Closed Group Treatment

Progress Towards Addiction Recovery Can Come From Closed Group Treatment

Group therapy is one of the essential elements in any drug treatment or rehab program. With group therapy individuals who share similar problems and challenges come together to discuss their concerns and to learn from each other.

There are open groups, which regularly add new members, and there is closed group treatment, which maintains a stable group membership. In many ways, closed group treatment can be superior because it offers the members a feeling of security that they can share whatever they wish without fear.

As the group members get to know each other and each other's problems, they feel freer to open up. This closed group treatment allows the group members to reveal what can be very painful episodes in their lives, and this opening up can have significant therapeutic value.

Of course these closed group treatment sessions are led by a professional counsellor who directs the sharing to help members to address the things that are interfering with their recovery.

There are two main types of closed group treatment. One is the psycho-educational approach, which offers a group experience the focuses on educational topics that can aid the members in learning about their addiction and how to best cope with it.

The other closed group treatment type is the "process oriented" variety. This is where the group members share their feelings, their thoughts and their experiences as they have battled their addiction.

They might talk about childhood experiences and how those contributed to their later life issues. They may also talk about the challenges they face and expect to face in the future as they try to move beyond drug or alcohol addiction.

Often, closed group treatment can continue for several months.