Icebreakers for group therapy are one of the best tools you can have in your therapist’s toolbox as they are simple to implement, fun, and help participants engage with the group in ways that feel safe. This blog article will review icebreakers that can be used during group therapy and their benefits.
Whether you’re new to group therapy or a seasoned pro, one of the biggest challenges is getting the group started. You have your protocol in place but how do you get your participants to feel comfortable and prepare them to engage?
Ice breakers are the answer and they help your group in critical ways including:
• Helping members get to know each other.
• Integrating new members into the group.
• Increasing comfort with others in the group.
• Encouraging listening and cooperation.
• Enhancing social skills.
• Building rapport and trust.
• Setting a positive and supportive tone for the work they will be doing.
• Sets a positive, supportive tone for the work they will be doing.
Icebreakers are meant to be short, fun tasks that ease everyone into the work that’s about to begin. If a group is on your agenda, check out our top icebreakers for group therapy sessions.
Two Truths and a Lie
In this popular game, each participant chooses three statements about themselves that they want to share with the group. Two of those statements are true while one is a lie. The other members of the group guess what is true and what is not for each person. If you’re using Two Truths and a Lie online, participants can write down their responses and show on the screen, or you can use an interactive white board.
Getting To Know You
Prepare a set of easy, open-ended questions or unfinished statements that participants can use to safely share a bit about themselves. Examples include:
• What is something about you that makes you feel positive and proud?
• What are you most looking forward to in this group?
• My favorite way to spend free time is…
• Something funny that happened to me recently is…
• What is something that we (the group) might be surprised to know about you?
You can use these in a number of ways. Questions or statements can be put on index cards or slips of paper and each member of the group draws a card so that each member answers a different question. Or, you can choose one as the “opener” for the session and everyone responds to the same question in turn. If you’re doing this activity online via a
Who Am I?
This is a short, fun icebreaker that is especially good for new groups or open groups that have new members frequently. Have each member introduce themselves and say their first name. Ask them to include a word that starts with the same letter as their name and describes what they consider a positive trait they have. For example, dynamic Debbie or kind Kenny. Refer to them in this way for the remainder of the session.
In this popular game, each participant chooses three statements about themselves that they want to share with the group. Two of those statements are true while one is a lie. The other members of the group guess what is true and what is not for each person. If you’re using Two Truths and a Lie online, participants can write down their responses and show on the screen, or you can use an interactive white board.Prepare a set of easy, open-ended questions or unfinished statements that participants can use to safely share a bit about themselves.• What is something about you that makes you feel positive and proud?• What are you most looking forward to in this group?• My favorite way to spend free time is…• Something funny that happened to me recently is…• What is something that we (the group) might be surprised to know about you?You can use these in a number of ways. Questions or statements can be put on index cards or slips of paper and each member of the group draws a card so that each member answers a different question. Or, you can choose one as the “opener” for the session and everyone responds to the same question in turn. If you’re doing this activity online via a video conferencing platform , you can post questions using an interactive white board like the one in TheraPlatform or you can send the list to your group members using TheraPlatform’s document sharing capabilities.This is a short, fun icebreaker that is especially good for new groups or open groups that have new members frequently. Have each member introduce themselves and say their first name. Ask them to include a word that starts with the same letter as their name and describes what they consider a positive trait they have. For example, dynamic Debbie or kind Kenny. Refer to them in this way for the remainder of the session.
Give Me A Minute
This is a fun, fast-paced icebreaker for both new and established groups. The goal is to talk for one minute about a given subject. Have a set of cards or slips of paper with random subjects on them. Examples might include: ice fishing, the best way to make filet gumbo, favorite TV show ever, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, 5 best Disney rides, interesting facts about polar bears … you get the idea. Set a timer and each person has to talk about that subject for one minute. Your members will have lots of interesting things to say and probably a few laughs will be had.
Desert Island
This is a fun icebreaker that you can use with adolescents or adults and will no doubt prompt lots of engagement. For this activity, tell members to imagine they are being sent to a desert island. They will be able to take essential items like clothing and medicine, but will also be allowed three additional items: a survival item, an entertainment item, and a luxury item. The only caveat is that they have to be items they can carry onto the island by themselves. What will they choose for their three items and why?
Give them a few minutes to come up with their items. Ask each person to share their choices with the rest of the group. Finding similarities with other members is a great way to begin building rapport.
Emoji Game
Finally, if you’re looking for an icebreaker specific to teletherapy, why not try the Emoji Icebreaker game? Using teletherapy software, ask people to express how they’re feeling with an emoji or ask each member to draw a face with an expression. Most people are familiar and comfortable using this type of communication and technology. Another option is using the List of Emotions worksheet which can help your clients better express their emotions and aids in building emotional literacy.
If you work with children, refer to this blog article discussing icebreaker activities for children.
All of these ice breakers can be easily conducted on TheraPlatform using their interactive screen sharing feature. Ready to see how TheraPlatform can take your group sessions online? Sign up now for a free trial, no credit card required.
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Group Therapy Icebreaker Activities
Icebreakers are often a great way to start off group. They are especially helpful when you have new group members because they can increase group cohesion & camaraderie, and they help group members get to know each other better.
Icebreakers are also fun- when group members are laughing and having a good time, they feel more comfortable. Plus, it sets the mood for the rest of group!
Groups can be tense & emotionally draining, especially if you’re talking about topics like depression, trauma, addiction, etc… so it’s okay to have fun once in a while and incorporate an icebreaker activity!
Here is a list of 6 fun & easy-to-implement
group therapy icebreakers
that work for all ages:
1. The Group Chain:
Ask group members to stand in the middle of the room. Ask a volunteer to start the icebreaker by stating their name and a fact about themselves (i.e. “My name is Adam, and I’m a football fanatic”).
Next, that volunteer will form a “link” by putting one hand on their hip and sticking out their elbow.
Another group member who can relate to the fact shared (i.e. he/she is also a football fanatic) will link arms with that person and repeat the process (i.e. “My name is Shannon, and I’m also a football fanatic. I have 3 children” — a group member with 3 children would then link arms with Shannon and continue the exercise).
If someone shares a fact that no other group member can relate to, they must state another fact.
Once everyone has linked arms, the last person who joined the “link” and the volunteer who started the icebreaker must find a commonality and then link arms (forming a “chain”/circle).
2. The Gift:
This group therapy icebreaker activity can be really funny! Have each group member tell the person to their right a noun (a person, place, or thing). Then, have each group member tell the person to their left an adjective (a word that describes a noun, i.e. poor, ugly, beautiful, etc.)
Group members will then introduce themselves and name the “gift” they received (by combining their noun & adjective).
Examples:
My name is Alex, and I was given a belligerent George Clooney!
My name is Charlotte, and I was given a disturbed toaster!
My name is Scott, and I was given an old island!
3. The Word Pair:
For this icebreaker, ask a volunteer to go first and start by saying a word- it can be anything they want. For example, they can say the word, “cold”.
The person next to them then repeats that word and adds another word that can be linked to it. For example, they can say, “cold snow”.
The next person then repeats the last word (“snow”) and adds another word that can be linked to it. For example, they can say, “snow white”.
You can either continue until everyone has contributed or you can turn this icebreaker activity into a game (i.e. by eliminating someone if they cannot come up with a second word within 5 seconds or so!)
4. The Spell Test:
Give each group member at least one letter of the alphabet (click here if you want letters in a colorful format!)
Group members will either hold up or tape their letter to their chest. Give each of them a pen/pencil and an index card or piece of paper.
Group members must work together and use their letters to spell words.
Example:
Tom has the letter, “J”. Katie has the letter, “O”. Rob has the letter, “B”. They come together to form the word, “JOB”.
Every time they spell out a word, they can write it on their index card/paper. See which group member ends up with the most words!
Afterwards, you can ask group members how well they worked together & communicated throughout this icebreaker activity…
5. The Group Frenzy:
This icebreaker encourages group members to do some quick thinking! First, ask them to stand up. Tell them that you will be calling out a number, and they must form groups based on that number.
For example, if you have 21 group members and you call out the number “5”, group members will form four groups that each contain 5 group members.
The person that is left out is then responsible for calling out the next number!
At the end of this icebreaker activity, you can ask group members, “How well did you communicate with each other throughout this exercise?” Communication is key in this one!
6. The Picnic
Tell group members to imagine they are going on a picnic. They must introduce themselves by stating their name and one item they would bring to the picnic. Tell them to try and come up with an item that rhymes with their name!
Examples:
My name is Craig, and I brought an egg
My name is Sam, and I brought the ham
My name is Mary, and I brought some cranberries
When a group member introduces themselves, they must also introduce those who went before them!
Example:
My name is Kate, and I brought the cake. This is Craig, and he brought an egg. This is Sam, and he brought the ham.
Hope these group therapy icebreakers come in handy! Be sure to
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to let me know about some of your favorite icebreakers…
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