safety alert

If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call 911 or your local hotline or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233 voice), 1-800-787-3224 (tty). There is always a computer trail, but you can click ESCAPE to leave the site quickly.

Support Group Format & Topics

In this section, you will find a sample overall support group format. We have also included some sample weekly group topics, along with suggestions for using the individual handouts. Please feel free to adapt either the overall format or the topics in whatever way works for your particular setting or time constraints.

Overall Format for Groups

Participants in support groups may be more comfortable when group sessions have a predictable structure. Here is an example of an overall format that has been used successfully with women who have the co-occurring issues of substance abuse and interpersonal violence.

Check in. Open the session by asking each group member to briefly state one thing she did right, or was proud of achieving during the previous week.
Identification of problems, challenges or goals and resources. Ask participants if anyone is facing a special challenge, or has a particular goal she’d like to achieve. Identify resources currently utilized by group members and develop additional options to resolve problems, meet challenges and achieve goals.
Educational component. Use a portion of the session to educate participants about some aspect of interpersonal violence or substance abuse. Topics may include power and control dynamics, safety issues, sobriety issues, children’s issues, healthy boundaries, coping skills, etc. Below are 12 examples of possible topics, along with suggestions about how to use the handouts we’ve included in this kit.
Closure. Close by asking each person to name one thing she can do to keep safe and sober for the coming week.

Sample Topics for Educational Component

Here are some sample topics for use in the educational component of support groups, along with suggestions for handouts to use with each topic. Each of these topics could stand alone, so that women who only attend some group sessions won’t need to rely on information from a previous session to understand the topic being discussed in the current one. The topics also may be used in any order. These are examples only! Nothing here is carved in stone – feel free to be creative with these topics and come up with some of your own.

Note about copyright: Group facilitators are free to photocopy as many of the handouts as they wish for educational use. However, please make sure the copyright notices appear on each of the handouts.

Topics

Topic 1: The Relationship Between Substance Abuse and Violence

Topic 2: Naming the Problem

Topic 3: Overlapping Elements of Abuse and Addiction

Topic 4: Getting Help

Discuss the services offered by domestic violence/sexual assault programs, substance abuse treatment providers and support groups, with an emphasis on resources in your own community. Counselors and advocates will want to have addresses and phone numbers handy so they can make appropriate referrals, but also ask participants to share information about resources they are aware of.

Note: You may also wish to provide brochures and meeting schedules from agencies/support groups in your community.