Therapy Groups

At the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s, therapy groups are an integral part of your child’s treatment and are led by trained unit staff.

Each morning your child will attend goals group, where he will create a goal to work on for the day. The goal must relate to why he is in the hospital, be something he can complete in one day and must be something he can do on his own. Each evening a goal review group is held, where your child will discuss how he worked on his goal and if he was able to complete it.

Purpose:   Allows your child to benefit not only from the support of staff, but also from the support of peers. It helps to reinforce that he is not in this alone.

This group helps to establish the tone of the day. Staff members begin by reviewing the day’s schedule and introduce children to their assigned staff member. Unit guidelines are also reviewed.

Purpose:  An opportunity for staff to introduce themselves to your child and to set clear and well-defined expectations in regard to the day’s schedule and treatment.

The social skills group focuses on helping your child interact with others in social settings and helps her learn to relate to others in a socially appropriate manner. This is achieved through modeling, role-playing, feedback from peers and staff, and positive reinforcement from staff.

Purpose: To help your child learn how to interact with her peers in an appropriate manner and with confidence.  Social skills are an integral part of your child’s life at home, in school and in the community.  

The focus of this group is to help your child develop new means of coping with challenging life situations and provide an opportunity to practice these skills.

Purpose: To provide your child with the resources he needs to address challenges in a positive way. Stressors are a part of everyday life and can come in many forms.

This group gives your child the opportunity to express and communicate her feelings in a safe and supportive environment. This is achieved through the use of games, activities, art, dance, journaling, music and play.

Purpose:  To teach each child positive ways to express her emotions and that it is all right to show others how she is feeling.

This group gives youth an opportunity to learn and practice tasks carried out on a daily basis to engage in successful living. These activities include manners, hygiene, cooking and managing one’s environment.

Purpose: To teach and reinforce basic daily activities.

This group focuses on positive ways of dealing with anger. Youth will learn about their triggers and will develop positive ways to cope with anger.

Purpose:  To help each child identify what makes him angry and provide him with an alternative outlet to express anger other than through violence or defiance.

This group consists of designated times throughout the day where youth can enjoy  playing video games, pool, ping-pong, board games, reading a good book or watching a movie.

Purpose: This group allows each child the opportunity to just be a kid and to let loose and have fun.