Taking the Escalator

09/15/2026

🧩 What if things are getting better...but something still feels like it’s missing?

That’s the idea behind this week’s new Taking the Escalator worksheet, The Missing Piece: When There’s Still an Empty Space.

This strengths-based activity starts by helping people recognize the positive pieces they already have: supports, strengths, coping skills, accomplishments, relationships, and sources of purpose. Then it asks a different question:

What still feels like it’s missing?

The goal isn’t to immediately fill the empty space, but to better understand it and consider what might genuinely belong there.

Sometimes things are getting better, but something still doesn’t feel right.A person may be showing up for treatment, making healthier decisions, improving relationships, managing mental health symptoms, or making progress in recovery. They can look back and see that things really have changed, ye...

09/08/2026

What did you have to get good at just to get through what you went through?

Persistence. Resourcefulness. Reading people. Handling pressure. Starting over. Problem solving.

Sometimes useful abilities develop during experiences that weren't good for us.

The new Skills in the Struggle activity takes a strengths-based approach to helping people recognize those abilities and consider how they can be used differently moving forward.

This isn't about being grateful for difficult experiences or putting a positive spin on them.

It's about asking:

What did I learn getting through it, and what can I do with those skills now?

Check out the new Skills in the Struggle activity at Taking the Escalator!

When we talk about mental health and substance use struggles, we understandably spend a lot of time talking about what they cost people. VIDEO INTRO LINKRelationships can be damaged. Opportunities can disappear. Trust can be lost. Physical and emotional health can suffer. People may lose money, jobs...

09/02/2026

NEW WORKSHEET: Holding Two Truths: Acceptance and Hope

Acceptance can be difficult, especially when someone is dealing with circumstances they did not choose and cannot immediately change.

The newest Taking the Escalator worksheet, Holding Two Truths: Acceptance and Hope, was created to help clients explore an important idea:

“I don't like where I am right now” AND “I can still move forward” can both be true.

Through practical activities including the Tug-of-War with Reality and Control Map, participants build insight and self-awareness while exploring acceptance, personal control, and hope.

Especially useful for clients who feel stuck, frustrated, restricted, or uncertain about what comes next.

Acceptance isn't giving up. It's deciding where to put your energy from here.

What do we do when a client is facing a situation that really isn't going to change anytime soon?Maybe they are incarcerated, in long-term treatment, dealing with court involvement, facing serious consequences, rebuilding after addiction, or simply stuck in circumstances where the way forward feels....

08/25/2026

NEW WORKSHEET: Social Atom – Mapping the Associations in My World

Sometimes it helps to actually see our world in front of us.

This interactive activity helps participants map the people, places, activities, habits, substances, and other connections in their lives, then explore closeness, support, conflict, and influence.

A creative way to build insight and spark meaningful group discussion.

Available now for Taking the Escalator Members.

08/20/2026

New free resource for clinicians and group facilitators. This one also gives you a little look at what the Taking the Escalator Clinical Consultant can do. Check it out below.

Here’s a free resource for counselors and group facilitators that you can use for ideas when navigating some of the common obstacles that come up in group therapy. What’s also worth pointing out is

08/19/2026

New from Taking the Escalator: My Inner Lawyer – Building a Case for Positive Change

Motivational Interviewing emphasizes helping people explore ambivalence and identify their own reasons for change, rather than trying to convince them to change.

My Inner Lawyer puts this into a fun, interactive courtroom-style group activity designed to elicit change talk.

Participants build a case for staying the same, cross-examine their own arguments, and then build their strongest case for positive change.

The group serves as the supportive "jury," but the final verdict always belongs to the individual.

A creative way to build insight and internal motivation for positive change.

New now on Taking the Escalator!

Most of us have an inner lawyer.When we are thinking about making a positive change, there is often a part of us that can come up with a pretty convincing argument for why we should change. At the same time, another part of us may be just as good at arguing why we should keep doing exactly what we a...

08/11/2026

New from Taking the Escalator: 36-Square Variety Share

Not every group needs to be heavy.

Sometimes the goal is simply to get people talking, interacting, connecting, and having a little fun.

That’s the idea behind my newest activity, 36-Square Variety Share: 36 different ways to participate, from telling a story or sharing a memory to giving support, teaching something, using imagination, and making the group laugh.

Sometimes building comfort and group cohesion is therapeutic in itself.

Available now for Taking the Escalator Members!

I’ve been running a lot of groups myself these days, and of course my favorite website for group activities is Taking the Escalator!It is great to provide education in group and to give group members opportunities to open up and really process emotions, trauma, recovery, and other important therap...

08/04/2026

Motivation isn't something you either have or don't have. More often, it's a choice between what you want right now and what you want most.

This engaging group activity uses the image of a balance scale to help participants explore motivation, identify "quick fixes," and discover how small daily choices can lead to lasting change.

What really drives motivation?Motivation isn't something you eith...

08/04/2026

New Worksheet: Tipping the Scales: Understanding Internal Motivation

Why do people continue making choices that move them away from the life they say they want?

This new worksheet explores one of the most important concepts in behavior change: the ongoing competition between immediate rewards and long-term goals.

Using an interactive balance scale, discussion questions, and evidence-informed motivation strategies, participants examine what they're "giving more weight to" today and identify small changes that can gradually tip the scales toward the future they want most.

This activity works well with substance use, mental health, gambling, procrastination, unhealthy relationships, and many other situations where lasting change is the goal.

Now available on Taking the Escalator.

Why do people continue making choices they know work against their long-term goals?The answer usually isn't a lack of motivation.More often, it's that two competing desires are pulling in different directions. One side wants immediate relief, comfort, or gratification. The other wants something bigg...

07/28/2026

What if one of the world's most familiar communication formats could be adapted for group therapy?

The new Taking the Escalator worksheet, "The Group Feed" transforms the structure of a social media feed into an interactive, clinician-guided group activity. Participants react to posts, comment, reply to one another, and build conversations together in a safe therapeutic setting.

By shifting the focus from simply answering questions to interacting with one another, the activity helps create discussions that often feel more natural, engaging, and authentic.

Now available on the Taking the Escalator

Social media has changed the way the world communicates. Every day, people share updates, opinions, celebrations, frustrations, and struggles with the click of a button. Behind those posts are real people with real emotions, making social media an interesting and relevant topic for group therapy and...