You Don’t Have to Face Life’s Challenges Alone! Join Group Today!
We spend most of our lives convening in and being supported by groups, so group therapy is a natural and highly beneficial form of treatment for just about everyone. It offers a form of support and experience-based learning and growth that you can’t get in individual therapy. See below for our current offerings.
It is helpful to think of group in two ways:
- …As a container that is solid, safe, and secure enough to hold the group’s vulnerability, tension, conflict, and emotionality. The more cohesive the group, the stronger the container.
- …As a laboratory where you can experiment with new ways of relating and interacting with others. In this safe and controlled environment, you can: 1) take risks and try something new, 2) get feedback from others about how the experiment went, and 3) decide if you want to use the new behavior in your day-to-day life or not.
We offer three types of groups, all open to graduate students:
- Interpersonal Process Groups: Unstructured groups focused on the here-and-now relationship dynamics in the group space. This group is ideal for anyone experiencing any struggles or distress related to relationships, sense of self, emotionality, empathy toward others, sense of belonging/acceptance, communication, etc. For more information: https://counseling.washu.edu/2024/08/29/process-groups/
- Support Groups: These semi-structured and unstructured groups focus on one topic or a shared experience. Ideal for anyone interested in talking with others who have had similar lived experiences. For more information: https://counseling.washu.edu/2024/08/29/support-groups/
- Skills Classes and Workshops: These groups are educational in nature and focused on teaching you skills to help overcome your problems. Ideal for anyone interested in learning concrete skills in a class-like structure. For more information: https://counseling.washu.edu/2024/08/29/skills-classes-and-workshops/
The CCPS Groups Coordinator, Dr. Kristin Miserocchi (kmiserocchi@wustl.edu), is happy to answer any additional questions you may have about our group services.