Group Agreements and Ground Rules

About this resource

Group agreements, sometimes called ground rules or the group contract, are the conditions members accept so that the group can be safe and useful. Yalom describes the establishment of norms as one of the leader's central tasks, and the agreements are the explicit part of that work. They do several jobs at once: they make confidentiality and safety concrete, they set expectations about attendance and participation that predict whether members will benefit, they give the facilitator something to point to when the group drifts, and the act of negotiating them is the group's first shared task, which builds cohesion.

This template lists the agreements that most therapy and skills groups need, explains the rationale for each in terms facilitators can use with members, and provides a structured sheet for recording what the group actually agrees, including any additions members propose. The agreements are written for adult groups and can be simplified for adolescents and children, whose groups usually need fewer, shorter rules with more emphasis on kindness and turn-taking.

The professional version includes notes on the agreements that facilitators most often omit and later regret, such as what happens when members meet outside the group, on how to handle a member who declines an agreement, and on revisiting the agreements when they are broken.

How to use it

1. Introduce the core agreements at the individual pre-group meeting so that no member hears them for the first time in the room. Explain the reason for each; agreements that are understood are kept far more often than agreements that are announced.
2. In the first session, present the agreements and invite discussion. Ask the group what else they need in order to feel able to speak. Add their proposals to the sheet, and record any agreement that was debated and how it was resolved.
3. Give every member a copy of the completed sheet at the second session and keep one in the facilitators' file. Where a signature is used, treat it as a symbol of commitment rather than a legal document.
4. Refer back to the agreements whenever the group needs them: when a member is late repeatedly, when advice-giving takes over, when a disclosure is at risk of leaving the room. Naming the agreement is less personal than naming the member.
5. Revisit the agreements as a group if one is broken, if a new member joins an open group, and at the midpoint of a longer group. The conversation about a broken agreement is often more valuable than the agreement itself.

References

• Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2020). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (6th ed.). Basic Books.
• Bieling, P. J., McCabe, R. E., & Antony, M. M. (2006). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Groups. Guilford Press.
• Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.