Group Therapy
People need people – for initial and for continued survival, for socialization, for the pursuit of satisfaction. No one – not the dying, not the outcast, not the mighty – transcends the need for human contact.
~ Irv Yalom
Sometimes we heal best in community. And sometimes community heals our connection to ourselves.
While individual therapy is important for self-discovery, group therapy provides a unique space for connection. Marshall Rosenberg, with whom I studied NVC, always said that the highest need is the need for human connection. This is especially true in our current age of virtual disconnectedness.
Participants support each other and learn from one another’s experiences. Working through our challenges with others helps us understand that we are not alone. Through the reciprocal give-and-take of group therapy, individuals experience potent empathy and validation. Various topics arise in group therapy—body image, trauma, parenting, sexuality, depression, and anxiety—with which I have extensive experience, both personal and professional.
I have advanced training in group therapy from The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley and am a past board member of Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society. In addition to my Thrivers group, I have been the long term facilitator of the Pacific Center Grief Group for LGBTQ+ folks dealing with loss due to the death of a loved one.
To give you a sense of how I work in group therapy, this is something I tell the members on the first meeting:
Accept and expect non-closure
Speak your truth
Be willing to experience discomfort
Pay attention to your patterns of participation
Stay engaged
Go to the source
THRIVERS
A Women's* Trauma Therapy Group
Trauma isolates; the group re-creates a sense of belonging. Trauma shames and stigmatizes; the group bears witness and affirms. Trauma degrades the victim; the group exalts [them]. Trauma dehumanizes the victim; the group restores [their] humanity.
- Judith Lewis Herman
Winter 2024
Tuesday: 6 -7:30pm PST - ongoing, closed
Thursday : 6 -7:30pm PST - Enrolling Now! Begins January 2024
*trans and cis women, non-binary and gender non-conforming femmes
“Sometimes I can't get through the day without unwanted memories crashing in all around me. Other times I can only face the world if I put up a wall.”
“I feel ashamed, lost, untrusting.”
Does this sound familiar?
You survived the traumatic event of your past. Now what's next? Are you ready to move from surviving to thriving?
Find and nurture resilience, self compassion, and clarity of mind regarding the narrative of harm.
Take yourself beyond survival to true healing.
Rediscover that part of yourself that is whole, perfect and complete.
PHASE I - GETTING THE TRAUMA TOOLS
A Trauma Recovery Toolkit
We develop powerful recovery tools to connect and integrate our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and somatic experiences. This prepares us to release the pain and shame that binds us to the past. We use mindfulness, cognitive behavioral techniques, EMDR and Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping), Nonviolent Communication, positive psychology, and mind-body healing modalities. We incorporate weekly themes and trauma literature.
PHASE II - TELLING OUR STORIES
A New Perspective on the Narrative of Harm
With a stronger self and the support of others, we retell our trauma stories, allowing us to move forward without feeling haunted by our past. Each participant takes a session to tell their unique story. Our new toolkit empowers us to address negative beliefs and emotional dysregulation in the body. In re-telling our stories, we take away, sometimes for the first time, shame’s power to destroy our lives. Shame cannot remain once spoken. We not only establish a new outlook but also a new way of looking within ourselves.
PHASE III - WORKING IN THE HERE-AND-NOW
An Interpersonal Process Group
In our final phase, we explore our relationships with group members by learning to give and receive feedback. By resolving interpersonal patterns that get in the way of vulnerability and intimacy, we find new ways of creating vital connections and nourishing relationships.
WHERE: Hybrid TeleMental Health and In-Person
FEE: $85 per 90 minute session
DETAILS: A phone screen and two intake interviews required. Ongoing individual therapy recommended.
Ketamine Assisted Therapy Groups
Healing from depression, anxiety, trauma.