Group Counseling for Fall 2024
Call or visit our office today to learn more about our groups.
Group counseling can be highly effective for addressing a range of issues. It can help alleviate feelings of isolation and dispel the notion that one is alone in their struggles. Sharing experiences with others who are going through similar situations provides valuable support and encouragement. Our clinicians lead small groups that meet weekly to discuss various concerns. These groups generally concentrate on specific experiences, identities, or symptoms. Each semester, we offer a variety of groups, with the current list of offerings provided below.
If you have questions about our group program, please call our office or contact our Group Coordinator (Noelle Ostroff, Psy.D.) at anostroff@wm.edu.
Body Image/Eating Concerns
This group provides a supportive environment to discuss struggles with body image and/or eating concerns. Members will learn to recognize the beliefs and feelings that lead to negative body image and eating concerns and will explore how to challenge the negative messages about their bodies from media, peers, and/or family members. Members also learn about themselves and others, gain insights into the origins of their concerns, give and receive support and meaningful feedback, share openly about emotions, and try new ways of relating in a safe environment.Essential Insight/DBT Skills
This group combines a cognitive therapy approach with perspectives from eastern philosophy to support students in improving functioning in multiple areas. DBT provides psychoeducational training in the areas of: Mindfulness; Interpersonal Effectiveness; Emotion Regulation; and Distress Tolerance. The group follow a set agenda in which new information is taught weekly and homework and skills practice is assigned. The focus of this group therapy is teaching effective skill use for regulating emotions, changing destructive patterns of thinking and behavior, improving relationship skills, and building the life you desire.
Neurodivergent Group
This is a group for students who are neurodivergent and struggle with any or all of the following: Making and maintaining friends, picking up and interpreting social cues, copying others’ behavior or masking automatic behaviors to fit in better, rigidity around routines, and sensory processing issues. In this group, members will explore the various ways neurodivergence shows up in their life. They will have the opportunity to connect with other students with similar experiences, discuss concerns, and celebrate strengths in a safe and supportive environment. Meets weekly.
The Good Enough Group: Art Therapy for Perfectionism
Through creative risk-taking, group members will explore and challenge the illusion of perfectionism. This group is for students with unattainable standards who experience an intense need for outside approval. We will examine these thoughts and feelings as well as their root causes within a safe and supportive environment. Through art-making and guided discussion, we will practice quieting the inner critic, embracing imperfection, and developing self-compassion. No art experience is needed!Understanding Self and Others (General or Men-Only)
This group provides a safe environment for experiential learning by enabling new social behaviors and ways of relating as the group is happening. Patterns that were previously challenging can be approached differently in the group. Members may also develop more self-awareness and grow personally, learn about themselves and others, gain insights into the origins of their concerns, give and receive social support and meaningful feedback, improve communication and connection with others, overcome barriers to sharing authentically and openly about emotions, and improve interpersonal difficulties and social isolation.Women’s Understanding Ourselves and Others
This group attempts to provide an emotionally safe environment in which female identified students can develop further self-awareness and grow personally towards their goals, while connecting with other women. Thanks to the cohesiveness that groups tend to develop, students usually benefit from a sense of belonging and from opportunities to experiment and receive feedback about effective vs. less effective ways to communicate and relate to others. As a women’s group, members often focus on the impact of cultural/familial messages about female identity(ies) and emotional/psychological issues often experienced by women, including self-esteem, relationship issues, assertiveness, social anxiety, body image/eating concerns, sexual assault/trauma related concerns, etc. In addition to the focus on the identify of group members as women, the intersection of other identities are often explored and processed in the group. Group members are encouraged to provide support and helpful/genuine feedback to one another.Women of Color Group
Join a safe and supportive space for female-identified students of color to express, grow, heal, and thrive through therapeutic dialogue and reflection. Together, we will cultivate self-awareness and deepen our understanding of how to support and connect with one another. This group offers a chance to address the unique challenges faced by women of color and equips you with the skills to flourish as your best self. Topics may include the intersection of identities, trauma, mental health, self-care, stigma, belonging, self-esteem, and community.Trans Support Group
This group is for trans, genderqueer, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students. Explore concerns, build community, and learn more about campus/community resources in a safe and supportive environment. Meets every other week.Neurodiversity Support Group
This group is for neurodiverse students looking to connect with other neurodiverse students. Explore concerns, build community, and learn more about campus/community resources in a safe and supportive environment. Meets weekly.
