Sacramento and Davis Therapy Groups

and

Spiritual Exploration and Meditation Group:

Are these for you?

I offer the following groups:

1. Relationship Skills– in Davis: for those struggling with intimacy, trust issues and self-esteem in relationship with others
2. Self Discovery: Exploring the Shadow Within: in Sacramento and Davis: for those wanting to better understand and transform unconscious, negative “shadow” personality influences
3. Consult and Supervision Group for Licensed Therapists and Registered MFT and LCSW Interns — in Davis: provides BBS hours towards licensure for registered Interns
4. Therapy Groups for Licensed Therapists and Interns– forming in Sacramento
5. Sacramento Valley Awakening to Spirit Group — meets in both Davis and Sacramento: A meditation and experiential spiritual processing group exploring a wide range of spiritual teachers and teachings

Would you benefit from getting help from a therapist

and group of peers with:

• Learning assertiveness and appropriate boundaries?
• Learning anger management and tactful ways to confront others?
• Increasing your self-esteem?
• Not running from relationships?
• Improved communication and social skills?
• Feedback on how you come across to others?
• Being more authentic in your relationships?
• Figuring out whom to trust, and when?
• Getting support and good ideas while confronting your personal problems?

The Power of Group Therapy

Deborah Cohen, LMFT - AGPA Certified Group Therapist

Have you ever wondered what the advantages of being part of a therapy group might be over working individually with a therapist?

Group therapy can be a valuable supplement to individual therapy, but it is also very helpful on its own. One obvious advantage of is the cost; group counseling is much less expensive than individual therapy. Another is that it offers you a “corrective emotional experience” where you can learn to resolve dysfunctional ways of being in your personal relationships. This occurs through feedback between group members (including from me), observing how others relate, getting encouragement from the other members, and from learning and practicing good relational skills. You will also learn more about how others perceive you than you would from individual therapy. You may feel enormous relief as you begin to recognize that you are not alone in what you think, believe and feel.

The very personal nature of the sharing and feedback of group members, as well as the input from your facilitator, provide an experience that in many ways is more profound and powerful than individual therapy. Many people who join a therapy group feel unlikeable and find it hard to sustain a relationship. Group therapy provides a powerful antidote for this. In the group, you may feel understood and completely accepted for the first time.

The group serves as a laboratory of sorts, where members gather information from each other and increase their self-knowledge from witnessing themselves in interactions. Through observation and feedback, members learn and practice new interpersonal skills and begin to make desired changes in their lives. As your facilitator, I create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that encourages group members to support one another while still being authentic. I also offer role modeling for active listening, offering support, and giving nonjudgmental feedback.

I teach and support group membersto observe, with mindful awareness, their interactions with other members. Mindfulness is a practice that I will teach you. I guide you in a process of self-discovery where you learn to observe your thoughts, emotions, judgments and body sensations during your interactions with others. Your observations of yourself and others inform how you affect and are affected by others. This process, along with feedback, assists members in expanding their awareness of how they relate to others. Participants who commit to coming weekly for a minimum of three months almost always leave with greater understanding and acceptance of themselves, improved interpersonal relationships and coping skills, and more effective communication skills.

The Power of A Spiritual Exploration and Meditation Group:

The Sacramento Valley Awakening to Spirit Group offers people a soul-connected community with whom to share their spiritual learnings and paths.  We explore the teachings of Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Deepak Chopra, Adyashanti, and others. I also lead members through a number of different kinds of meditations, including vipassana (mindfulness meditation), insight meditation, chakra meditation, toning, and guided visualizations for deep exploration of one’s inner world or essence. Click here to access the webpage for awakening2spirit.org

My background in leading groups:

I have offered therapy groups now for the past fifteen years and I have led support groups for almost thirty years.  I am a certified group therapist through the American Group Psychotherapy Association.  Therapist interns work under my supervision and licensed therapists come to my weekly consult and supervision group to learn how to facilitate therapy groups. As well, I am a longtime student of a few spiritual teachers and have been teaching meditation and spiritual practices for the past 18 years.