What is group counseling?
Group counseling provides an opportunity to improve personal, emotional and behavioral skills, develop increased confidence, overcome blocks to personal effectiveness, and acquire a keener awareness and appreciation of interactions with others. In a group setting, a group of peers and co-facilitators meet to provide feedback and support for self-improvement. Group members are encouraged to explore and express feelings, examine belief systems, reflect on and receive feedback about patterns of behavior, and work toward making healthy changes. For group counseling to be effective, active participation is encouraged. Participation involves regular attendance and respectful, honest communication. Groups may focus on a specific topic or may be general with a particular emphasis.
What kinds of groups do we typically have?
To accommodate the diverse needs, skills, and interests of our clients, we hold a wide range of groups. Below you will find a list of open groups, as well as those that may have already closed. We keep the groups listed even when closed to provide a sense of what types of groups you can expect and plan for in future semesters.
- For more information on current groups and to join a group, send an email to our Groups & Workshops Coordinator at sccgroups@utdallas.edu.
- For info about upcoming events, follow us on Instagram or check out the Comet Calendar (filter for Health & Wellness events).
- For general interest/info about groups, info about future offerings, or to suggest something you’d like to see us offer, please fill out our Groups & Workshops Interest form.
- If you are interested in skills-based workshops (shorter, 1-8 meeting, class-like forum), please visit our Workshops page.
Fall 2024 Offerings
Process Groups
Process groups are focused on the exploration and open processing and discussion of participants. Process groups are typically more open-ended and less structured around a specific lesson or topic for the day. Clients are required to complete a group screening to assess whether the group matches their needs and interest.
For process groups, if you are not a current or recent client, please make an appointment to get started and note your interest in group therapy. You’ll complete intake paperwork and have a 30-minute “IC” (individual consultation) with one of our therapists, and then get scheduled for a brief screening meeting with the group’s leader.
If you are a current or recent client, reach out to our Groups & Workshops Coordinator at sccgroups@utdallas.edu to schedule a screening meeting.
Understanding Self & Others Group (USO)
Group Facilitator: Dr. Alanna Carrasco Drummond (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Tuesdays 2:30-3:50 pm
Location: SSB 4.600, in person
Understanding Self and Others is a weekly interpersonal process group for students who want to explore personal growth and increase self-awareness to enhance their experiences in personal and academic settings. In this safe space, group members can practice communicating more honestly and effectively with others while gaining support from peers. Group topics may include adjustment, loneliness, academic/general stress and relationships.
SPARK (Sex and Pornography Addiction Recovery Kit)
Group Facilitator: Cara Guziak (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Thursdays 1-2:20 pm
Location: SSB 4.600, in person
SPARK is supportive and nonjudgmental meeting place for students who are questioning or struggling with the ways they engage with sex and/or pornography. This group will hold space for students to process their concerns, define healthy sex for themselves, and build tools to help navigate distress. Whether this is an issue that’s recently come up or is something you have navigated for a long time, this group can help meet you where you are.
Healing Together: Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence Process Group
Group Facilitator: Dr. Katie Niehus (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Mondays 4-4:50 pm
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
A community open to any student who has experienced sexual or relationship harm, emotional or verbal abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or stalking. A space to connect, reflect, and heal.
Learning to Heal: Trauma Recovery Group
Group Facilitator: Dr. Jenna Temkin (she/her/hers)
Time/Day TBD
Location: SSB 4.600, in person
Learning to Heal Trauma Recovery Group introduces students to the impacts of trauma and topics such as boundaries, power and control, healthy relationships and self-compassion. From these topics, group members will explore their own patterns of responding to trauma, begin to establish new ways of coping and begin/continue their process of healing.
Skills-Based Groups
Skills-based groups are focused on building skills to help improve one’s life and tend to be based around a theme or topic (e.g., learning coping skills, distress management, improved self-compassion, etc.).
For skills-based groups, if you are not a current or recent client of the SCC, please make an appointment to get started and note your interest in group therapy. You’ll complete intake paperwork and have a 30-minute “IC” (individual consultation) with one of our therapists, and then get scheduled for a brief screening meeting with the group’s leader.
If you are a current or recent client of the SCC, reach out to our Groups & Workshops Coordinator at sccgroups@utdallas.edu to schedule a screening meeting.
Attention and Motivation
Group Facilitator: Dr. Katie Niehus (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Thursdays, 3-3:50 pm
Location: SSB 4.600, in person
This group focuses on building skills for improving attention and focus in college settings, including lectures and studying, as well as in everyday life. Group members will also learn skills for increasing motivation to complete necessary tasks to be successful in college and life. The group will also serve as a support group for individuals who have been formally diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or for individuals who believe they are experiencing symptoms consistent with ADHD.
DBT-U (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for University Students)
Group Facilitator: Samreen Khondker
Weekly, Mondays, 3-4:20 pm
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
DBT-U is an open eight-week, skills-based group for students to learn and develop coping skills and strategies to improve individual functioning. This group is specifically for clients who have difficulties in emotion regulation, interpersonal difficulties and pattern of crisis. Group members learn topics related to mindfulness skills, interpersonal effectiveness and communication strategies, emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills in a structured and supportive learning environment. Each group consists of a brief mindfulness exercise, check-in/introductions, introduction of new skills, discussion/experiential practice and assignment of practice exercise and check-out.
“Untangle” (AEDP – Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)
Group Facilitator: Maria Chaparro (she/her/hers)
8 Weeks
Wednesdays, 3-3:50 pm
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
Untangle is a therapy group for those who feel deeply, based in the model of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy). In this group, you will:
- Learn strategies to identify and release emotions in a healthy way
- Understand neurobiology of emotions
- Increase self-compassion and self-awareness
- Connect with others with similar emotional experiences
Shelf Compassion “Book Club”
Book for FA24 – Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Group Facilitator: Dr. Erika Hanley (she/her)
10 weeks
Thursdays 4-4:50 pm (9/19 – 11/21)
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
Relationships with parents and guardians can be difficult. The intent of this book club is to read and discuss Lindsay C. Gibson’s Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents. If you’d like to learn more about how your parental relationships have impacted your life and relationships with others as well as discuss how to heal and connect differently with loved ones in the future, join us this semester!
eBook available via the UTD Library!
Support Groups
These groups provide an opportunity for support from others who hold similar identities or life experiences. Participation is open and drop-in style, meaning members do not have to be current clients of the center, and you may attend meetings as often or as seldom as you like. Support groups are open to all UTD students, and no group screening is required. Please note support groups are not the same as therapy groups in that they are more focused on building community and peer support guided by a facilitator than in-depth therapeutic intervention.
If you are not a current or recent client of the SCC, please follow this link to complete the Groups & Workshops brief intake to get started and note your interest in joining a support group. You’ll fill out a few forms with basic information for contact and data-collecting purposes only, and the Groups & Workshops Coordinator will reach out to you with the link or additional info to join the support group.
If you are a current or recent client of the SCC, reach out to our Groups & Workshops Coordinator at sccgroups@utdallas.edu to get the link or instructions to join.
Graduate Student Support Group
Group Facilitators: Cara Guziak (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Thursdays 4-5:20 pm
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
Join us to discuss – challenges of being a graduate student, fears about immigration, imposter syndrome, loneliness, motivation, managing relationships with faculty, work-life balance, & more!
OUTer Space LGBTQ+ Support Group
Group Facilitator: Shelly Turner (she/her/hers)
Weekly, Fridays 2-2:50 pm
Location: Virtual Group via Microsoft Teams
Seeking a place where you can be yourself and feel validated for who you are? OUTer Space is a weekly support group for LGBTQIA+ students of all ages and identifications who want to talk about validating and supporting others and themselves. Whether you are newly out or have experienced self-doubt or disconnection, this group provides a supportive environment to connect with yourself and others.
Basic Needs Support Group
Group Facilitator: Shelly Turner (she/her/hers) & Alexander Leyva (he/him/él)
Weekly, Tuesdays 12-12:50 pm
Location: Student Services Building (SSB) 4.500 – Center for Students in Recovery
This support group will connect you with fellow students experiencing insecurities around basic needs such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, menstrual products, and love and acceptance with the hope to create community, make space to lean on each other, and remember you are not alone in this.
Regular Offerings
Look for these groups and others in future semesters!
Healthy Relationships Group
This group is open to students interested in increasing their understanding of themselves and how they relate to others. The goal of this group is to improve interpersonal relationships by examining how one contributes to relationship dynamics along with attempting to connect with others in-the-moment by sharing personal experiences. If you are struggling to understand your role in the difficulties within your various relationships, have difficulty balancing your needs with those of others, frequently disagree with others, have trouble connecting or forming relationships or have conflict with others, you may benefit from this group. Along with relationship exploration, the group will also explore general concerns or struggles members may face.
Family Re-Imagined Support Group
This is a weekly drop-in group for students who want to have a safe space to discuss family concerns, gain insights into their family structure, learn effective and healthy interactions and boundaries, and feel supported and heard. Students can attend as many sessions as needed.
Black Women’s Support Group
Support group for Black women who are facing challenges related to mental health, relationships, and/or academics
International Student Support Circle
Supportive space for international students to share experiences and navigate challenges related to studying abroad
ASTRA: An Intersectional Women & Femmes Support Group
Looking for a place to connect with other women & femme Comets? The ASTRA Support Group is a safe space to speak about women & femme issues, support and advocate for yourself and others, and share experiences related to womanhood and the experience of femininity.