ADOLESCENT GROUPS
We have several open-ended, interpersonal therapy groups to help members connect with each other and communicate more honestly. As trust grows, members develop a space where they can be themselves and relate more authentically. This leads to a stronger sense of identity, greater social confidence and an increased feeling of belonging in the world, which can have positive effects on many areas of life. Groups have 5-7 members and are separated by grade levels of 2-3 years.
As teen groups evolve, these specific groups and times may change but are currently:
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9th/10th grade - Mondays, 6pm-7pm (1 opening)
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10th/11th grade - Mondays, 4:30-5:30pm (2 openings)
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9th/10th grade (neurodivergent) - Thursdays, 4-5pm (1 opening)
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8th/9th grade (neurodivergent), day/time TBA (now forming)
Groups meet for one hour per week and cost $50. Medi-Cal accepted and reduced fees are available. To learn more, review the presentation below. For additional information, contact us.
Six Reasons Group Therapy Is a Great Choice for Teens
Research shows a 73% improvement for teens in group therapy
Hoag, Matthew & Burlingame, Gary. (1997). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Child and Adolescent Group Treatment: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of clinical child psychology. 26. 234-46. 10.1207/s15374424jccp2603_2.
Adolescents grow in groups. While individual therapy offers teens a private and focused hour that can be extremely beneficial, it cannot offer the kind of social experience that teens can benefit from in groups. Group therapy is experiential learning of a social and emotional nature. As a result, group therapy has several advantages over individual therapy:
1. Confidence - Groups help teens with issues of confidence by giving them the opportunity to create positive relationships with their peers. Feeling like a valued part of a peer group and being accepted for oneself has enormous benefits in helping teens develop inner and outer (social) confidence.
2. Feedback - Adolescents tune into each other and value feedback from their peers differently than from adults. Hearing the same feedback from a group of valued peers reinforces the effect of this feedback and leads to changes in thinking and behavior.
3. Sharing - Adolescents share certain issues with their peers more than they would with an individual adult therapist. Since the opposite is true as well, there are great benefits from combining both individual and group therapy.
4. Corrective Social Experience - When teens have had social difficulties and trauma--such as bullying or exclusion-- groups can provide a corrective social experience to heal these pains and create new experiences in their wake.
5. Relational Skills Development - No one teaches teens to relate honestly and effectively with peers. They learn it through a vast amount of trial and error, often engaging in problematic patterns for a long time before they figure it out. Group therapy provides a model for open and honest communication, as well as a setting to practice these relational skills that will transfer over to all relationships in their lives.
6. Identity Development - Issues of identity are more central during adolescence than at any other time of life. Identity does not form in a vacuum, but through experiences with others who reflect back who we are. Group therapy facilitates identity development by offering teens an experience of being seen and known by their peers.
GROUP AGREEMENT
The Group Agreement is an important part of the therapeutic work. Members must agree to a few conditions in order to work effectively together and benefit from the group. The full agreement is below: