Clinician tool
Group therapy curriculum templates
Session-by-session outlines for five common therapy groups. Pick a curriculum to view its format, who it is for, facilitator notes, and a week-by-week plan.
DBT Skills Group
8 weeks · 90 min · closed group · 6–8 members
Who it is for
Adults working on emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, self-harm urges, or unstable relationships. A condensed single-cycle skills group; ideally paired with individual DBT.
Facilitator notes
- Run it as a skills-training class, not a process group: teach the skill, practice in session, and keep the focus didactic and behavioral.
- Use a diary card each week and open every session with a brief diary-card and homework review before teaching the new skill.
- Co-facilitation works well — one leader teaches while the other tracks the group, manages side conversations, and coaches skills.
- This is a compressed cycle of the four modules; for higher-acuity clients pair with individual DBT and phone coaching, and screen for members who can tolerate a group format.
Activities
- Review the structure, goals, and the four skill modules
- Establish group agreements (confidentiality, attendance, non-judgment)
- Introduce the biosocial model and the aim of building a life worth living
- Brief experiential mindfulness exercise
Between sessions: Notice one moment of full attention each day; begin the diary card.
Activities
- Teach reasonable, emotion, and wise mind
- Practice the what skills (observe, describe, participate)
- Practice the how skills (non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, effectively)
- In-session observe/describe exercise; diary-card review
Between sessions: Practice one what and one how skill daily; log on the diary card.
Activities
- Teach TIP (temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, paired relaxation)
- Teach STOP and the ACCEPTS distraction menu
- Build a personal self-soothe kit across the five senses
- Practice one crisis-survival skill in session
Between sessions: Use a crisis-survival skill when distress rises; note what helped.
Activities
- Teach radical acceptance and turning the mind
- Distinguish acceptance from approval
- Complete a pros-and-cons grid for tolerating vs. acting on an urge
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Practice radical acceptance on one situation; complete a pros-and-cons grid.
Activities
- Teach the model of emotions and functions of emotion
- Practice check the facts
- Introduce opposite action for unjustified emotions
- Identify and label a recent emotion as a group
Between sessions: Check the facts on one strong emotion; try opposite action once.
Activities
- Teach PLEASE skills for reducing emotional vulnerability
- Plan accumulating positives (short- and long-term)
- Introduce the ABC skills (accumulate, build mastery, cope ahead)
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Schedule one pleasant activity daily; cope ahead for an upcoming event.
Activities
- Clarify the three interpersonal goals (objective, relationship, self-respect)
- Teach DEAR MAN for asking and saying no
- Role-play a request using DEAR MAN
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Script and try one DEAR MAN conversation; note how it went.
Activities
- Teach GIVE (relationship) and FAST (self-respect)
- Practice combining DEAR MAN with GIVE and FAST
- Review all four modules and personal skill gains
- Graduation: reflections, next steps, and continued-practice plan
Between sessions: Choose the skills to keep practicing; complete a personal maintenance plan.
DBT Skills Group
8 weeks · 90 min · closed group · 6–8 members
Who it is for
Adults working on emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, self-harm urges, or unstable relationships. A condensed single-cycle skills group; ideally paired with individual DBT.
Facilitator notes
- Run it as a skills-training class, not a process group: teach the skill, practice in session, and keep the focus didactic and behavioral.
- Use a diary card each week and open every session with a brief diary-card and homework review before teaching the new skill.
- Co-facilitation works well — one leader teaches while the other tracks the group, manages side conversations, and coaches skills.
- This is a compressed cycle of the four modules; for higher-acuity clients pair with individual DBT and phone coaching, and screen for members who can tolerate a group format.
Activities
- Review the structure, goals, and the four skill modules
- Establish group agreements (confidentiality, attendance, non-judgment)
- Introduce the biosocial model and the aim of building a life worth living
- Brief experiential mindfulness exercise
Between sessions: Notice one moment of full attention each day; begin the diary card.
Activities
- Teach reasonable, emotion, and wise mind
- Practice the what skills (observe, describe, participate)
- Practice the how skills (non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, effectively)
- In-session observe/describe exercise; diary-card review
Between sessions: Practice one what and one how skill daily; log on the diary card.
Activities
- Teach TIP (temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, paired relaxation)
- Teach STOP and the ACCEPTS distraction menu
- Build a personal self-soothe kit across the five senses
- Practice one crisis-survival skill in session
Between sessions: Use a crisis-survival skill when distress rises; note what helped.
Activities
- Teach radical acceptance and turning the mind
- Distinguish acceptance from approval
- Complete a pros-and-cons grid for tolerating vs. acting on an urge
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Practice radical acceptance on one situation; complete a pros-and-cons grid.
Activities
- Teach the model of emotions and functions of emotion
- Practice check the facts
- Introduce opposite action for unjustified emotions
- Identify and label a recent emotion as a group
Between sessions: Check the facts on one strong emotion; try opposite action once.
Activities
- Teach PLEASE skills for reducing emotional vulnerability
- Plan accumulating positives (short- and long-term)
- Introduce the ABC skills (accumulate, build mastery, cope ahead)
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Schedule one pleasant activity daily; cope ahead for an upcoming event.
Activities
- Clarify the three interpersonal goals (objective, relationship, self-respect)
- Teach DEAR MAN for asking and saying no
- Role-play a request using DEAR MAN
- Diary-card review
Between sessions: Script and try one DEAR MAN conversation; note how it went.
Activities
- Teach GIVE (relationship) and FAST (self-respect)
- Practice combining DEAR MAN with GIVE and FAST
- Review all four modules and personal skill gains
- Graduation: reflections, next steps, and continued-practice plan
Between sessions: Choose the skills to keep practicing; complete a personal maintenance plan.
CBT for Depression
12 weeks · 90 min · closed group · 6–10 members
Who it is for
Adults with mild-to-moderate depression seeking structured, skills-based treatment. Members should be able to engage with homework and a psychoeducational format.
Facilitator notes
- Keep the group structured and agenda-driven: set an agenda, teach, practice, assign homework, and review it the following week.
- Open each session by reviewing the prior week's homework — it signals that between-session practice is the active ingredient.
- Balance psychoeducation with in-session practice so members leave with a concrete tool, not just a concept.
- Screen for members who are actively suicidal or too acute for a group pace, and coordinate with any individual providers.
Activities
- Group agreements, structure, and goals
- Psychoeducation on depression and the cognitive model
- Introduce the thoughts–feelings–behaviors triangle
- Set individual goals for the group
Between sessions: Notice one link between a thought, a feeling, and a behavior.
Activities
- Teach the depression–inactivity cycle
- Introduce behavioral activation and its rationale
- Demonstrate an activity-monitoring log
- Identify avoided or withdrawn-from activities
Between sessions: Complete a daily activity log tracking what you did and your mood.
Activities
- Review activity logs for patterns
- Rate activities for mastery and pleasure
- Schedule pleasant and accomplishment-based activities
- Problem-solve barriers to follow-through
Between sessions: Schedule and complete at least one mastery and one pleasure activity daily.
Activities
- Define automatic thoughts and hot thoughts
- Practice catching thoughts tied to mood shifts
- Model identifying thoughts from a shared example
- Introduce a simple thought log
Between sessions: Record automatic thoughts during two mood-shift moments.
Activities
- Teach the full thought record (situation, thought, emotion, evidence)
- Complete a thought record together as a group
- Rate belief and emotion intensity before and after
- Troubleshoot common sticking points
Between sessions: Complete two thought records during the week.
Activities
- Introduce common distortions (all-or-nothing, catastrophizing, mind-reading)
- Label distortions in members' own examples
- Discuss how distortions maintain low mood
- Practice naming the distortion on new thoughts
Between sessions: On your thought records, label the distortion in each hot thought.
Activities
- Teach evidence-for and evidence-against questioning
- Generate balanced, alternative thoughts
- Work a member's example through restructuring
- Re-rate mood after building a balanced thought
Between sessions: Restructure at least two hot thoughts to balanced alternatives.
Activities
- Introduce the downward-arrow technique
- Distinguish automatic thoughts from underlying core beliefs
- Identify a personal core belief and its origins
- Begin gathering evidence for a new, more adaptive belief
Between sessions: Use the downward arrow on one recurring thought to find the core belief.
Activities
- Teach structured problem-solving steps
- Define a problem and brainstorm options without judgment
- Weigh options and choose a workable plan
- Practice on a real current problem
Between sessions: Apply the problem-solving steps to one current stressor.
Activities
- Distinguish passive, aggressive, and assertive styles
- Teach basic assertive scripts and I-statements
- Role-play an assertive request or boundary
- Plan a step toward re-connecting socially
Between sessions: Practice one assertive communication and one social contact.
Activities
- Review skills learned and personal warning signs
- Identify early signs of a downturn
- Draft a written relapse-prevention and coping plan
- Plan responses to high-risk situations
Between sessions: Complete your personal relapse-prevention plan.
Activities
- Review progress toward individual goals
- Consolidate the most useful skills for each member
- Discuss maintaining gains and when to seek more support
- Closure, feedback, and goodbyes
Between sessions: Choose your ongoing practice plan and next steps for support.
Process Group (interpersonal / open)
Ongoing · open-ended · weekly 75–90 min · rolling membership 6–9 members
Who it is for
Adults working on relationship patterns, self-awareness, and interpersonal difficulties. Open, ongoing membership; members join and graduate at different points rather than moving through a fixed curriculum.
Facilitator notes
- This is not a manualized weekly plan. The work is here-and-now: what happens between members in the room becomes the material, so the group functions as a social microcosm of each member's outside relationships.
- Establish and protect norms early — confidentiality, staying in the here-and-now, speaking directly to one another, and giving specific feedback rather than advice.
- Lean on Yalom's therapeutic factors: universality, altruism, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, and instillation of hope guide where you place attention.
- Screen carefully for readiness and fit; prepare new members for the format, and attend to how arrivals and departures affect cohesion.
Activities
- Brief check-in; surface what is present in the room
- Follow the here-and-now: notice reactions between members as they arise
- Encourage direct feedback and exploration of interpersonal patterns
- Close with a check-out and any unfinished threads to carry forward
Between sessions: Notice outside the group where the same interpersonal patterns show up, and bring observations back.
Activities
- Build group agreements and norms
- Foster universality — members recognizing shared struggles
- Attend to early ambivalence and safety
Between sessions: Reflect on what makes it feel safe or unsafe to be known in a group.
Activities
- Shift from outside stories to what is happening between members now
- Practice giving and receiving specific feedback
- Use the group as a social microcosm of members' relationships
Between sessions: Notice one reaction you have to another member and consider sharing it.
Activities
- Work directly with conflict and difference as it emerges
- Support catharsis balanced with reflection and altruism
- Explore recurring relational patterns and experiment with new responses
Between sessions: Take one small interpersonal risk in the group or outside it.
Activities
- Process a member's departure openly with the group
- Review growth, gains, and remaining goals
- Attend to feelings about endings and separation
Between sessions: Reflect on what you learned about yourself through others in the group.
Grief & Loss Group
8 weeks · 90 min · closed group · 6–8 members
Who it is for
Adults grieving the death of a loved one and seeking support and normalization. Best suited to uncomplicated grief; screen for complicated or prolonged grief that may need individual care.
Facilitator notes
- Screen for complicated or prolonged grief disorder and for acute trauma; those may need individual treatment before or alongside a group.
- Set a gentle pace and give members permission to pass — grief is uneven and members will be at very different points.
- Ask about and honor each member's cultural, religious, and family mourning practices rather than assuming a single model of grief.
- Normalize the wide range of grief emotions (including guilt, anger, and relief) and emphasize that grief is not linear.
Activities
- Group agreements and creating a safe, gentle space
- Members share who they lost and how, at their own pace
- Normalize the range and unevenness of grief
Between sessions: Bring a photo or object that reminds you of your loved one, if you wish.
Activities
- Introduce models: the dual-process model and tasks of mourning
- Emphasize that grief is not linear or stage-locked
- Members reflect on where they see themselves
Between sessions: Notice when you are oscillating between loss and restoration this week.
Activities
- Explore the full range: sadness, guilt, anger, relief, numbness
- Normalize ambivalent and unexpected feelings
- Share and validate members' experiences
Between sessions: Name and gently sit with one difficult grief emotion.
Activities
- Introduce the idea of continuing bonds
- Memory work: sharing stories and objects
- Discuss rituals that keep the relationship alive in a healthy way
Between sessions: Do one small remembrance ritual that feels meaningful to you.
Activities
- Name secondary losses (roles, routines, plans, identity)
- Explore how the loss changes who members are and their daily life
- Discuss adjusting to new roles and responsibilities
Between sessions: Reflect on one role or part of your identity that has shifted.
Activities
- Identify healthy coping and grounding strategies
- Address sleep, appetite, and physical self-care
- Recognize warning signs that call for more support
Between sessions: Practice one self-care activity each day this week.
Activities
- Explore meaning-making without pressure to find silver linings
- Letter-writing to the loved one
- Discuss carrying the person forward while re-engaging with life
Between sessions: Write a letter to your loved one, or continue one begun in session.
Activities
- Prepare for anniversaries, holidays, and grief triggers
- Review growth and what members are taking with them
- Closing ritual, feedback, and goodbyes
Between sessions: Make a gentle plan for an upcoming anniversary or hard date.
Anger Management
8 weeks · 90 min · closed group · 6–10 members
Who it is for
Adults wanting to manage anger and reduce aggressive behavior. CBT-based, SAMHSA-style. Assess appropriateness carefully; not a substitute for a batterer-intervention program.
Facilitator notes
- Assess for intimate-partner violence and safety before admission — anger-management groups are not designed for perpetrators of domestic violence and are not a substitute for a certified batterer-intervention program.
- Screen out members whose primary need is safety planning, active substance intoxication, or acute psychosis, and clarify any mandated-referral reporting expectations up front.
- Frame anger as a normal, useful emotion; the target is the aggressive or harmful behavior and the thinking that fuels it, not the feeling itself.
- Use anger logs and in-session role-play so members practice new responses rather than only discussing them.
Activities
- Group rules, confidentiality, and goals
- Psychoeducation: anger is normal; aggression is a choice
- Discuss the costs and payoffs of anger
- Introduce the anger log
Between sessions: Keep an anger log noting situations, intensity (0–10), and responses.
Activities
- Teach the anger meter (0–10 scale)
- Identify physical, behavioral, cognitive, and situational cues
- Map personal early-warning signs
- Review anger logs
Between sessions: Log your cues and anger-meter rating for two anger episodes.
Activities
- Identify common triggers and escalation patterns
- Teach the anger cycle (trigger, escalation, crisis, recovery)
- Distinguish primary emotions beneath the anger
- Discuss the point of no return
Between sessions: Map one anger episode onto the anger cycle in your log.
Activities
- Teach how thoughts fuel anger (blame, should-statements, mind-reading)
- Practice challenging hot, anger-provoking thoughts
- Generate cooler, alternative appraisals
- Work through a member example
Between sessions: Catch and reframe two anger-provoking thoughts this week.
Activities
- Teach paced/diaphragmatic breathing and progressive relaxation
- Practice the timeout procedure
- Build a personal calm-down toolkit
- Rehearse a de-escalation skill in session
Between sessions: Practice breathing or relaxation daily and use a timeout once if needed.
Activities
- Distinguish passive, aggressive, and assertive styles
- Teach I-statements and assertive requests
- Role-play an assertive response to a triggering situation
- Review anger logs
Between sessions: Use one assertive I-statement in a real situation and log it.
Activities
- Teach structured problem-solving steps
- Practice perspective-taking and finding common ground
- Role-play resolving a realistic conflict
- Discuss repair after a conflict
Between sessions: Apply the problem-solving steps to one current conflict.
Activities
- Review skills and each member's biggest gains
- Identify high-risk situations and early warning signs
- Draft a written personal anger-management plan
- Closure and feedback
Between sessions: Complete your personal anger-management and relapse-prevention plan.