Structured Counseling Activities for Couples, Families, and Individuals

This is the 2nd Edition (2021) with several new activities added. This manual draws together the best experiential counseling activities from Marriage & Family Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and Gestalt (Emotionally Focused) Therapy. The now 18 structured experiential techniques are presented in a guided, step-by-step fashion and are designed to be used with individuals, couples, or families. The activities developed for individuals focus on resolving past wounds and experiences, breaking negative behavior patterns, resolving internal conflicts, and exploring future decisions. The activities developed for couples and families focus on identifying negative relationship dynamics, expressing needs and wants, shifting power dynamics, and increasing connection and appreciation. Some examples of the structured activities and techniques include: Sentence Completion and Family/Relationship Scultping (marriage & family therapy); Role Reversal/Perspective Shifting and Personal Power Dynamics (cognitive-behavior therapy), Future Projection and Unfinished Business (gestalt/emotionally focused therapy); Updating Negative Messages, Changing Your Personal history, and Chaining Resource States (NLP). All the structured activities engage clients in an active process that goes beyond simply talking and allows clients to experience emotional and cognitive shifts that have a lasting impact.