How to Use Cognitive Worksheets
For Group Therapy

The overall goal of using worksheets in group therapy is to help engage the group, teach concepts and encourage communication during therapy sessions.

What is Group Therapy?

Group therapy is a style of therapy in which a therapist works with a small to medium size group of clients at once. These groups are usually about 6 to 8 people. Each client in the group has a common underlying goal or condition they are addressing with the therapist. Commonly, these groups are conceptualized as being used to work through emotional and psychological problems.

What is the Goal of Group Therapy?

There are two main goals of group therapy. The first is to help normalize and decrease people’s feelings of isolation with certain conditions. The second is to help individuals overcome cognitive impairments in a group setting. Usually, group therapy occurs with a psychological condition-focused group, but it is now used for cognitive rehabilitation. Groups will meet either 1 – 3 times weekly for about 1 to 2 hours. Our friends at UT Southwestern use group therapy to help individuals with psychosis.

How Worksheets May Help to Teach Concepts to the Group

When providing group therapy, therapists often discuss cognitive obstacles in the form of concepts. For example, a therapist may ask the group, “who feels that they have trouble getting to work on time?”. Group members may respond by confirming they have trouble getting to work or any destination on time. The therapist may then ask the group to think about the word “planning” – what it means, how to do it, and may ask what troubles each participant face when they have to plan for their day. After discussion, the therapist leading the group may have group members perform an activity that works on their executive functioning skills, which are responsible for effectively planning one’s day and managing time.

This is where cognitive worksheets come in, as they provide group members with practice tasks that they can use to build their cognitive skills responsible for desirable behaviors. After the cognitive activity, group members will often exchange strategies they used. The therapist will help guide the group through finding which strategy or strategies are most effective for solving the problem. They will then tie this back to the concept discussed initially and help group members understand what is needed to be able to master the concept that is being worked on.

Example of a Group Discussion and Activity

The therapist may then ask the group to think about the word “planning” – what it means, how to do it, and what troubles does each participant face? After discussion, the therapist leads the group to perform activities that work on the topic. For example, they might talk about planning and then offer executive function worksheets or activities around executive function.

After the cognitive activity, group members will often exchange strategies they used to complete the task. The therapist will guide the group discussion through bridging questions and reconnecting the activity to the real-life example of planning.

How to use Worksheets to Increase Communication within the Group

Getting clients to communicate and feel comfortable with each other can take time. When you provide a stimulating group activity, your patients will be encouraged to share their ways of solving a worksheet. This activity will give individuals a space to practice skills to help them articulate. Individuals may share their feelings regarding a topic, how they solved another aspect, or how they are currently thinking and feeling.

This is particularly helpful for psychotherapy sessions, where patients may feel reserved sharing what they are thinking about. By performing the stimulating cognitive activity in a group setting, you may not only support and build trust with your patients; but you can build a community of individuals working together to overcome a challenge.

How Does it Help?

When providing group therapy, therapists often discuss cognitive obstacles in the form of concepts. For example, a therapist may ask the group, “who feels that they have trouble getting to work on time?”. Group members may respond by confirming they have trouble getting to work or any destination on time. By clients sharing what they are struggling with or feeling frustrated with, they can build connections with other individuals. This type of dialog also allows for other group members to share strategies they use to resolve their struggles. It also may help individuals struggling with depression due to injury or isolation learn that they are not alone in their struggles.

How Do HappyNeuron Pro’s Worksheets Facilitate Group Therapy?

How Cognitive Stimulation May help Increase Member Participation

When you provide a stimulating group activity, your patients may be able to articulate better how they are thinking and feeling. This is particularly helpful for psychotherapy sessions, where patients may feel reserved sharing what they are thinking about. By stimulating cognitive activity, you can provide emotional support and build trust with your patients and the group as they activate their minds and feel comfortable opening up to one another.

This is important as group members may avoid participating in group therapy or lie about their concerns if they feel they cannot trust other group members or the therapist leading the group. By stimulating each group member’s mind while providing emotional support and guidance, you can help each participant feel at ease. This may allow their minds to process their conscious thinking and help them communicate their concerns and struggles with you.

Keeping Patients Engaged

If you choose to use print materials, they must be well-designed to capture each individual’s attention and be adequately challenging. Many worksheets are available in black-and-white print, but people enjoy interacting with colors. HappyNeuron Pro’s cognitive worksheets are tastefully designed to be aesthetically pleasing. Your client will be able to interact with the content on each exercise page without feeling overwhelmed. Along with design in mind, HappyNeuron Pro’s worksheets contain exercises that progress in difficulty. This way, your patients can all start practicing the basics of a cognitive skill and adapt to applying learned strategies in more challenging situations. When exercises are not adapted properly, patients will disengage. HappyNeuron Pro’s worksheets keep patients engaged with tasteful design and gradated exercises.

As a way to boost mood

Affective disorders such as depression impact an individual’s emotional, cognitive, and social health. Cognitive training has been shown to promote emotional well-being and reduce the risk of relapsing depression. Psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals can provide their patients with cognitive training using cognitive worksheets. For patients with affective disorders, cognitive training focuses on processing speed, attention, memory, executive functioning, and language. These areas of cognition are impacted by affective disorders, as these disorders impact neural signaling which result in delayed or slower information processing and response time. By working on cognitive skills with affective disorder patients, you can help your patients stimulate their brain, learn strategies to help them manage their emotions and solve problems, as well as help them build confidence.

The worksheets are fabulous, I use them in interventions with teenagers accessing our specialist provision, they are engaging and meaningful.

I can not thank you enough for this website and the worksheets ! I print them off for my husband due to a brain bleed due to Amyloid Angitpathy. He has Aphasia and these have helped him.

Praise and gratitude from here in Texas. My patients have shown substantial progress thanks to the free printable worksheets they have completed and we have done together during our speech-language and cognitive therapy sessions here in the SNF setting.

I like the idea that there are free worksheets that I can pick and choose from. I don't subscribe to many services, but I do enjoy the free offerings and provide those to my patients for home exercise programs.

I love the worksheets and as a school based OT (who works across the life span) they are super versatile.

This is a wonderful site for my husband who had a TBI earlier this year. They really helped him more than the speech therapist we were going to.

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How to Use Cognitive Worksheets For Group Therapy

What is Group Therapy?

What is the Goal of Group Therapy?

How Worksheets May Help to Teach Concepts to the Group

Example of a Group Discussion and Activity

How to use Worksheets to Increase Communication within the Group

How Does it Help?

How Do HappyNeuron Pro’s Worksheets Facilitate Group Therapy?

How Cognitive Stimulation May help Increase Member Participation

Keeping Patients Engaged

As a way to boost mood

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How to Use Cognitive Worksheets
For Group Therapy