By Krista Zanfardino, LMSW, Associate Vice President at CoveCare Center
Group therapy isn’t what it used to be. In the past, participants would spend their days sitting in groups, nodding off as the facilitator read from a manual.
Nowadays, things are changing. CoveCare Center has always been a recovery agency, reminding our clients that their goals are achievable. More recently, we’ve added some unique approaches to help our clients realize their hopes and dreams.
If you walk into PROSper, you will see clients in the computer lounge, researching educational, volunteer, or job opportunities, and building their support network by emailing family and friends and connecting through social media. In the lounge, clients are playing games, reading books, or practicing to reduce anxiety and stress. And in our group rooms, you won’t find clients nodding off while the facilitator drones on!
If you walk into Recovery Thru Creative Writing, clients are developing characters, plot, twists and turns based on their own life events. The Recovery in Action group members pass invisible balls to each other, talk to empty chairs and play back their emotions using psychodrama techniques to improve relationships, address life barriers and work through uncomfortable feelings. In another room, you may find the group doing some light yoga, meditating, or learning about reiki or chakras in Alternative Coping Skills. Then there’s the Quiet Minds group, a lengthy meditation followed by talk about how to use these skills when struggling with anxiety, anger, and depression.
We also use traditional treatment approaches at PROSper, but often taken with a twist. Instead of just discussing how to use distress tolerance skills, clients are practicing them in the moment. Instead of being told how to socialize, clients are out of their seats talking to each other and working through their struggles.
And there’s more to PROSper than just groups. Vocational counselors are meeting clients in the community to help them address the stressors of employment and maintain their jobs. Peer Specialists are sharing their experiences to help clients work through their own recovery. Therapists are meeting with clients in individual sessions using a variety of treatment modalities. Members of our staff are always excited to receive training on new methods and evidenced based practices that offer possibilities to our clients.
At CoveCare, the staff works every day to keep the PROSper experience new and fresh, and we love to celebrate the many success stories of clients that have achieved their goals. To see us in action…well, stop by on a Friday and you might just catch us in an afternoon dance-off.