25 Group Therapy Activities for Adults

The best group therapy activities for adults are short, structured exercises that get people talking, practicing a skill, or noticing a pattern together. The 25 below are grouped by purpose: opening a session, building trust, practicing CBT and DBT skills, expressing emotion, and closing well. Each one runs in 10 to 30 minutes and needs little or no equipment.

These are the kinds of exercises used in structured therapy groups, including the groups in our intensive outpatient program at Rockland Recovery Behavioral Health in Sharon, MA. If you’re looking to join a group rather than run one, jump to finding a therapy group at the end.

Why group activities work

Psychiatrist Irvin Yalom identified the therapeutic factors that make groups effective. A few of the most important: realizing other people share your struggle, seeing peers get better, and learning how you come across to others.¹

Activities speed those factors up. A good exercise gives quieter members a structured way in, turns abstract skills into practice, and gives the group something concrete to talk about besides “how was your week.”

Ground rules to set first

Every activity below works better when the group has agreed on a few basics:

• Confidentiality. What’s shared in group stays in group.
• Participation is a choice. Anyone can pass on an activity or a question.
• Speak from experience. Use “I” statements and skip advice unless someone asks for it.
• One voice at a time. No side conversations or interruptions.

Icebreakers and check-in activities

Use these to open a session, welcome new members, or lower the temperature on a hard day.

1. Rose, thorn, bud. Each person shares one good thing from the week (rose), one hard thing (thorn), and one thing they’re looking forward to (bud). It’s quick, balanced, and works in any group.
2. Weather report. Members describe their mood as weather: “partly cloudy with a chance of anxiety.” It gives people language for feelings without pressure to explain them.
3. Two truths and a hope. A twist on two truths and a lie. Share two true facts about yourself and one thing you hope to get from group.
4. Number check-in. Everyone rates their mood from 1 to 10 and says one sentence about why. The facilitator can track the numbers over weeks to show the group its own progress.
5. Object introduction. Each person picks something from their bag or pocket and explains what it says about them. Useful for a first session, when people don’t yet know what to share.

Trust and connection activities

6. Common ground. In pairs, members have five minutes to find three things they have in common beyond the obvious. Pairs report back, and the group usually discovers more overlap than expected.
7. Support network map. Each person draws themselves in the center of a page and maps the people, places, and resources that support them. Gaps become talking points, like “I don’t have anyone I’d call at 2 a.m.”
8. Worry exchange. Members write a worry anonymously, fold it, and swap. Each person reads someone else’s worry aloud and responds as if it were their own. It builds empathy and shows how common certain fears are.
9. Gratitude circle. Each person names something they appreciate about the person to their left, based on what they’ve seen in group. Best used once a group has met a few times.

CBT group activities

These exercises turn cognitive behavioral therapy concepts into something the whole group can practice.

10. Thinking traps bingo. Make bingo cards of common distortions: catastrophizing, mind reading, all-or-nothing thinking, “should” statements. As members share situations from their week, others mark the traps they hear. It makes distortions easy to spot and a little less heavy.
11. Group thought record. One volunteer offers a real situation. The group fills in a thought record together on a whiteboard: situation, automatic thought, feeling, evidence for, evidence against, balanced thought.
12. Put the thought on trial. Split the group into “prosecution” and “defense” for a negative belief like “I always mess things up.” The defense usually wins, and the owner of the thought hears the counter-evidence from peers instead of their own head.
13. Behavioral experiment planning. Each member picks a fear-based prediction (“if I say no, my friend will be angry”) and designs a small test for the week. Next session, the group reviews what actually happened.
14. Activity scheduling. For groups with depression, members each plan two small activities for the coming week, one for pleasure and one for accomplishment. Report back next session.

DBT and mindfulness activities

For a deeper set of skills-based exercises, see our full guide to DBT activities and interventions.

15. Five senses grounding. The group names five things they can see, four they can hear, three they can touch, two they can smell, and one they can taste. It’s a reliable way to start or reset a session.
16. Mindful object. Hand out a raisin, stone, or piece of fruit. Members spend three minutes observing it as if for the first time, then describe what they noticed that they’d normally miss.
17. Emotion thermometer. Draw a thermometer from 0 to 10. Members mark where their emotion usually sits, where it peaks, and what warning signs appear at each level. The group brainstorms skills for each range.
18. Wise mind walk. Members describe a recent decision made from “emotion mind,” then rework it from wise mind. Peers help find the balance point.
19. Coping skills toolbox. Each person lists five coping skills on index cards and shares one that actually worked this week. Members take a photo of the combined list to use later.

Emotional expression and creative activities

20. Inside-outside masks. On a paper plate or template, members decorate the outside with how others see them and the inside with what they keep hidden. Sharing is optional, and the conversation about the gap is often the most useful part.
21. Letter you won’t send. Members write a letter to a person, a past self, or a loss. They can read it aloud, summarize it, or keep it private.
22. Music share. Each person brings a song that captures where they are right now and explains why. It’s easier for some people to talk about a lyric than about themselves.

Communication and life skills activities

23. “I” statement practice. Members turn blaming statements (“you never listen”) into “I” statements (“I feel dismissed when I’m interrupted, and I’d like to finish my thought”). Practice in pairs, then share with the group.
24. Role-play a hard conversation. One member sets up a real conversation they’ve been avoiding, like asking for help or setting a boundary. Another plays the other person. The group gives feedback, and the roles can switch.

Closing activity

25. One word, one step. Each person shares one word for how they’re leaving and one small step they’ll take before next session. It ends the group on something concrete.

Group therapy topics to build sessions around

Activities work best inside a theme. Common topics for adult therapy groups include:

• Managing anxiety and worry
• Depression and motivation
• Stress and burnout
• Setting boundaries
• Grief and loss
• Self-esteem and self-criticism
• Anger and frustration
• Relationships and communication
• Sleep and daily routines
• Relapse prevention and warning signs

Tips for running group activities

Match the activity to the group’s stage. Early sessions need low-risk icebreakers. Deeper exercises like the letter or the masks land better once trust is built.

Always leave time to process. The discussion after an activity is where most of the therapeutic work happens, so plan at least as much time for it as for the exercise itself.

Watch for anyone getting overwhelmed. Grounding activities like the five senses exercise are useful to have ready if emotions run high.

Join a therapy group in Massachusetts

At Rockland Recovery Behavioral Health, group therapy is led by licensed clinicians and built on CBT and DBT skills, with gender-specific and trauma-informed groups available. Groups run in person in Sharon and by telehealth, and they’re a core part of our IOP and PHP.

Call 855.520.0531, reach us through our contact page, or verify your insurance online. We’re at 374 Old Post Road, Sharon, MA 02067.

Footnotes:

1. Group Therapy — StatPearls, National Library of Medicine