Group Counseling - Spring 2024
Every semester, the Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services offers a variety of groups. Counseling groups are often the best way to work on areas of concern, especially when those concerns deal with issues that directly affect your relationship with others. Groups give you contact with peers as well as a therapist in a safe and confidential environment.
For our group counseling sessions, we ask that students sign up for the semester. The groups meet one time a week and vary in time. Students must meet with a clinician for an initial appointment in order to get signed up for the group. Please call us at 304-293-4431, schedule an initial appointment via our online scheduling tool, or reach out directly to the group clinician.
Spring 2024 Groups:
Understanding Self & Others | Be Kind to Your Mind | Creative Arts |
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Get More of Of Life | Graduate Support |
Autism Support Group |
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Your Inattention Please |
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Understanding Self & Others
Interpersonal process groups aim to support students with any social or interpersonal concern (e.g., challenges making or keeping friends, difficulty trusting others and being vulnerable, family conflict). These groups involve reflecting on communication and relationship patterns, providing and receiving feedback, and practicing different ways of relating in the group space. Discussion topics include family dynamics, how early experiences impact current relationships, coping with changing levels of intimacy, and initiating conversations and relationship dynamics, with an emphasis on here-and-now exploration.
- Thursdays 4:00-5:00 pm with Heather and Cody
- For more information about signing up, email Heather Doherty at heather.doherty@mail.wvu.edu or Cody Goforth at cody.goforth@mail.wvu.edu
Be Kind to Your Mind
Would you talk to a friend the way you talk to yourself when you make a mistake, fail an exam, get rejected or say something embarrassing? It is easy to be self-critical and many people believe this is a helpful tactic that will drive them to succeed – but it’s not! Learning how to show compassion to ourselves decreases depression, anxiety, stress and shame and increases happiness, life satisfaction, self-confidence and physical health. It also helps us to be more mindful and compassionate towards others, to feel more social connectedness, and to feel more comfortable with difficult emotions. This group will teach you to be kind to yourself, to recognize your experiences as common to humankind, and to stay in the present moment, even when it is difficult. Group activities will include journaling, meditation, and other mindfulness exercises. If you would like to learn to accept yourself, this is the group for you!
- Thursdays 5:00-6:30 pm with Megan Dunlavey-Schule
- For more information, email Megan Dunlavey-Schule: megan.dunlaveyschule@mail.wvu.edu
Creative Arts Group
This group will be a space for students to learn how to use creative arts to cope with difficulties, understand themselves, and connect with others. We will explore a variety of creative domains, such as art, music, and writing as a path to wellness and understanding. No artistic ability/experience required!
- Tuesdays 4:00-5:30 pm with Adam and Hannah
- For more information about signing up, email Adam Kroloff at adam.kroloff@mail.wvu.edu or Hannah Jack at Hannah.jack@mail.wvu.edu
Get More Out of Life Group (Part of the Well-Being Adventure Series)
In partnership with Adventure WV and as part of the Well-Being Adventure Series, group members will learn tools from both positive psychotherapy and therapeutic adventure to increase their well-being. Group members will be supported to develop their strengths, practice more gratitude, interact more constructively with friends and loved ones, get more enjoyment out of their daily activities, and feel more optimistic about their future. These goals will be achieved through members participation in ecotherapy, ongoing celebration of one another’s strengths during problem-based group development, and processing with each other their unique experiences utilizing the tools they acquire during sessions and in integrative activities assigned between meetings each week. The group experience will culminate with an outdoor experience such as backpacking, aerial adventure and camping, or paddling.
- Tuesdays 5:00-6:30 pm with Kelly and Chris
- For more information, email Chris Hamilton at Christopher.hamilton@mail.wvu.edu or Kelly Bailey at Kelly.bailey@mail.wvu.edu
Graduate Student Support Group
The graduate student support group provides a space for students to discuss common experiences of graduate school including thesis/dissertation, research and teaching expectations, graduate advisor concerns, funding and financial concerns, and family and relationship concerns.
- Thursdays 3:30-5:00 pm with Megan Thomas & Tinh Dang
- For more information about signing up, email Megan Thomas at megan.thomas4@mail.wvu.edu or Tinh Dang at tndang@mail.wvu.edu
Autism Support Group
This group provides a supportive place to find understanding and connect with others who may have similar experiences. Together, we’ll look at issues around communication, socializing, self-care and coping, intimacy, identifying emotion, and finding acceptance and confidence around the strengths unique to neurodiverse minds.
- Tuesdays 1:00-2:00 pm with Julie and Cody
- For more information, please contact Julie Kennedy-Rea at Julie.kennedyrea@mail.wvu.edu or Cody Goforth at cody.goforth@mail.wvu.edu
Your Inattention Please! ADHD Support Group
This group is a process space for people with ADHD to talk about their experiences and challenges with ADHD such as inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, difficulty managing emotions, sensory difficulties, and more. This group will also offer relevant, helpful skills to help you find ways to best manage your ADHD challenges and incorporate your ADHD strengths. Skill areas may include using effective planners, how to manage “To-Do” lists, addressing procrastination, organization (school, work, home, finances, etc.), study/testing skills, time management, navigating relationships, emotional regulation skills, and self-care. We appreciate your inattention!
- Mondays 9:30-10:45 am with Kelly
- For more information, email Kelly Bailey Kelly.bailey@mail.wvu.edu