Group Therapy

Ongoing group therapy provides a caring context in which you can talk confidentially with other students who share your concerns or experiences. A group can be a wonderful source of feedback, support, good humor, and creative ideas for how to cope with personal or interpersonal challenges. Therapy groups are confidential and are led by the Center for Well-Being clinicians.

If you are interested in participating in a psychotherapy group, please contact the Center for Well-Being to schedule an Initial Consultation appointment. During that appointment, please share your interest in group. Unless noted, students are required to attend an Initial Consultation and pre-group meeting before attending an ongoing therapy group. These meetings help to determine if the group of interest is a good fit for you at the time. If you have ideas for an additional group that would interest you, please let us know!

 

Groups Offered Therapy Groups, 2023-2024

Groups are offered in-person and virtual. For virtual groups, students must be physically located in DC (even if they do not necessarily reside in DC) at the time of the appointment. To note, Maryland and Virginia are not DC.

Understanding Self & Others: Insight-Oriented Process Groups
Do you want to express yourself better in relationships? Do you want to build stronger and more meaningful relationships? Do you feel anxious, lonely, or isolated in the midst of so many people? Do you want to make changes but are not sure how to do so? These are common experiences for many students. This group is designed to create a safe environment for students to better understand who they are, explore relationship patterns, and try different ways of relating with other people all within a safe and confidential setting. Possible topics of discussion can include trust, intimacy, anxiety, anger, sadness, and isolation.

Group Times
Group 1 (virtual): Monday, 3:00-4:15pm
Group 2 (in-person): Wednesday, 3:00-4:15pm
Group 3 (virtual): Friday, 12:00-1:15pm.
Graduate Student USO (virtual): Friday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

LGBTQ+ Group
This group is designed for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other students navigating their sexual
and/or gender identity. The group provides a confidential, safe, and supportive space for students to explore their sexual and/or
gender identities, lived experience, coming out, dating, family, relationships, community, and other areas of interest to group
members.

Group Time
Thursday (virtual), 1:00-2:15pm

“Our Voices”: A Supportive Space for Students of Color
The group will provide a space for members to openly engage in dialogues about the lived experience of being a person of color on this
campus. This group serves to empower students and help them recognize that there are others who share similar experiences. “Our
Voices” ultimately serves as an outlet for people of color to come together weekly to foster community, learn to navigate being at a
PWI, and enhance their success at AU.

Group Time
Thursday (virtual), 10:00-11:15am

Black Folx Heal
The chronic onslaught of pain, marginalization, and brutalization of Black folx, compounded with the impact of a global pandemic
continues to present challenges for Black folx and communities. This group will provide a space for Black students to recognize, explore,
and process the Black lived experience, and decompress to better navigate a world that is too often a threat to Black existence.

Group Time:
Thursday (virtual), 2:00-3:15pm

How to D.E.A.L. Skills Group
This 45-mintue weekly group is designed for students who would like to learn how to cope with painful or strong feelings and learn how
to manage them more effectively. This group will cover topics such as mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, social skills building,
distress tolerance, maintaining friendships, conflict management, and emotion regulation. While there will be room to talk about one’s
personal life and concerns, the group is set up to function like a small class with group leaders teaching skills and participants sharing
what it’s like to practice them.

Group Time
Monday (virtual), 12:00-12:45pm
Tuesday (in-person), 2:00-2:45pm

“C.A.R.E.” Connect and Reconnect Group
The Connect And Reconnect Group (C.A.R.E.) is designed to promote a confidential and supportive space for survivors of interpersonal
violence. Group members can decide together the most meaningful focus for the group and care will be taken in deciding when and
whether to discuss specific traumas more directly. Possible topics that can be discussed are exploring how experiences of interpersonal
violence can impact your sense of safety, the physiological effects of trauma, understanding feelings of guilt/shame and helping to
building connections with others.

Group Time
Tuesday (in-person), 10:00-11:15am

Law School Stress Management Skills Group
This group is available to current Washington College of Law students who are interested in learning and practicing skills in a group led by the Washington College of Law Embedded Clinician. Group members will learn to utilize skills from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This group is a good fit for students who struggle with feeling anxious and managing the intense and unique stressors associated with law school, while also balancing the ways in which life does not stop during law school (family stressors, romantic stressors, financial stressors, and more).

Group Time
Friday (virtual), 11:00-11:45am

Sober Curious Workshop Series
Explore your relationship with substances, learn more about the effects and patterns of substance use, and discuss strategies for decreasing use.

This workshop series will meet in Mary Graydon Center Room 214 from 4:00pm to 4:45pm. Sign up for the workshop you wish to attend below. No Initial Consultation required. All students are welcome!

Register here for Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Register here for Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Register here for Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Sober Curious Workshop Series in not substance use treatment. Download flier to share here.

To learn more, you can check out the following information: 

Is Group Therapy Right for Me?

Common Myths, Mysteries, and Misperceptions