Group Therapy
Group therapy is a powerful treatment modality offered at the Psychological and Counseling Center. The power of group lies in the support and feedback given by other group members as well as by the therapists. Groups generally consist of between five and eleven members and are led by two therapists. While joining a group can feel intimidating, many mental health professionals believe that group treatment offers advantages which can not be found in individual counseling or therapy. But don’t worry, in a group you would not be coerced to speak about any issues you wish to remain private.
We offer several types of groups. Examples are shown below. New groups are often developed as needed. Please feel free to call the Center at 322-2571 (2-2571 on campus) if you see a topic that you would like to inquire about.
Groups Currently Offered:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group, Emotional Regulation
Facilitators: Valri Bromfield, LPC-MHSP; Heather Smith, PhD, NCC, LDN; and Joan Frye MS, pre doctoral intern
Date/Time: Tuesdays, 2-4pm (Begins 1/13)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The Emotion Regulation Skills Training Group is a Dialectical Behavioral groups where clients will learn about their emotions, achieve a deeper understanding of their emotional life, and develop more resiliency when dealing with emotions. Two major areas of focus are impulse control and skills to delay gratification.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group, Interpersonal Effectiveness
Facilitators: Edwin Williamson, MD; Melissa Porter, PsyD, HSP
Date/Time: Tuesdays, 2-4pm (Begins 1/13)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group is designed to help participants learn and practice effective interpersonal skills so they can enhance their relationships with others. In short, these skills help people “ask for what they want, and teach them to navigate unwanted requests while preserving relationships and maintaining self respect.” Group members will be expected to do homework between meetings and to be consistent in attendance.
Graduate Process Groups
Facilitators of Group 1: Cindy Greene, LCSW; Jake Galles, pre-doctoral intern
Date/Time of Group 1: Mondays 3:00-4:30 (ongoing)
Facilitators of Group 2: Beth Barnard, MSSW, LCSW, ACSW; Jay Tift, M.Ed., NCC
Date/Time of Group 2: Thursdays 3:00-4:30 (ongoing)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The Graduate Process Groups are designed to provide a space for graduate students with a broad spectrum of mental health concerns. Group members will offer each other support and feedback in working toward change. Common concerns that may be addressed in this group include: navigating graduate programs and demands, interpersonal relationship difficulties, transiting from graduate school to work environment, individuation, identity concerns, and work/life balance.
Grief/Bereavement Support Group
Facilitators: Johanna Shadoin, MSSW, LCSW who has had additional training and personal experience in dealing with grief
Date/Time: Tuesdays, 3:00-4:30pm (ongoing)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
This group is designed for students who have experienced the death of a parent or other close loved one. Since peers generally do not have similar experience, the ongoing grief process can be very lonely for members of the student body. This group will allow participants to tell their stories, learn more about the normal grief process, provide and gain support from others, and identify any additional resources they may need to help them to be successful on campus and to move successfully through the grief process.
LGBTQI Group
Facilitators: Ryan Gillespie, Ph.D., HSP
Date/Time: Mondays, 3:00-4:30 (ongoing)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The LGBT group is a long-term, insight-oriented process group for members of the LGBT undergraduate and graduate Vanderbilt community. The primary purpose of the group is to give individuals from the LGBT community a place to explore and process issues associated with sexual identity and orientation. Concerns that commonly prompt individuals to pursue participation in the LGBT group include: struggles associated with the coming out process; interpersonal/relationship difficulties; stress, depression, etc., associated with oppression, disenfranchisement, and discrimination.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Facilitators: Lynnette Davidson, LPC-MHSP; Jay Tift, M.Ed., NCC
Date/Time: Wednesdays 3:00-4:30; beginning February 13
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy teaches participants how to make a simple yet radical shift in relationship to thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations that contribute to recurring depression. This shift entails fostering a relationship to experience in which negative thoughts or feelings can be viewed as events in the mind, rather than as “self” or as necessarily true. The group provides guidelines for conducting awareness exercises and interventions that help participants gain awareness of mild states of sadness and prevent them from spiraling out of control. Group members will be expected to do homework (listening to guided meditations, performing brief exercises, etc.) between meetings.
Motivation Maintenance Group
Facilitator: Dorothy Gager, LCSW, alcohol and drug counselor
Date and Time: Call for information. This is a four-session group that will be offered at different times throughout the year.
Location: Psychological and Counseling Center
This group is designed for anyone who is wanting to find and maintain a pattern of moderation in substance use. It is not alcohol or drug education but will focus on how and why people make meaningful and sustained changes in their substance use. Individuals set their own goals, and the group is designed to help them achieve those goals. Like all other services at PCC, information shared in group is confidential.
Relapse Prevention Group
Facilitator: Dorothy Gager, LCSW, alcohol and drug counselor
Date/Time: TBD—please call for information
Location: Psychological and Counseling Center
For individuals in recovery, this psychoeducational group will provide focus on tools for preventing relapse. The more people know about the relapse process, the less likely they are to fall into patterns that erode recovery and result in re-activating addictive processes. This is an ongoing group that will be open to new members at any time.
Undergraduate Process Group
Facilitators: Anabella Wilson, Ph.D.; Christy Carey, LMSW; Maria Walton, MSSW
Date/Time: Wednesdays, 3:00-4:30 (ongoing)
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The Undergraduate Process Group is designed to provide a space for undergraduate students to discuss issues concerning them and offer each other support and feedback. Common concerns that may be addressed in this group include: adjusting to VU, mild-moderate social anxiety, difficulty making friendships, individuation, identity development, dating, and academic stressors.
Women’s Group
Facilitators: Christy Carey, LMSW; Lynnette Davidson, LPC-MHSP
Date/Time: Tuesdays 3:00-4:30; beginning 2/13
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center
The Women’s Group is geared towards women who want to improve their self-esteem and enhance their relationships. It is designed for those who struggle at times with perfectionism, feelings of inadequacy, self-worth, relational concerns, family issues, body image, and identity issues. The UWG aims to increase awareness of the universal experience of shame, encourage healing, and share tools for developing resilience. Participants learn via group and personal exercises, handouts, and reading assignments from Brené Brown’s book I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power.
Safe Spaces: Women Coping with Trauma
Facilitators: Mary Clare Champion, Ph.d., Staff Psychologist; Divya Kannan, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Resident
Date/Time: Tuesday 3:00-4:30
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center (PCC)
This group is designed to provide a safe space for women who have experienced sexual victimization or trauma. Issues addressed in this group will include education and skill building around how to cope with the impact of trauma, difficult emotions, relationships & intimacy, and plans for continued care and support.
Mind4Body Group:
Facilitators: Annabella Pavon Wilson, PhD, HSP; Adriana Kipper-Smith, PhD, HSP, Post-Doctoral Resident
Date/Time: Mondays 3:00-4:30
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center (PCC)
Geared towards women who struggle with body image and self-esteem, this group encourages participants to challenge societal views about women and the contemporary concepts of beauty. The group experience promotes a shift in the perception of one’s relationship with their body and with others, and ultimately fosters a healthier sense of self.
Mindful Eating Group
Facilitators: Heather Smith, PhD, NCC, LDN; Cindy Greene, MSSW, LCSW
Date/Time: Wednesday 3:00-4:30; Starts 1/16
Location: Psychological & Counseling Center (PCC)
The role of food and the experience of eating in American culture have exponentially created struggles for many individuals. Experts in the nutrition and health professions have deemed the United States as having a “toxic food culture.” The Mindful Eating Group was created for those who wish to explore the American phenomenon of “mindless eating.” Through experiential and psychoeducational activities, members will explore, learn, and try out the principles of mindful eating.