As part of my internship this year, I’ll be running a “Mood Group.” The members of the group have diagnoses like depression, bipolar, anxiety disorders, etc. I’m having a bit of trouble finding good sources for directives or activities, outside of spending money on books (which I’m not in a position to do).
Does anyone know any good online sources, or if you’ve done similar work, ideas for activities to do? If it helps any, the group is an hour long. TIA!
Is this group more or a group therapy, or a support group? Or something else completely?
I’m a faciliator at a support group. I can tell you that our groups run one hour and fourty-five minutes, and we have only a few basic guidelines:
[ul]
[li]Cell phones off or at least on silent[/li][li]Confidentiality is strictly kept[/li][li]Talk should be related to personal experience (“I think…” instead of “You should…”)[/li][li]We’re not a twelve step - cross talk is welcomed, but only one at a time[/li][li]Medication works differently for everyone, so generalities cannot be made[/li][/ul]
After that, every facilitator runs the group differently. Hell, I run them different depending on which group I’m doing that week - Under 30 is very different from Topic, is very different from Friends & Family. Bipolar and Unipolar are very different.
Basically, I start by going around the circle and having everyone introduce themselves (dispite the name tags) and take a few minutes to tell us how their week was and what’s on their mind. Then I’ll open the group to whatever people want to discuss.
Since I’m not sure what type of group you’re running, the following may not be helpful. We promote cross-talk, but when people talk, they tend to talk to the facilitator, so I look around the room and not right bcak at the speaker, to get the speaker looking around too. I listen closely during the opening round to catch any important topics to use if and when the group stalls. Basically I only talk when a question is directed to me, if I need to restart the conversation, to correct any misinformation or to warn anyone who getting out of line.
Perhaps some links - the group at which I facilitate: MDSG
NAMI
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
If you’re running a support group, perhaps since you’re on LI, you can come to one of the groups we run each Friday in the city. There are also groups run each Wednesday - or at the very least I can hook you up with some of our board members for more info.
Let me know if I can be of any further help.
I should have given more detail in my OP. It’s group therapy, and the patients are in an Intensive Outpatient Program in a mental health clinic. This is not a new group that’s just starting, it’s been going for a long time, but now as an intern I’m taking it over.
The patients know each other from being in the program so introductions aren’t needed. There isn’t a problem getting the patients to talk - I’m just having some trouble finding activities or directives for the group. It’s not like they just come in and we chat, there has to be something to guide the hour. And thank you for the offer to come but I am at my placement on Wednesdays and Fridays. 
Any more ideas you could offer are appreciated!
I’ve never seen or run a group therapy session, but I’ll be happy to ask some people tonight if they have any suggestions.