“Members of a cohesive group feel warmth and comfort in the group and a sense of belongingness; they value the group and feel in turn that they are valued, accepted, and supported by other members.”
Irvin D. Yalom
Group therapy is a key support in many people’s recovery from substance use disorder. Trained staff at The Doorway can match you with the best supports for your needs.
Call us at 603-354-6675 for an appointment with a clinician to learn more about group therapy and assess if it is a good support for your recovery.
The Doorway's support groups
Anger Management
Anger Management is an evidenced-based group utilizing the curriculum provided by “What is Good about Anger?” The Anger Management group will provide these anger control interventions: understanding the dynamics of anger, identifying triggers and underlying causes, logging scenarios.
Participants will learn how to apply new skills such as timeouts, assertiveness skills, problem-solving, changing self-talk, cognitive distortions, forgiveness, stress management skills, conflict management skills, emotional intelligence, insights, range assessment, and intervention. This group runs 10 weeks for 90 minutes and is a closed group (no entry after the first week).
DBT skills
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a modified type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others. The group is divided into 4 modules, which include Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness.
Men’s group
Men and women experience addiction differently. National data shows that gender is an important factor to consider when examining patterns of substance abuse, including overall prevalence rates and substances of choice. For example, men are more likely than women to report marijuana and alcohol use, whereas women are more likely than men to report non-medical use of prescription drugs.
Men and women also differ in terms of why they started using drugs or alcohol in the first place. Men tend to start engaging in substance abuse because of the perceived benefits they hope to gain from it, such as better concentration, increased sociability, and even improved sex drive/performance. This group uses evidenced-based practices to address men and their SUD recovery.
Mindfulness
An innovative relapse prevention program that integrates mindfulness practices with evidence-based cognitive and behavioral strategies. Eight carefully structured group sessions help participants gain awareness of their own inner experiences, step out of habitual patterns of thought and behavior that can trigger a relapse, and acquire concrete skills to meet the day-to-day challenges of recovery.
Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)
Moral Reconation Therapy is a systematic treatment strategy that seeks to decrease recidivism among criminal offenders by increasing moral reasoning. Its cognitive-behavioral approach combines elements from a variety of psychological traditions to progressively address ego, social, moral, and positive behavioral growth.
The term “moral” refers to moral reasoning based on Kohlberg’s levels of cognitive reasoning. The word “reconation” comes from the psychological terms “conative” and “conation,” both of which refer to the process of making conscious decisions. MRT leads to enhanced moral reasoning, better decision-making, and more appropriate behavior.
MRT - Domestic violence
This MRT group is open exclusively to those who have a history of perpetrating domestic violence. The book follows the MRT Steps and also has sections covering the issues of power and control. The book is used with many domestic violence programs as the primary treatment method. MRT meets most state requirements for domestic violence treatment programs and is approved by most states for use with such programs.
The program is divided in 24 modules with each module completed in a group session. Participants complete homework for each module prior to coming to a session.
Nurturing program for families in SUD treatment
This program focuses on the effects of substance abuse on families, parenting/caregiving, and the caregiver-child relationship. Combining experiential and didactic exercises, the approach is designed to enhance caregivers' self-awareness and thereby increase their capacity to understand their children.
Caregivers may experience a loss of self-image as capable, effective parents/caregivers. They may have a diminished capacity for empathy. In addition, the caregiver-child bond may be weakened by periods of physical and/or emotional unavailability of parents, thus resulting in gaps in parents' knowledge of the experiences, milestones, and growth of their children. This program is designed to assist parents in re-establishing the strength of their connections with their children.
Seeking safety
Seeking Safety is a psychoeducational group treatment approach developed to address PTSD and substance abuse. The group is divided into 25 specific topics addressing a range of cognitive, behavioral and interpersonal elements. Each topic provides tools and techniques to manage symptoms and triggers of PTSD and substance use and integrates safe coping skills to instill the ideals of safety, respect, care, and healing.
Thinking for good
Thinking For Good is used with resistant offender populations in groups. The program prepares the most resistant participants for more treatment. Typically, this program is used prior to participating in a more long-term program such as MRT. A 70-page workbook is used with offenders and resistant participants. The book focuses especially on typical criminal thinking issues, such as: everyone lies, cheats, and steals; no one can be trusted; the rules don’t apply to them; all relationships are manipulative.
Women’s group
This women’s group utilizes evidence-based programs and integrates theories of women’s psychological development, trauma, and addiction to meet the needs of women with substance use disorders. The group identifies triggers for relapse: self, relationships, sexuality and spirituality. They include issues of self-esteem, sexism, family of origin, relationships, domestic violence, and trauma.
Yoga for recovery
Yoga for Recovery is a group held at Mudita in Keene, led by a certified yoga instructor. Yoga can be a helpful practice used to prevent relapse, reduce withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings, and provide a healthy outlet to cope with potential triggers and daily life stressors. Yoga can help people in recovery learn how to calm themselves without the use of alcohol or drugs, in addition to improving mental and physical health.
These support groups are by clinician referral only, not drop-in. To learn more