Group Therapy and Workshops

Tuesdays from 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | June 3 - August 19

This group will be a 3 month intensive therapy workshop to recover from the lasting impacts of post-traumatic stress. The workshop will consist of weekly group meetings along with weekly individual therapy sessions. Participants will have daily reflective exercises to complete while in the workshop. Group will be primarily educational and supportive, while individual sessions and daily exercises will be more in-depth and individualized. The goal is to confront and process trauma with skills you can continue to utilize on your own after the group.

Group Leaders: Derek Otte, LICSW (he/him) and Jessica Talamantes (she/her)

Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | June 4 - Aug 20

Do you have an ADHD diagnosis and want to learn how to cope? Do you struggle with time management, wrangling your attention, staying organized, and being present with others? Me and My ADHD is a group designed to provide training and support for you to do life better with ADHD.

Group Leaders: Derek Otte, LICSW (he/him) and Michael Raguet, LICSW (he/him)

Tuesdays 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | June 17 - July 22

Is it me? Is it them? Is it in my head? When relationships are going well, we feel energized, connected, and safe. When things are not going well, stress, anxiety, conflict, fear, anger, and countless other strong reactions can come as swiftly as a vampire, draining the life out of the relationship and our capacity to exist as a person.

The Vampires of Healthy Relationships Group examines the core pillars of starting, maintaining, nurturing (or ending) relationships.
The group examines relationships with family, friends, work, romantic/sexual partners. Some key topics include communication styles, personal and relationship needs, love languages, conflict management, red flags, and boundaries.

Group leader: Paradise, MS, LPCC (he/him)

Feeling stressed about graduate school? Gather insight and skills to better manage the stress of your program. Emotional responses, skills, and strategies for tackling issues like procrastination, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome are all addressed.

Facilitators: Sarra Beckham-Chasnoff, Jenny Steiner

View the pre-recorded workshop series 

An opportunity for students to learn how to implement positive emotions, character strengths, and a sense of meaning into their academic and personal life. We will learn about the mental and physical health benefits of positive psychology and promote the positive, as well as alleviating negative aspects of life.  This workshop includes 6 weekly meetings.

Fridays: 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (in-person)

Facilitator:  Jake Loeffler

Complete the registration form to attend. 

This is an interactive group space, tailored to the needs of our group members and open to all students of any identity. We know that a lot of sexual education curriculum is based on cisgender, white, heterosexual, thin, able-bodied, monogamous, vanilla, allosexual norms, so this group tailors sessions to be inclusive of all folks in the space, and with a sex-positive and trauma-informed lens. 

All participants are asked to keep other participants' information confidential: what’s said here stays here; what’s learned here leaves here. Some of the topics we hope to explore include reproductive anatomy, sexually transmitted diseases and how to protect oneself, consent, pleasure, substance use and sex, body image and sex, porn, what healthy sex looks like, and much more!

Presented in collaboration with the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE)

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the registration form to attend. 

The Attack Anxiety workshop will help you better understand your struggles with anxiety and learn new ways of pursuing a full and meaningful life. This semi-structured group utilizes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which teaches how to see personal experiences and relationships from different perspectives, and to act in valued ways that allow you to relate differently to anxious feelings, depressed moods, worrying thoughts, and self-defeating behaviors.  Four total sessions, recurring throughout the semester.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the registration form to attend. 

The inner balance workshop helps you live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, manage your emotions, and improve your relationships with others. This semi-structured group utilizes Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

In DBT, the core goal is to balance acceptance and change, so the workshop will review sets of acceptance skills as well as change skills. Skills are further divided into four skills modules: mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. Four total sessions, recurring throughout  the semester.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the registration form to attend. 

Keep Calm and Thrive in Graduate School is a 3-session workshop designed to provide graduate and professional students insights on how to better prepare for academic demands, to overcome common obstacles, and succeed!  We'll cover topics on strategies for academic success, managing expectations, professional relationship building, as well as wellness and self-care.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the sign-up form to indicate interest. 

A virtual connection space for students who have a chronic condition or who experience chronic pain to provide and receive support. Individuals may be in any stage of their condition (i.e., recently diagnosed, struggling to find a diagnosis, in remission), and a formal medical diagnosis is not required to join. Members share their experiences of living with a chronic condition and/or pain while also being a student, and create a sense of community in a safe online environment. This space is open to all students.

Thursdays: 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. (virtual)

Facilitator: Alexa Fetzer (she/her)

Complete the registration form to attend. 

This space is designed to provide an affirming and supportive environment for all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who identify as Black, African American, or African here at the U of M; it is open to all students regardless of identity. In this confidential and courageous community environment, we will talk about topics including, but not limited to: school stress; lived experiences as Black/African American and African students at a PWI; experiences related to our identities; stereotypes; micro/macro aggressions; socio-political climate; racial in/justice; relationships; culture; community; family; and moments that bring victory and joy. Hope to see you there!  
In collaboration with the Care Program and the department of Dr. Rev Martin Luther King, Jr Program.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the registration form to attend. 

The Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Collective (MHC) aims to create a radical healing space to foster conversations around the topic of Mental Health and Wellbeing in our communities. We acknowledge that much of the current resources/services at the University of Minnesota fit within traditional white western mental health framework and our collective strives to disrupt that model. 

This is a space for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Middle Eastern and North African (MENA), Desi, Asian, and/or People of Color voices, experiences, and stories. Mixed race, QTIPOC, and trans-racial adopted folks, we see you and welcome you into the space. Our group is open to students (undergraduate and graduate), staff, and faculty of all identities at the University of Minnesota. 

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the registration form to attend. 

Pláticas: Latinx Connection Space is a virtual weekly group designed for Latina/e/o/x undergraduate and graduate students to come together and discuss specific needs, themes, challenges, joys, and identities in our community; it is open to students of all identities. Some of the themes we may discuss include: colorism, language, belongingness, indigeneity, mestizaje, gender roles, religion and spirituality, immigration, and ongoing events that impact our people and communities. 

We acknowledge that within the Latinx community there are many different identities, experiences, and preferences in how we describe ourselves. We invite this variety in lived experiences and trust that each of our identities and stories will add to our group and discussions. Sometimes we can wonder if we belong and if these spaces are for us. We want to honor how vulnerable it can be to consider joining a community space and hope to affirm your belonging and enough-ness. Come as you are, and we hope you will join us and explore these reactions, wonderings, and questions together. 

In collaboration with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Program

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the sign-up form to indicate interest. 

This space invites students to gather and support one another in our experiences and identities as Jews. Join us in this confidential connection space to explore topics including but not limited to: our college experience, antisemitism, socio-political climate, culture, and community. This space was designed with Jewish students in mind, but is open to UMN students of all identities.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the sign-up form to indicate interest.

This space invites students at the U of M to gather and support one another in our experiences and identities as Palestinian, Arab, and/or Muslim students. While this group was designed with those identities in mind, it is open to students of all identities.  

Join us in this confidential space to support and share our experiences with events happening in Palestine, the Middle East, and elsewhere. This space is designed to create community and offer support in addressing our emotional and mental health needs, including experiences of Islamophobia and other forms of oppression and injustice.

Not running Summer 2025.

Complete the sign-up form to indicate interest. 

These groups meet every other week to provide support and focus on problem-solving strategies for graduate students at the dissertation or thesis stage of their programs, who have passed oral preliminary exams and/or their dissertation/thesis proposals. These groups fill quickly, and there may be a waiting list for an opening. Space becomes available as students complete their degrees.

• Section 1:  Wednesdays (bi-weekly) 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.  (virtual) 
  Facilitator:  Sarra Beckham-Chasnoff
• Section 2: Thursdays (bi-weekly) 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (virtual) 
  Facilitator:  Alexa Fetzer

To join: Contact [email protected] or 612-624-3323 to schedule a group screening/orientation meeting with group facilitators. 

An opportunity for students who have lost a parent or sibling in their lives to share their stories, while giving and receiving support around the many issues faced during the grieving process. Participants will be able to discuss their loss in a safe and supportive setting with others who have been through similar experiences. We know not all families look alike; our grandparents or a foster parent raised some of us. Grief Support Group is inclusive of your family's definition of "parent" and "sibling." It can include the loss of any primary caregiver (e.g., parent, grandparent, uncle/aunt) or a peer-aged relative in the same household (e.g., cousins, siblings) with whom you were raised.

Tuesdays 3:00 - 4:30  (in-person)   
Facilitators: Rachel Hughitt and Jade Cao

To join: Contact [email protected] or 612-624-3323 to schedule a group screening/orientation meeting with group facilitators.

Do you want to develop better relationship skills? This group provides an opportunity to learn from each other while giving and receiving support around the many personal issues students deal with. Participants will help each other develop greater self-awareness and increased ability to have satisfying relationships. Relationships, self-confidence, balancing demands, and more–this group will address the issues of greatest concern to its members.

Fridays 11:00 - 12:30  (in-person)
Facilitators:  Franny Parent and Jade Cao

To join: Contact [email protected] or 612-624-3323 to schedule a group screening/orientation meeting with group facilitators.

Our groups typically meet for 60 minutes once a week. Some groups meet most of the semester, while others are short-term, four to six sessions. Most groups consist of four to ten members. Process groups provide an environment for students to identify and explore emotions, give and receive support, and practice healthy ways of relating to others. Psychoeducational groups focus on developing skills around a particular concern and often involve discussions and experiential activities to apply the skills you are learning.

Students new to Mental Health Counseling should discuss their interest in group counseling during the mental health screening. During the mental health screening, you’ll discuss your needs, and the counselor will recommend resources and a plan for your mental health care and connect you with the next steps.

Group therapy is considered to be one of the most effective forms of treatment for many issues that confront undergraduate and graduate students, such as depression, anxiety, grief/loss, low self-esteem, and troubled relationships. Students who try group therapy find it provides a safe and supportive place to explore their concerns and learn new strategies for overcoming challenges.

No. You can decide how much and when to share your feelings with the group and no one will force you to share more than you feel comfortable with. Most students are apprehensive about attending a group for the first time and wonder what it will be like to share with people they do not know. However, most find they become more comfortable over time and value the support and feedback they get from their peers. All group members are expected to maintain the confidentiality of the group so everyone can feel safe sharing.

Contact us at [email protected] or 612-624-1444.