Practical Recovery’s Free Psychoeducation Group
Every Wednesday at 9AM by Zoom, Practical Recovery offers a free one-hour psychoeducation group to all current and past clients. This group has existed for over 10 years. It has regular participants, some of long standing. If it were a SMART Recovery group, we’d call it a “check-in” meeting. We go around the room (I call on people one by one). Depending on the size of the group, you get one to a few minutes to tell us what is on your mind. If you are new to the group, I call on you near the end. However, you can “pass.” No one is required to participate.
Because from time to time it is good to review and update our regular activities (e.g., clean out our drawers, closets, and cupboards, reorganize our hard drives), I have been reviewing how this group operates. The primary update I am making is to read the following introduction to begin each group:
This Psychoeducation group is free to all Practical Recovery clients, current and past. This group, like other mutual help groups such as SMART Recovery, encourages participants to reduce or resolve addictive problems and to build lives that are more productive, connected, satisfying, meaningful, and stimulating. The methods of this group are 1) to report your own relevant experiences, 2) to listen to the experiences of others, and 3) to hear the psychoeducational information I may provide from time to time. If there is time at the end of these check-ins we will have open discussion. My role is 1) to provide the psychoeducation, such as would be found in a self-help book, and 2) to ask questions that may clarify or enhance what a participant is reporting. This group should function for you similarly to a SMART Recovery meeting, and not like treatment. Treatment has specific goals and psychological treatment methods, not just psychoeducation. If you feel that treatment would be helpful for you, I encourage you to obtain it with Practical Recovery or elsewhere. Who would like to begin?
If you are interested in attending call Susie Lee, our admin assistant, for the link. She will need to confirm that you have been a client.
