805-699-6668
Or text!
Groups Offered
Group therapy is a highly successful form of treatment in which you and your peers will create a supportive and relaxed atmosphere where feelings can be recognized, acknowledged, and replaced with conscious, uncontaminated choices in social behaviors and verbal attitudes. The courage to allow these kinds of meaningful connections to take place can help to resolve emotional conflicts and difficulties with feelings of mastery and empowerment.
Attacking
Anxiety
Come join others process, experience and learn about reining in the stress and anxiety getting in the way of peaceful daily functioning. In the safety of a group, we will learn what anxiety actually is in the body and mind, and create a plan of action for stress management and prevention via experential exercises, education and connection with each other. Together we will overcome the negative effects of stress in our lives.
Freedsurfer:
Satori thru Surf
Satori: enlightenment and balance from seeing into one's true nature. Women are invited to join Dr. Robbyn Jackson and an instructor from Surf Happens in this unique combination of surf instruction and therapy. Freedsurfer includes 2 hours of professional surf instruction and a 45 minute process session on the beach, where members discuss how surfing, the healing nature of the ocean, and the camaraderie of the group helps members overcome and heal. Mental health benefits include: self-empowerment, assertiveness, healthy body image, and coping with fears, eating disorders, and relationship issues, as well as decreasing feelings of depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Surf therapy runs on the third Saturday of every month. Please sign up at least 1 week prior to the lesson.
Graduate Student Process Group
Also known as a personal exploration group, a process group is usually comprised of about eight people for the common purpose of finding out more about who they are and what they would like to change in their personal lives and relationships. The group is assisted with guided feedback and process comments from the leader. By being in a psychotherapy process group, all members have the opportunity for considerable personal gains, corrective emotional experiences and intrapsychic change that can last a lifetime.
Fresh Start
This group is open to students who are having difficulty adjusting to a new life in Isla Vista. Group members include freshmen, transfer students, international students, and other students who are also struggling with feeling at home. Topics include missing family and friends from home, coping with changes in habits and routine, developing new relationships, and exploring new social settings. The group is assisted with guided feedback and process comments from the leader.
Mindfulness and Meditation
A weekly skills group that focuses on teaching and practicing the concepts of mindfulness meditation (along with other forms of mindfulness). This group will be both informational and experiential, as participants learn to cultivate their own meditation practice and enhance their mindfulness skills. Time for discussion of activities via sharing and questions will also be included. Whether you are completely new to mindfulness or have been practicing for years, all levels are welcome! If interested, please contact Acacia Counseling & Wellness to check that space is available. Note that all prospective participants will first need to schedule a consultation appointment with Chris Link, Psy.D. (group facilitator) to help determine if this group would be a good fit for you.
S.T.R.E.N.G.T.H.
The STRENGTH therapy group seeks to provide a safe, authentic, healing community for survivors of interpersonal trauma to continue their healing journey together. This group draws from trauma-informed therapy approaches to offer support, education, coping strategies, and relationship skills specific to the experience of interpersonal trauma. The STRENGTH group strives to create a therapeutic community of survivors that works together to help each group member to recover from the impact of interpersonal trauma, express one’s experience, nurture the self, and grow purposefully in order to heal with the support of each other.