Group Therapy Skills: Facilitating Awareness of Personal Boundaries

ICE Videos

Dec 1

Written By Jennifer H. Barnett, OTD, OTR/L and Amanda Giles, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA

This learning activity is designed to guide clinicians in leading a group therapy session focused on personal boundaries for clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

By the end of this learning activity, the successful student will:

Apply Critical Observation Skills – Students will analyze the group session to identify therapeutic strategies (e.g., use of self, role-play, facilitation techniques) that promote respect for boundaries, consent, and private spaces.
Reflect on Professional and Ethical Practice – Students will evaluate the facilitators’ choices (e.g., not correcting inaccurate responses, encouraging self-regulation) and articulate how these decisions align with occupational therapy principles of autonomy, safety, and ethical care.
Adapt and Extend Learning to Diverse Populations – Students will propose adaptations of the session for children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and design follow-up learning activities that reinforce boundary-setting and consent in varied therapeutic contexts.