Group Therapy- PAUSED UNTIL SPRING

Group therapy provides a unique and important way for clients to learn about themselves and their relationships, to gain confidence, develop new skills and abilities, and to give and receive support and feedback from others. For many types of problems, group therapy is the treatment of choice.

As a practice we offer structured groups focused to support growth in coping skill building as well as social skills for adolescents and adults.

We offer less structured groups geared to grief/loss as well as emotional processing groups. 

A monthly support group for parents/caregivers raising children on the "spectrum," providing education, advocacy, and support as well as a community to express their struggles, joys, and offer shared experiences.

Our monthly open art group is designed to assist children in opening to their unique creative energy, to access authentic imagery, and to facilitate healing and well being.  

It can be scary and overwhelming for any child or adolescent to talk about upsetting or traumatic events and even losses of family members and/or pets. Many children have a limited vocabulary or just may resist communicating in traditional talk therapy.  Just like speaking or writing, art is a form of communication and expression.  It is not about creating a work of art, but more about increasing self-expression and self-awareness through art.

Benefits of art expression:

• Allowing a person to express and work through difficult and complex emotions, without having to speak (e.g. anger, fear, sadness, grief)
• Helping the person access the more creative aspects of themselves- using the right brain.
• Enabling the person to use a variety of mediums to express themselves and process feelings (e.g. paint, clay, paper, collage, pencils, markers, photography, etc.
• Increasing insight and creating “ah ha” moments of clarity and understanding (Why Art Therapy, 2014)

Many grieving people wonder if they would benefit from joining a support group. Support groups are a time-tested method of help for people struggling with all sorts of difficulties. But groups are not magic; there are no words that can be uttered within a group setting that can make grief disappear.

 
Groups are places to work together and support one another; they are places where everyone gives and takes. Not everyone will find a support group suitable; each individual grieves in his or her own way.  For many, however, support groups have much to offer, such as:

• Grief education
• Validation
• Time away
• Suggestions for coping

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a derivative of cognitive behavior therapy which incorporates behavioral therapy, dialectical philosophy and Zen practices. DBT skills training is a weekly group, run like a class, which teaches skills across four main topics: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills. Clients are required to complete homework assignments in which they practice the skills taught during the weekly lesson. DBT skills training includes a broad set of basic skills that do not require a high level of functioning to learn and are relevant for a variety of mental illnesses. 

 This is a free, ongoing mental health support group for adults struggling with depression.  Depression support groups are geared toward meeting the needs of those with depression and while it is not psychotherapy it can provide those who struggle with a safe and accepting place to vent your frustrations, fears, and receive comfort and encouragement from others.  In a depression support group, there is therapeutic staff present and available if needed but it is member focused sharing coping suggestions, giving feedback and reassurance towards the healing process.

A process group provides a safe and supportive environment in which participants can express a variety of feelings and collaborate with others to increase self-awareness. Often, participants find that being in a group environment, they re-experience previous interpersonal dynamics that have been distressing to them in other relationships.

 By creating a trusting climate to examine troublesome or maladaptive relationships patterns.  A process group provides an envirobment to understand how these pattterns deceloped and create alternative ways of interacting that are  more beneficial to the individual. Through this process, participants are able to gain more freedom in their interactions in order to have more meaningful ongoing relationships with others.

Skills groups are psycho-educational therapy groups that are designed to foster skill acquisition. Group  sessions will be co-facilitated by a licensed practitioner and a Master’s level intern, and will take place for one hour.  Each topic will involve psycho-education and skills practice. 

Group Content:

Emotional Regulation

Social Skills/Relationship Skills Training

Communication

Boundaries

Education on depression and anxiety

Coping Skills

Health and Wellness

Self Care

People who’ve gone through a traumatic experience may become isolated. They may feel anger, depression, or guilt. If the trauma involves injury, their physical health and finances may also be affected.

Support groups offer a way to connect with others with similar challenges, get information on resources for recovery, and the reassurance that this difficult process is normal.  That can ease emotional stress.

This is an affirming and supportive group for young adults in their late teens and early 20's who have experienced trauma.  The hope is to create a supportive environment to support healing and the ability to thrive in life.