During the Fall and Spring Semesters of each academic year, the Counseling Center offers undergraduate and graduate students a number of small group experiences on issues related to their needs. Unlike the limits on individual counseling sessions, students are not limited in their participation in appropriate groups.

Click Here for a listing of Groups being offered this Semester

What is group counseling?

Group counseling involves a small group of people (usually 6-10) who meet together weekly, along with one or two trained members of the Counseling Center staff, to talk about their struggles and problems. These groups can take a variety of forms. Some focus on a specific topic or problem, while others address a number of different concerns.

What makes group counseling work?

When people come into a group and interact freely with other group members, they tend to recreate those difficulties that brought them to counseling in the first place. Under the skilled direction of the group facilitators, the group is able to give support, offer alternatives, or gently confront the an individual. In this way, the difficulty is resolved, alternative behaviors are learned, and the individual develops new social skills or ways of relating to people. Group counseling has been found to be a very effective means of treatment and, in some cases, the best form of treatment for a particular individual or a particular type of concern.

What are the benefits of group counseling?

In a group, you can:

• Learn more about how you are perceived by others.
• Experience a sense of acceptance and belonging.
• Discover that you are not alone in the difficulties you are experiencing.
• Hear ideas from others which enhance your ability to make decicions and solve problems.
• Benefit from the experience of being helpful to others.
• Learn to constructively express your feelings and ideas to others.
• Gain encouragement by observing the successes of others.

What about confidentiality?

The responsibility for confidentiality is shared among the group leader(s) and all group members. Every member of each therapy group at the is required to sign to agree to adhere to these rules of confidentiality. Group members make a personal pledge that nothing occurring in the group, including names of other group members, will be shared with anyone outside of the group. These rules are critical to the development of a safe, respectful, and trusting atmosphere which allows individuals to openly share their feelings.

Interested?

If you feel you could be helped by participating in a group, click here to review the information on the groups that may be forming this semester and complete the online form requesting more information on the group. Not all groups will meet each semester and some will be formed only when enough students have expressed interest. In addition, please call the Counseling Center at 515-2423 or stop by our office on the 2nd Floor of the Student Health Center