adults:

Emotion Cards

This activity involves identifying and discussing various emotions through cards. Deal a deck of cards bearing different emotions to the participants and ask them to take turns drawing one. Encourage them to share an experience related to the card they drew.  

Empathy Circle

Participants can take turns sharing a personal experience, a conflict, or moments of joy while everyone else listens without interrupting or judging. When the speaker is done, the group can reflect on what they heard. This activity can improve active listening and the ability to respond with empathy.

Feelings Bingo

Hand out markers and bingo cards where each square represents an emotion. Give scenarios or prompts to the group. They must mark the emotion which they feel best corresponds to each. Ask them to share their feelings about the prompts along the way. The first participant to complete a column, row, or diagonal yells, “Bingo!”

List of Motivational Group Therapy Activities

Here is your ultimate list of motivational group therapy activities for adults:

Cognitive Behavioral Activities

The Cognitive Behavioral Approach tackles a person’s thought patterns, beliefs, and attitudes. It teaches helpful coping mechanisms that individuals can apply in times of difficulty and ultimately become their own therapist.

Thought Logs

Thought logs involve recording and analyzing automatic thoughts to challenge irrational patterns. For this activity, pass a sheet to each group member with seven prompts, including:  

• A specific issue
• How it made them feel at first
• Unhelpful thoughts they had regarding the issue
• Evidence to support those thoughts
• Evidence to challenge those thoughts
• Neutral or realistic thoughts about the issue
• How they feel now  

After each member is done filling it out, ask them to share their recollections with the group. This activity can help participants address their feelings and approach problems calmly.

Behavioral Experiments

Ask the participants to take turns initiating conversation with other group members or strangers in a controlled setting. Taking this step can help them overcome their fears regarding social interaction.  

Socratic Questioning

Socratic questioning is a method of asking questions that challenge existing beliefs and underlying assumptions. Encourage members to assess their ideas by asking them a series of carefully prepared Socratic questions. Here are some examples:

• Can you give an example to support X (their belief)?
• Can you offer a point of view that challenges X?
• How does X affect you or others around you?

Psychodrama Techniques

These techniques require you to work directly with each member as the others offer a supportive environment or take on roles as needed.

Empty Chair Technique

The empty chair technique is a constructive way for people to face and work through inner conflicts. It involves dialoguing with an absent person or a part of oneself, depending on the person’s situation. Ask members to talk to the empty chair as if it were filled by a specific person in their life or a version of themselves.  

Future Projection

Future projection is a technique that allows individuals to imagine a desired future. It can help them envision the life they want or prepare for tough future scenarios. Ask members to enact a future scenario where they are free from their current worries. This helps them imagine constructive ways of getting there and shifts their perspective.

Role Reversal

In this technique, members enact a conflict from their lives by taking on the role of the second person. Engaging in dialogue from a different perspective helps them understand the other person’s feelings. This helpful exercise can promote empathy and improve conflict resolution skills.

Expressive Arts Activities

Expressive art exercises can be a therapeutic experience. Allowing individuals to demonstrate their feelings through drawings, music, or dance can help them de-stress and improve their mental health.

Art Therapy

Ask members to draw, sketch, doodle, or paint whatever they feel like. Creating art from their emotions, memories, or challenges can help them process their feelings.

Music Therapy

Composing or listening to music can promote relaxation, reduce negative thoughts and help envision positive images. Ask members to pick out a song that invokes a certain feeling. After listening to it, encourage them to tell you what comes to their mind and how it makes them feel.

Movement and Dance

Movement and dance therapy focuses on strengthening the bond between the mind and body. Allow the group to express their emotions through physical movements, incorporating a variety of props and sounds.

Mindfulness and Relaxation Activities

Mindfulness therapy is a way for individuals to become more self-aware. These activities encourage growth by helping individuals understand their feelings and thoughts.

Guided Meditation

Ask the members to sit on the ground, with their eyes closed, legs crossed, shoulders rested, and chin slightly downward. Encourage everyone to focus on their breathing and empty their mind. Following a guided narrative can help individuals focus on the present, let go of their negative thoughts, and achieve a state of relaxation.

Mindful Eating

Mindful eating teaches body acceptance and ways to establish a healthy relationship with food. Encourage participants to practice awareness by eating a small piece of food. Ask them to take their time and savor each bite, reflecting on the texture and taste. This process engages all the senses, allowing individuals to appreciate what’s in front of them.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

PMR exercises are effective in reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. For this activity, have all the participants tense up a muscle group for 10 seconds. Then, ask them to relax for 20 seconds and move on to the next muscle group. This simple act can help individuals learn about different body cues and identify signs of stress.

Activities to Boost Self-Esteem

You can organize specific group therapy activities to build self-esteem and improve overall well-being. Here are some examples:

Compliment Circle

A supportive environment and a few words of affirmation make a huge difference to a person’s self-esteem. Form a circle and ask each person to pay a compliment to the individual to their right.

Personal Strengths Inventory

Ask each participant to make a list of their strengths and accomplishments. This simple activity is believed to improve levels of motivation, productivity, and engagement.

Journaling

Journaling is a wonderful way to inculcate improved feelings of self-worth. Ask everyone to write about their daily achievements and instances that made them feel good. They can go over their experiences with the group in the next session.   

Activities to Improve Communication Skills

Communication exercises can help improve interpersonal skills and teach individuals how to better navigate social settings. Here are some example activities:

Non-Verbal Communication Games

Non-verbal communication techniques teach individuals how to identify cues and read body language to communicate. As a fun game, you could split the group into pairs. Assign a role or scenario to one member per team, such as “smelling a flower.” They must use their creativity and body language to act out their role while the other member guesses.

Conflict Resolution Role-Play

Break the group into pairs and assign conflict-based scenarios to each. Both members must act out different sides of the scenario and try their best to resolve the issue. Afterward, ask everyone to reflect on what they saw. For example, how the issue was resolved, what made it worse, and if anyone has experienced something similar in their life.

Two Truths and a Lie

This game involves each participant telling two truths about themselves and one lie to the group. By reading body language and tone of voice, the group must guess which one is the lie. This fun ice-breaker can serve as an effective communication exercise.

Emotional Intelligence Activities

Activities to build emotional intelligence focus on empathy, compassion, and self-awareness.  Here are some examples of such motivational group therapy activities for adults:

Emotion Cards

This activity involves identifying and discussing various emotions through cards. Deal a deck of cards bearing different emotions to the participants and ask them to take turns drawing one. Encourage them to share an experience related to the card they drew.  

Empathy Circle

Participants can take turns sharing a personal experience, a conflict, or moments of joy while everyone else listens without interrupting or judging. When the speaker is done, the group can reflect on what they heard. This activity can improve active listening and the ability to respond with empathy.

Feelings Bingo

Hand out markers and bingo cards where each square represents an emotion. Give scenarios or prompts to the group. They must mark the emotion which they feel best corresponds to each. Ask them to share their feelings about the prompts along the way. The first participant to complete a column, row, or diagonal yells, “Bingo!”

How Tech Can Complement Traditional Methods

Technology has been incorporated into many aspects of our lives, including therapy. Teletherapy (online therapy sessions) has made traditional therapy accessible to everyone. Individuals reluctant to leave their comfort zone can get the help they need from their homes.

Similarly, mental health apps have made it easy to track your moods and emotional progress. These are often recommended by therapists to help support a patient’s journey. Mental health apps are also practical for those without access to traditional therapy for geographical, financial, or scheduling reasons.

FAQ

What is the ideal size for a group therapy session?

The ideal group size can vary depending on the specific activity and therapeutic goals. Generally, smaller groups of six to ten people are easier to manage and allow for more intimate sharing.

How do I ensure confidentiality in a group setting?

It’s essential to set ground rules at the start of each session. Emphasize the importance of confidentiality — what happens in group therapy stays in group therapy.

How do I deal with dominant or disruptive members?

The first step is to privately address the issue with the individual. Explain how their behavior is affecting the group. If the issue persists, focus on structured activities that involve turn-taking to ensure everyone gets a chance to contribute.

Can group therapy be integrated with individual therapy?

Absolutely — many therapists recommend a combined approach for comprehensive treatment. Individual therapy addresses personal issues while group therapy focuses on social dynamics and peer support.

How do I assess the effectiveness of my group therapy activities?

Monitoring individual progress, soliciting feedback, and making adjustments based on observed group dynamics are key methods. You can also use validated psychological assessments depending on the nature of the sessions. These evaluations offer quantitative data on effectiveness.

Conclusion

Group therapy is a collective effort where individuals help build each other up. By incorporating creative ideas, you can make it more approachable for individuals from different walks of life.

Organizing motivational group therapy activities for adults can be a fulfilling experience. We hope our rundown gives you inspiration on where and how to get started!

References and Further Reading

• Our Top 11 Creative Workshop Ideas For Adults
• Practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Be Your Own Therapist!
• 12 Most Interactive Art Therapy Group Activities For Adults
• What Is Expressive Arts Therapy?
• Personal Strengths Defined (+ List of 92 Personal Strengths)