Group Therapy Overview
Featured
Parent Support Group
At our family-focused practice, we understand that raising a child is a rewarding but sometimes challenging experience. That's why we are excited to announce our new parent support services. We have a new parent support group that will provide a safe space for parents to come together, share experiences, and find helpful resources. You'll have the chance to connect with other parents who are facing similar challenges and gain valuable insights into how to support your children's growth.
You deserve some space to breathe, and we want this group to be a place of respite for you. A place where people understand what it's like to be in your shoes. A place where you can share the difficult experiences that come with parenting, and feel confident that you can overcome them.
Parenting can be hard. We want to help.
Custom Group Therapy
Does your child have a group of friends that want to participate in a group at Healthy Minds together? We can facilitate one of our staple topics, or create a custom curriculum to meet the needs of your group. If you have 4-6 children whose parents are interested in a specific topic for your group, please reach out to our team to get the process started.
We are proud to introduce our new Chess Group! The Chess Group will be every Thursday from 5:30PM to 6:20PM starting on October 10th and ending on December 12th. Chess group will not meet on the Thursdays of Halloween (10/31) and Thanksgiving (11/28). Our Chess Group isn’t just about learning to play chess; it’s about using the game as a dynamic tool for cognitive training and social skill development. Don’t miss out on this unique chance to help your child grow and thrive. Rachel Gross ASW, one of our experienced team members, will guide them through the exciting world of chess while focusing on the specific EF skills used during the game. All ranges of experience playing are welcome!
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Executive Function skills play a vital role in the growth and development of children and adolescents. These skills include planning, problem-solving, working memory, flexibility, time management, and inhibitory response—all of which are essential for success both in school and in life. Chess, as a strategy game, provides countless opportunities to support and strengthen these crucial skills.
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Our Chess Group isn’t just about learning to play chess; it’s about using the game as a dynamic tool for cognitive training and social skill development. By participating in this group, your child will:
Enhance Planning and Problem-Solving Skills: Learn to think ahead and strategize effectively.
Boost Working Memory: Improve the ability to hold and manipulate information.
Increase Flexibility: Develop adaptability and the capacity to switch strategies when needed.
Master Time Management: Balance thinking time with the pace of the game.
Strengthen Inhibitory Response: Learn to control impulses and make thoughtful decisions.
Schedule your consultation today!
Children and teens greatly benefit from the opportunity to learn from each other. Group therapy provides an outstanding opportunity to meet with peers and work on goals together in a small, safe, and supportive community. This provides an amazing environment for growth as group members interact with each other and learn new skills while benefiting from each others’ experiences.
Our therapists work with the group to create a plan together. Each group includes the opportunity to learn and teach something new through exciting games and activities. We strive to provide a positive learning environment that creates growth for all group members. Please note that while we provide age ranges for each group, your child’s placement will be determined by the best fit for them.
Group Therapy Benefits
There are several benefits to participating in group therapy. Here at Healthy Minds we offer two primary types of groups: Skill Building Groups and Process Groups.
The main style of group we offer supports Skill Building. In our skill building groups, we follow a curriculum to help educate and normalize different aspects of everyday life that continue to pose a challenge for our participants. Such skills we work on are Social Skills, Executive Functioning Skills, and Growth Mindset, all of which help people participate in group settings with more ease and success. In these groups, we spend our time educating participants and their families about how to understand and master the skill set being offered. While having multiple members participating in our skill building groups may provide extra benefits, such as opportunities to practice real-life situations in a small setting and learning from other peoples' experiences, the size of the group does not impact the delivery of information that will, in turn, support the participants' success in everyday group settings.
Our Process Groups, however, do depend more on group size. Process groups are useful in normalizing everyday experiences related to our mental health that may cause a person to feel isolated and alone in their experiences. This is an opportunity to discuss our everyday challenges in a safe environment and acquire the skills needed to manage mental health.
Groups are not individually tailored to any one specific clients' needs, however, the facilitators are skilled in highlighting the goals each client enters the group with. When more specific needs to an individual arise, we can offer the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a parent to provide additional support and feedback.
Dyadic Therapy Benefits
While searching for therapy options to help build your child’s social skills, groups are typically the first place parents look for support. However, when a child needs tailored support, their ability to engage in a group setting decreases, and they often become an observer rather than a participant. In a group setting, participation is the key to developing improved social skills, so if a child requires more individualized support, it can be difficult for them to make significant progress in a group environment.
In these cases, dyadic therapy can offer an effective alternative. Dyads involve one therapist working with two children and offer many benefits that a group cannot. In a dyad, the therapist is able to provide more individualized support and attention to each child, which provides flexibility in specific interventions that address the unique needs of each child. This personalized approach allows for a deeper exploration of challenges, as well as an opportunity for an individualized treatment plan. Dyads create a safe and supportive environment where children can express themselves openly and receive reassurance from one another with the support of a clinician.
While dyads follow a therapeutic curriculum that is similar to a group, they allow each child to practice new skills and increase their confidence in the safety of a smaller supportive environment. The skills needed to engage and actively participate in a group are practiced and enhanced in a dyad setting, so if you are looking for your child to participate in a group in the future, dyads are a wonderful first step toward setting them up for success. Overall, dyadic therapy offers a valuable therapeutic approach that prioritizes the ability to engage with other children, while addressing the child's emotional and behavioral needs, in a supportive and personalized manner.
We can’t wait to meet you!
We specialize in Group Therapy.
