A man takes a seat in his first group at SOZO and plans to keep quiet. Then another man starts to talk, and he says the thing the first man has kept to himself for years. The first man hears his own story in someone else’s words. For the first time in a long while, he knows he has company.
Group therapy for addiction gives a man moments like that one. At SOZO Recovery Center, a man finds other men in his group who know the road he is on. Group therapy is part of each of our programs from residential treatment through outpatient care.
If you love a man who is struggling with addiction, you want to see him back at the table and back at work. He works toward that day when he takes a chair in a group with other men in recovery. Our admissions team listens on the first call, and we find the level of care that fits him.
What group therapy for addiction is
Group therapy for addiction is treatment that people in recovery take part in together, in the same room. At SOZO, only men take those seats, and each man brings what he faces in his own recovery. He listens while the others speak, and the others listen when he speaks.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) lists group counseling among the most common treatments for substance use disorders. NIDA also says a licensed mental health professional delivers this kind of care.
NIDA adds that residential programs may provide individual and group counseling. It also says intensive outpatient care includes both kinds of sessions. A man can keep a group in his week as he moves from residential care to intensive outpatient care.
Counselors who lead these groups have a guide to work from. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published TIP 41 in October 2015 for counselors who lead group therapy in substance use treatment. Its topics include types of group therapy, confidentiality, client placement and group development. You can read SAMHSA’s guide to group therapy to see what it covers for the counselors who lead a group.
Why men open up in a men-only group
Every group at SOZO is a group of men, because we serve adult men who are 18 or older. A men-only peer environment is one of the things that make SOZO different, and our post on men-only treatment explains why a man might choose it.
If you are the man thinking about treatment, you may picture a room of strangers who will judge you. In a men’s group at SOZO, each man in the room has his own history with addiction. Each of them is working to get his own life back.
If you have tried to quit on your own, you know how lonely that work can be. In a group, you can talk about the family you want to face again and the job you want to keep.
The men around you know that pressure, so you do not have to explain it from the start. You can say what you mean in plain words. You do not have to be the strong one in the room, because every man there knows the fight you are in.
What happens in a group at SOZO
In group therapy at SOZO, the men share their experiences and learn from each other. One man tells the group about a hard week, and another man tells what helped him get through one like it. A man who says little that day still hears that answer, and he can try it in his own week.
Over time, the group builds a sense of community. Men who arrived as strangers learn each other’s stories, and they start to pull for each other. A man who kept everything inside finds other men who ask how he is doing, and soon he asks them the same question.
For a family, this means the man you love has other men beside him while he heals. You are no longer the only support he has, and he is no longer alone with this fight. When he reaches outpatient treatment, you can take part in his recovery through family counseling.
Group therapy from residential treatment to outpatient care
From residential treatment through outpatient care, group therapy stays part of a man’s treatment at each step. Each program page lists the other care a man receives at that level.
- Our residential treatment program includes group therapy sessions, and you can see the other therapies and activities a man takes part in there.
- Our partial hospitalization program brings men together in group therapy, and you can read what a man’s day in that program looks like.
- Our intensive outpatient care includes group and one-on-one therapy with relapse prevention therapy, and its page shows what a man works on there.
- Our outpatient treatment program offers group and one-on-one therapy with family counseling, and that brings the people at home into his recovery.
A man in residential treatment stays with us while he heals. His week includes group therapy sessions with other men and one-on-one therapy with a counselor. Prayer and scripture are part of his days there too, because faith is part of our treatment approach. If he needs to start his recovery away from home, ask us about residential treatment when you call.
A man in intensive outpatient care sleeps in his own bed and answers to his own alarm clock. He still meets with other men in recovery for group therapy. That gives his week a steady place to talk about what is hard.
When a man needs detox first, we coordinate detox placement with partner facilities. From there, he can start at one level of care and move to another as he heals. At each level from residential treatment through outpatient care, he brings what he is facing that week to the men in his group. The faces around him may change as he moves, and he keeps talking with other men in a group.
Where faith comes into our program
Faith is part of how we treat addiction at SOZO. Our treatment approach includes prayer and scripture, and men in our program receive spiritual guidance as they heal. A man meets clinical care and faith in one program, so he does not have to choose between them.
Many families look for a faith-based program that treats the man they love with dignity. If that is what you want for him, ask our admissions team how faith fits into a man’s week here. We will give you a plain answer on the first call.
How group and one-on-one therapy work together
Group therapy is one part of treatment at SOZO, and one-on-one therapy is another. Our residential program pairs group therapy sessions with one-on-one therapy.
Some things a man needs to say to one person first. In a one-on-one session, he can talk about his past with a counselor. In a group, he hears from men who have lived something like it.
A man can take what he learns from his counselor into the group. He can also bring what he hears in the group back to his next one-on-one session. If another man in the group talks about a hard call home, he can plan his own call with his counselor.
Both kinds of therapy continue in intensive outpatient care, along with relapse prevention therapy. A man keeps working on his recovery there while he settles back into home and work.
Support from other men can last after treatment ends. If you want to keep that kind of support close, our post on an accountability partner in recovery shows how one man can stand beside another.
Questions men ask about group therapy
Which SOZO programs include group therapy?
Four of our programs include group therapy: residential treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient care and outpatient treatment. Our admissions team helps you find the program where a man should start.
Are SOZO’s groups only for men?
Yes. We serve adult men who are 18 or older, so every group in our program is a group of men. A man shares the room only with other men in recovery.
Does group therapy replace one-on-one therapy?
No. Our treatment approach includes both individual and group therapy, and a man takes part in both. Residential treatment pairs group therapy sessions with one-on-one therapy, and intensive outpatient care includes both kinds of therapy.
Who leads group therapy?
NIDA says a licensed mental health professional delivers counseling for substance use disorders, and that includes group counseling. Billie Welch, LCSW, AADC, is our Clinical Director. You can read about our clinical team before you call.
Start with one phone call
You do not need every answer before you reach out. When you call 501-984-5317, our Arkansas admissions team listens first. We find the right level of care for the man you love, and we check your family’s coverage on that same call.
You can call for yourself or for a man you love, and you can ask us anything about group therapy for addiction. If you want to know what happens first, you can read how admissions works before you pick up the phone. Our main office is at 505 W Grand Ave., Hot Springs, AR 71901.
If a man is in danger right now, call 911. When you are ready to talk about treatment, call us. We will help him take his first step back to his place at the family table and back to work. Starting takes one phone call.