Ever wonder what all is involved with the counseling groups that are available on campus? Counseling and Psychological Services has provided an in-depth look at two of the groups it offers – the Grief and Loss Support Group, and the Relationships group:
Grief and Loss Support Group
Grief is the normal human response to loss, and ideally should be expressed and shared. When a person experiences a significant loss it is common to feel many overwhelming emotions, including pain, confusion, depression, panic, loneliness, anger, apathy, guilt or anxiety.
Everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time, and everyone benefits from moving through the initial shock of the loss to acceptance and reorganizing their lives. Both individual and group counseling are effective means of dealing with issues of grief and loss, especially in the early weeks or months following a loss.
There is not a thought or action that is fully outside the experience of others, and a group experience has the potential of helping people feel less alone and less “different” from others. Just as the individual in a group benefits from insights given from other members, he or she is allowed the opportunity to give to other group members. Helping others with their issues and concerns, and becoming important to others, can and usually does help a person feel better.
The Grief and Loss Support Group provides a confidential and safe space for members to explore powerful (and potentially difficult) emotions related to grief and loss. The group will meet from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays in Room 370, Murray-Herrick Campus Center, starting Feb. 7. Email Sarah Armstrong or Anne Perkins, or call the counseling center, 962-6780, for more information and to sign up for the group.
Relationships group
The staff of Counseling and Psychological Services will facilitate a Relationships group this spring semester. Whether with family, friends, romantic partners or others, relationships are part of all of our lives. The Relationships group is for students who wish to explore self-esteem and intimacy issues, as well as their interpersonal styles and relationship-building skills. This group will provide members a place to explore their challenges, hopes and questions in relationships.
The Relationships group also can offer opportunities to feel more connected to others, experiment with new behaviors, express feelings you have been hesitant to express, and assert yourself in new ways. As members experience trust and security in the group, they feel more free to take healthy relationship risks, and have the opportunity to learn to live more deliberately.
The group will meet in the Counseling and Psychological Services suite (Room 370, MHC) and an atmosphere of confidentiality is essential and expected. The group will meet from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays. If you are interested, please schedule a brief intake interview by calling (651) 962-6780.
