Group therapy

Eight-week groups:

NEW GROUP FOR THE SUMMER: Depression & Anxiety Supportive Therapy Group — Tuesdays, 4:30-5:30PM

Start date: Tuesday, June 20th. This group does not meet on July 3rd.

This is an open group for those dealing with depression, stress, and anxiety problems. Our approach is peer support: kindness, respect, and problem-solving. Participants will have the opportunity to find their voices, reflect on their lives, and offer healthy comments to one another. The secondary focus of this group is to work towards gentle change without the additional structure of a skills training group. This means there is no “homework” for this group.

How to Change Depressed Thoughts

The way we feel and react to situations, including our thoughts, can cause and worsen depression. We usually go through our lives either unaware of the connections between our thoughts and feelings—or overly aware in a negative or anxious way. This group is for those who would like to understand and change their cycles of negative thoughts and feelings. This collaborative group training will be completed over eight structured sessions with some individual work between group sessions.
-Technical requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Participants will need to be able to view the material/pdfs on their computers during each group session.

Compassion Training

Compassion training develops a sense of calm, stability, and well-being by focusing on empathy and consideration of self and others. This group will be educational and practical. We will work on mindfulness, self-criticism, compassionate skills practice, and acceptance.

Sleep Well

This group includes elements from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, as well as mindfulness and relaxation techniques.

Coping With Emotions — Tuesdays at 5:30pm

This group will review foundational coping skills and strengthen individual psychological wellness plans. Includes: self-care, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation skills.

Managing Emotions – An intermediate skills group for coping with intense emotions — Thursdays at 12 noon

This group will be for those who previously participated in the introductory group: Emotional Coping Skills or Coping With Emotions. Skills included, how to: get through unhealthy urges/actions, track and challenge negative emotions, build positive emotions, cope ahead, and analyze unwanted actions that result from intense emotional experiences.

One-Session Groups:

How We Think

Are you curious about how you think? Have you sometimes wondered what you are feeling and why? Would you like to learn more about the kinds of thoughts that drive anxiety and depression? This group therapy session will provide a basic CBT model and apply it to examples of common problems with stress, anxiety, and low mood. As a group, we will also practice how to use a few CBT concepts and skills to improve our daily lives. This group is suited for people without any previous experience with CBT and for those with past CBT experience who would like a review. It can also be used as preparation for starting another CBT course/treatment.

+This would be a useful group for people considering the 8-week Depression program.

Planning for an Emotional Crisis

We will discuss how to describe our intense emotional responses and psychiatric crises. This group session also includes a discussion of healthy and unhealthy coping skills and how to prioritize effective supports and relationships. Anyone working on crisis planning for themselves or for their family member(s) is welcome to join. By the end of the session, participants may continue to work on their crisis plans on their own and/or with their therapist.

Mindful Writing

In this creative group therapy workshop, we will apply the concept of mindfulness, including active mindfulness, to writing short poems—in this case, haiku. Haiku have a present focus and structure that, not only embody mindfulness, but also serve as an accessible introduction into a therapeutic writing and journaling. You do not have to be a writer to participate. Anyone curious about how to apply mindfulness to hobbies or activities outside of a seated meditation practice is welcome. Additional resources on mindfulness, therapeutic writing, and English-language haiku will also be provided to participants.

How to Take Small Steps

Learn about the importance of discovering your own values and turning those values into actionable priorities in your day-to-day life. This session will emphasize the power of choices and gradual, small steps towards positive change. After completing this session, you will have a template to start working towards your own values and goals.

Why choose group therapy at Baywell?

Accessible: All groups meet virtually for just one hour each week. Current group therapy options also build on one another, so participants can join groups after they’ve started–and can even attend more than one group. Also, each group is small (4-8 participants).

Practical: Group sessions are skills-focused and allow for collaborative practice. These skills are for beginners and for those with previous therapy experience. Minimal homework easily fits into your schedule. And no note-taking required! Participants receive a summary email with handouts (Adobe Acrobat PDF files) at the end of each week.

Flexible*: Each group starts only once 4+ people are interested in a particular topic and have an hour per week available. Only one hour total is needed for the single-session options.

Comfortable: With telehealth groups, everyone is welcome to participate from their own homes. The facilitator works to provide a kind and open space for group therapy. Everything discussed in each small group remains confidential.

If you are interested in signing up for any of these groups, please contact our front desk staff at [email protected] or call 415-922-9122.

Technical requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Participants will need to be able to view the material/pdfs on their computers during each group session.