2014 was a terrible year for me. I got a lot of help from psychiatrists, doctors, and my family, but also from group therapy. I met people from so many different backgrounds, and we were all able to relate to each other. It felt like a real community, and I stole that concept for Gurls Talk.

Adwoa Aboah

There are some things that you can address more with others in a group setting. When you take part in group therapy, your clinician will guide the interactions among group members so that you are able to hear things and learn from your peers in addition to the clinician bringing particular expertise to the group. balance of the different roles of the clinician will vary from group to group. In groups, the clinician may spend most of the time in more of a teaching role, whereas in other groups the clinician may spend all their time guiding the process. Some groups may also have more than one clinician co-facilitation them either because of their content or of their size. In terms of size, a group could be as small as two participants and the maximum size could fill a room.

Seeking Shalom offers groups on a variety of topics. Most of our groups are of a fixed length (so, for example, two sessions or twelve sessions) and are closed. By closed, this means that people cannot join them partway through participants commit to attending all sessions of the group. Periodically, a group may be offered that does not have a natural ending point, particularly if it designed without a specific curriculum and intended to help participants focus on a particular type of situation they face (our clergy or faith group leader support groups have been like this). These ongoing groups may be open to people ending or starting at any session or may have particular points when someone could join the group. Which type of commitment you are making will be made clear when you are learning about the group or during enrollment for the group.

Some of our groups are offered to other organizations for the benefit of their members – these are usually designed in conjunction with the other organization based on their needs and our clinical knowledge. An example of this would be the series of management group we have led in schools focused on children in elementary grades and young adolescents in middle school grades. Another example would be a three-session group on grief offered to a congregation after some significant losses. Additionally, we offer groups that are open to members of the public in a variety of areas. Some of these are offered once, such as a group dealing with being supportive of other members of a close community after a suicide. Others are offered multiple times or even on a regular cycle – our anger management group is a good example of this type of group. Current and upcoming groups are highlighted on this page along with the clinician that is the lead clinician for the group – please feel free to reach out to that person for more information or to learn how to register for the group. Please also note that many of our groups at sites different than our main offices and some may even occur online.

Becoming part of a group is a way for you to work on things you need to or want to work on. In the process, you will also be helping other members of your group. There are places in group circles available for you or we can talk about other options if the right group for you is not being offered currently.

Tough love and brutal truth from strangers are far more valuable than Band-Aids and half-truths from invested friends, who don’t want to see you suffer any more than you have.

Shannon L. Alder

---

Anger Management Group

Clinician: Diana Padilla

Now enrolling.