Group Therapy

Spring 2023 groups will be held remotely through secure video. Note that group times may change, or groups may be canceled based on demand and other factors. Please contact CAPS at (415) 422-6352 or -6351 during business hours if you have any questions or to sign up. While therapy groups can only be offered to students residing in California, due to state licensure laws, all USF students, regardless of location, are invited to join CAPS' online workshops.

Spring 2023 Groups

Note that most of our groups will be closed to new members after the first few weeks. All are held via Zoom. The following drop-down section lists the groups available this semester and when they are held.

  • ACT for Anxiety and Depression: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people identify their core values and commit to taking actions in line with them, while accepting discomfort and things they cannot change. Mindfulness meditation and changing unhelpful thought patterns are emphasized as well.
    Thursdays, 10:10–11:30 am, 3/23/23–5/11/23
  • Black Mental Health Matters:  BMHM is a therapeutic space for Black scholars where we connect, support, and hold dialogues on multiple aspects of Black Mental Health. BMHM includes mindfulness meditation practices and group exploration focused on leaning into our ancestral strengths, finding empowerment through intersectional identities, and re-envisioning self care to represent self-soothing, acceptance, self-compassion, and internal systemic rebellion.
    Thursdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 2/2/23-2/23/23 - Group period over
  • CBT Journaling Group: Ideally used as an adjunct to CBT-based individual therapy, this group will be a blend of psychoeducation and in-vivo skills building exercises, with the intent of helping group members utilize journaling to address anxious and depressive thoughts. Members will develop the ability to more clearly identify automatic thoughts associated with activating events and improve their capacity to challenge and reframe those thoughts via more realistic and balanced perspective-taking. After attending several psychoeducational sessions describing the CBT model and journaling technique, members will be expected to complete journaling "homework" and return to weekly group sessions with examples to process and share with the larger group.
    Wednesdays, 3:10-4:30 pm, 3/15/23-5/10/23 - STILL ENROLLING
  • DBT Group: The main goals of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others. For more information, see the DBT Group Overview Handout
    Wednesdays, 2:10-3:30 pm, 3/22/23-5/10/23
  • Grow and Glow: Grow and Glow is a 6 week healing space for womxn and womxn-aligned students who are members of the global majority (alternatively Black, Indigenous Womxn of Color). In this space, we focus on building community and empowerment. Topics can include: addressing aggressions targeting our identities, balancing life with academic challenges, relationships and family conflicts, difficulties prioritizing ourselves, and reclaiming our power. In Grow and Glow, group members aim to support each other’s strengths and vulnerabilities, encourage each other to enhance our self care and compassion, as well as find validation and connection through our shared experiences.
    Thursdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 3/2/23-4/6/23 - STILL ENROLLING
  • International Support Group: Moved to workshops
  • LGBTQIA+ Therapy Group: Process and support space for LGBTQIA+/questioning students. Members will connect around community-specific stressors, strengths, coping, resilience, and joy. Topics will be responsive to group member needs.
    Tuesdays, 3-4 pm, weekly starting 3/21/23. Interested but can't make the time? Give us a call! - STILL ENROLLING
  • Mindfulness Group: This six-week mindfulness skills-based group helps students cope with stress and anxiety, and promotes self-compassion. Students will learn concepts of mindfulness and self-compassion as well as practice experiential mindfulness activities. This is a great opportunity for students who are feeling overwhelmed and/or anxious and are looking for coping skills for stress.
    Tuesdays, 2-3 pm, 2/28/23-4/11/23 - NOW FULL
  • Transitions Group: A six-week group for students experiencing mild to moderate anxiety, panic, and depression related to life transitions where students not only connect with others but learn skills to help with their life changes. Through a culture-first lens, participants will learn and discuss mental health and general wellness strategies to address the impact of change, healthy and effective communication, and foster healthy relationships with self and others through a culture-first lens. Topics include transitioning to USF, reestablishing a self-care routine (e.g.: sleep, exercise, nutrition), readjusting thinking patterns and mood around change, information about building healthy connections within the USF and Bay Area community, tips for engaging in new environments and cultures, supporting the growth of resiliency, and more.
    Wednesdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 3/22/23-4/26/23
  • Understanding Self & Others: An interpersonal process group that is ideal for students who wish to better understand themselves and their relationships with others, whether that be with family, friends, colleagues, or romantic partners. Through actively discussing the process of members and facilitators engagement in the group, members become more aware of their feelings and reactions and those of others in the moment. Over time, students begin to better understand themselves, their interpersonal style, and their relationship patterns and develop ways to improve their relationships, and, by extension, their emotional experience in general. This group is ideal for a broad range of students with interpersonal concerns, including those who are coping with social anxiety or difficulties adjusting to a new environment.
    Tuesdays, 3:15-4:30 pm, weekly starting 3/7/23 - FULL

  • Black Mental Health Matters:  BMHM is a therapeutic space for Black scholars where we connect, support, and hold dialogues on multiple aspects of Black Mental Health. BMHM includes mindfulness meditation practices and group exploration focused on leaning into our ancestral strengths, finding empowerment through intersectional identities, and re-envisioning self care to represent self-soothing, acceptance, self-compassion, and internal systemic rebellion.
    Thursdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 2/2/23-2/23/23 - Group period over
  • Mindfulness Group: This six-week mindfulness skills-based group helps students cope with stress and anxiety, and promotes self-compassion. Students will learn concepts of mindfulness and self-compassion as well as practice experiential mindfulness activities. This is a great opportunity for students who are feeling overwhelmed and/or anxious and are looking for coping skills for stress.
    Tuesdays, 2-3 pm, 2/28/23-4/11/23 - NOW FULL
  • ACT for Anxiety and Depression: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people identify their core values and commit to taking actions in line with them, while accepting discomfort and things they cannot change. Mindfulness meditation and changing unhelpful thought patterns are emphasized as well.
    Thursdays, 10:10–11:30 am, 3/23/23–5/11/23
  • CBT Journaling Group: Ideally used as an adjunct to CBT-based individual therapy, this group will be a blend of psychoeducation and in-vivo skills building exercises, with the intent of helping group members utilize journaling to address anxious and depressive thoughts. Members will develop the ability to more clearly identify automatic thoughts associated with activating events and improve their capacity to challenge and reframe those thoughts via more realistic and balanced perspective-taking. After attending several psychoeducational sessions describing the CBT model and journaling technique, members will be expected to complete journaling "homework" and return to weekly group sessions with examples to process and share with the larger group.
    Wednesdays, 3:10-4:30 pm, 3/15/23-5/10/23 - STILL ENROLLING
  • DBT Group: The main goals of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others. For more information, see the DBT Group Overview Handout
    Wednesdays, 2:10-3:30 pm, 3/22/23-5/10/23
  • Grow and Glow: Grow and Glow is a 6 week healing space for womxn and womxn-aligned students who are members of the global majority (alternatively Black, Indigenous Womxn of Color). In this space, we focus on building community and empowerment. Topics can include: addressing aggressions targeting our identities, balancing life with academic challenges, relationships and family conflicts, difficulties prioritizing ourselves, and reclaiming our power. In Grow and Glow, group members aim to support each other’s strengths and vulnerabilities, encourage each other to enhance our self care and compassion, as well as find validation and connection through our shared experiences.
    Thursdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 3/2/23-4/6/23 - STILL ENROLLING
  • International Support Group: Moved to workshops
  • LGBTQIA+ Therapy Group: Process and support space for LGBTQIA+/questioning students. Members will connect around community-specific stressors, strengths, coping, resilience, and joy. Topics will be responsive to group member needs.
    Tuesdays, 3-4 pm, weekly starting 3/21/23. Interested but can't make the time? Give us a call! - STILL ENROLLING
  • Transitions Group: A six-week group for students experiencing mild to moderate anxiety, panic, and depression related to life transitions where students not only connect with others but learn skills to help with their life changes. Through a culture-first lens, participants will learn and discuss mental health and general wellness strategies to address the impact of change, healthy and effective communication, and foster healthy relationships with self and others through a culture-first lens. Topics include transitioning to USF, reestablishing a self-care routine (e.g.: sleep, exercise, nutrition), readjusting thinking patterns and mood around change, information about building healthy connections within the USF and Bay Area community, tips for engaging in new environments and cultures, supporting the growth of resiliency, and more.
    Wednesdays, 1:15-2:45 pm, 3/22/23-4/26/23
  • Understanding Self & Others: An interpersonal process group that is ideal for students who wish to better understand themselves and their relationships with others, whether that be with family, friends, colleagues, or romantic partners. Through actively discussing the process of members and facilitators engagement in the group, members become more aware of their feelings and reactions and those of others in the moment. Over time, students begin to better understand themselves, their interpersonal style, and their relationship patterns and develop ways to improve their relationships, and, by extension, their emotional experience in general. This group is ideal for a broad range of students with interpersonal concerns, including those who are coping with social anxiety or difficulties adjusting to a new environment.
    Tuesdays, 3:15-4:30 pm, weekly starting 3/7/23 - FULL

Benefits of Groups

  • Groups help you realize you’re not alone and reduce isolation. While each of us is unique, none of us are alone in our struggles.
  • Groups facilitate giving and receiving support. In support, discussion, and process groups, members share their experiences and give and receive feedback and support from the facilitators and other members.
  • Groups help you find your “voice.” Participating in a group can help you become more aware of your feelings and needs and learn effective ways of expressing them.
  • Groups help you relate to others in healthier ways. Often people don’t understand why their relationships aren’t working. Groups provide the opportunity for you to see how you relate to others in real time and receive direct feedback.
  • Groups provide a safety net. As members learn and practice skills in a group, their confidence for practicing them in other situations grows. Members also carry the group's support with them between meetings.
  • Many CAPS groups are held on a weekly basis throughout the semester, and students are not limited to a set number of group meetings per year, as they are with brief individual therapy appointments.