Mental health/Behavioral Center. Group ideas?

I am trying to find some ideas for "group." I work at a Residential Behavioral Center for youth. I was hired as a member of the Behavioral Support Staff in the on campus school. My students range in ages from 9-15. They are behavioral because of their mental status. Many of these children were abused in one way or another and are classified as the 'sad' kids. The school is a Theraputic environment. These kids are behind in many levels and this is partly why they range so much in age but are all taught the same cirruculum. I am responsible to run 'group' every day for one hour and need some ideas. Please help. I only have 10 students right now. The last group I ran was called "The Giving Chair." The child sits in a chair in front of the class and holds a wrapped gift, instead of giving an actual gift, the child gives each of his peers a compliment. The last child to receive a compliment is the next one to sit in the chair and hold the "gift." This was a good self esteem exercise and the kids seemed to enjoy it. If you have any ideas for further groups please share your ideas with me. All serious answers would be greatly appreciated. I tried checking some mental health sites but they all wanted money. Please be creative but not complicated ~ remember these children are Mental health.

i work in an adolescent residential drug treatment facility and the theraspists usually conduct group and experientail ectivities, but we do other things in the day room of each side ( male and female ) such as a God box; a decorated, sealed box with a slot in it to put things they can't talk about or are struggling with. It helps them build trust in God. Personally i give out positive reinforcement affirmations that the kids are to stand and read while looking in a mirror so they can possibly see something god about them, such as a smile, or their clear eyes, etc.Plus i tell them every day that they are loved no matter what they think, and that it can get better for them.

How about a group on
- anger management
- stress management
- communication
- expressing emotion
- dealing with failure/rejection
Hope that helped.

How about a scrapbook making day where the kids each get a book, a few pretty pages of paper, and plastic to put the paper in when done, then they bring or find pictures of things important to them and glue with a glue stick on the paper, it can be photographs, article, cards, poems, whatever makes them feel good, maybe each month take a 1 hour time or more and have them work on their book, what made them feel good this month or was important to them, it could be pictures from a magazine, etc.

You can go to dollar stores and get all sorts of jewels, pretty papers, letter stickers, etc for a buck each, they could even make a book like that for someone important to them for a gift like for mothers/fathers day.

I've had your job :)

I called that group you described "king for the day".

One group the kids really liked was a tower building exercise. Divide the group into four to five people. Each group gets three pieces of paper and three pieces of tape. The group has to work together to build a paper tower as high as they can. Questions to ask at the end:

Was there a group leader? How was the leader chosen?
Did you think your ideas were heard? How do you think you can get your ideas to be heard better in other situations?
This is a teamwork exercise. Where else in your life must you use teamwork to succeed? What are the essential skills for teamwork?


There are some really great books out there for these activities. Invest in one, it will be worth it!

Having children reaching out to those that are less fortunate than themselves can have multiple benefit's. Have them Pen pal with those that are in a distant country or (State). Have them collect change or items to share with those less fortunate. They can exchange experiences, pictures and gifts (if postage money is not a problem).

God Bless you for your work :)

this is a fun game that teaches participation and its fun each kid geta a tooth pick and puts it n there mouth this can be done individually or n teams with the toothpick n there mouth have them pass a lifesaver from pick 2 pick if toothpicks r a lil 2 much u can also use the small stirrin straws....also doing skits lil roles play about how to deal with certain situations could b a good idea hope i help tell ur kids it does get better life that is im happily married 11y 3 kids good job and i went thru alot as a child and teen just hang n there

On taking a look at thje following topics, you may have an illuminating idea in the mind. They are from the content of a book I recently read. It added to my creativity so drammatically that I can't explain.

Analytical Meditation
Destructive Meditation
The End of Failure
The Death of Disappointment
The Strength of Weakness
The Death of Sorrows
The End of Remorse
The Death of Abnormal Fear
The Death of Unnecessary Anger
The Death of Boredom and the Beginning of a Fresh, Curious Mind
The Death of Inferiority Complex
The Death of Greed and the Beginning of Affluence
Enjoyment as Responsibility
The Death of Addiction to Drugs and the Beginning of Addiction to Life
The End of Bad Relationships
The End of Insomnia
The Real Identity and he Unique Personality
Beauty-Care for the Mind

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksea...

i have heard that you can let 1 student/child express a negative about themselves and peer respond with answers of what fears they believe/heard/ felt may stem from and then encourage a postive from the negative. in turn

i am probably not on the right track, but what about a garden type idea. each of the children have some seeds which they dedicate to what ever, you know-hope, love, understanding etc and they sow the seeds- you ensure they grow, then they plant them out-prhaps in pots or in a garden. potted plants or herbs and vegies are also a great fund raising idea which is good for building self worth. gardening is so relaxing. another nice idea is to let everyone draw a name out of a hat and whoever you draw you do a collage or an abstract of just colour on paper to represent that person, then everyone writes a positive affirmation about who it represents on it. that is something that can be taken with them physically and hung in their rooms. the gift chair is a wonderful idea. if you have acess to grounds it would be great to let these children do some planting and tend to it and watch it grow. a tree or shrub is something ongoing and something your future groups could tend to, sit near. the same with a veggie patch. i know i keep going on about the garden thing but i have seen the positive affects it will have. thanks for working with these children and offering them hope. best wishes. and maybe if you do a painting tyoe thing laminate them so others wont be tempted to destroy them-and i am not saying that they will but it would be so dissappointing to have their stuff destroyed by others not in the same group.