Group Therapy
Evanston Campus Groups Chicago Campus Groups
What is Group Therapy?
Group therapy is highly effective at addressing most issues facing undergraduate and graduate college students. Group therapy offers students an opportunity to meet in a safe, confidential, and supportive space to share experiences, learn fresh perspectives, and experiment with new behaviors and ways of being. Through this process, you develop insights, tools, and techniques that you can use to improve your quality of life.
Please see below for more information about group therapy and the specific groups that CAPS offers.
In addition to our group therapy options, check out our Workshops and Gathering Spaces, which are less structured spaces where students can meet and discuss their experiences.
Examples of goals that can be addressed in group therapy:
I would like to...
- be able to express preferences/opinions
- be able to ask for what I need
- be more comfortable sharing personal information
- deepen my emotional connection with others
- be less fearful of the judgment of others
- be able to openly disagree with others
- be able to “open up” to others
- be less afraid of offending/upsetting others
- be closer to others
- be less self-critical
- be less fearful of others seeing and judging my “real self”
- be able to make a mistake and not feel ashamed
- remain engaged rather than withdraw from others when I’m stressed out
- be able to express certain emotions (e.g., sadness, anger) in constructive ways
- be able to trust others
- explore feedback I have received that I’m too sensitive (or too “insert adjective here”)
- feel more confident in my decisions
- be less influenced by the opinions of others
- take less responsibility for other people (less “caretaking”)
- be able to express positive feelings toward others
- be able to set boundaries/limits with others
- be less afraid of rejection
- be able to tolerate conflict
There are 3 major types of groups:
Understanding Self and Others Groups (Interpersonal Process):
Understanding Self and Others (USO) groups focus on helping students understand more about themselves, understand their relationships with others, and expand their ways of relating/connecting. These groups are helpful for a variety of students, especially those who are concerned about their interpersonal relationships and how they connect with others.
Psychoeducational Groups
Psychoeducational groups provide students with specific skills to help them better manage their concerns. These groups are structured or semi-structured, oftentimes have a curricular component, and tend to meet over the span of a few weeks. These groups may be for students with more specific concerns (e.g., eating/body image related concerns for the Making Peace with Food group) or more general concerns (e.g., issues with depression, anxiety, etc with our Building Emotional Well-Being Group).
Support Groups
Support groups provide students with shared experiences or identities. These groups allow students to connect with students who have experienced similar issues (e.g., the loss of a loved one in the case of the bereavement group, the experience of being an LGBTQIA+ student at NU in the case of the LGBTQIA+ support space).
In addition to the currently offered groups you can find by clicking the purple boxes above, you can find a list of our current support groups on our Workshops and Gathering Spaces page.