Group Counseling and Workshops

Social Anxiety – Mondays 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Struggling with socializing with others? Meeting new people? Going to class? The social anxiety group provides the opportunity for students to discuss and work on their experiences with social anxiety. Meetings will focus on learning skills as well as identifying current strengths to help members work towards their individual goals.

Facilitator: Jon Murakami, Psy.D.

iThrive – Mondays 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

iThrive is designed for college students struggling with both anxiety and depression. In this group you will learn proven strategies and techniques to break self-defeating habits, reduce stress and worry, overcome fear and self-doubt, and handle painful feelings more effectively on your way to creating a rich, full, and meaningful college experience.

Facilitator: Alex Turpin, LCSW, M.Div.

All-Recovery Meeting – Mondays 8:00 pm, Fridays 5:30 pm

A safe place to listen and share about topics that are affecting your life and mental health. Anyone is welcome to attend this student-led group support meeting!

*This group takes place in the Recovery Lounge in the Rec Center Rm 235*

Commuter Connections – Tuesdays: 2:45 pm – 4:00 pm

CAPS is offering a semi-formal group exclusive to commuter students. Commuter Students can develop interdependence and a sense of belonging to the campus.
The group will also help students recognize their strengths, solve unique challenges, and enjoy the regular company of others, thereby reducing isolation.

Facilitator: Babayemi Aiyegbo, LCSW

S.A.F.E. (Survivors of Sexual Assault Feeling Empowered) – Wednesdays 10:30 am – 11:45 am

If you have had an unwanted sexual experience, or have experienced a sexual trauma, there is support for you. This confidential group will provide a safe place to help you to cope with difficult feelings, give you the chance to feel supported, and help you connect with others who also feel alone.  Trust, safety, relationships, and balancing these issues with other facets of life will be covered. Please reach out to discuss if this group is right for you.

Facilitator: Robbin Loonan, LPC

Managing your Mood: DBT Skills Group  – Wednesdays 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

This is a coping skills training group for students who are struggling with intense emotions. This group will foster knowledge on the implementation of DBT mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effective skills in an effort to support individuals combatting challenging behaviors, distressing thoughts, and instability within relationships. This group will allow students to explore themselves and their relationships.

Facilitator: Beverly Mason, DSW, LCSW

Sister Circle: Black Women’s Empowerment Group – Wednesdays 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

This group provides a safe space for Black women to discuss their unique racial and cultural experiences and to be a part of a supportive community.

In the Sister Circle group, we will discuss your experiences as a Black woman within your home, community, society, and on campus. We will discuss microaggressions, relationships, self-esteem, and colorism among many other topics. You will learn ways to better navigate your world by effectively balancing racial, cultural, and social expectations and personal life goals, improve your self-esteem and confidence, and learn healthy coping strategies.

Facilitator: Debeka Bennett, Ph.D.

Not The Perfect Family – Wednesdays 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm

An opportunity to share with and get the support of others who have been raised in families with circumstances that prevented or interfered with healthy family functioning (i.e. addiction, divorce, mental illness, physical illness/disability, controlling behavior, abuse, etc.). Self-esteem, current relationships, self-confidence, and comfort in social settings can be negatively affected; the group offers a chance to choose a more positive approach, to others and to yourself.

Facilitator: Jon Murakami, Psy.D.

First-Gen Student Support Group – Thursdays 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

This group is for first-generation college students who are navigating university life and academics during a challenging time. This group looks to provide a supportive space to share experiences, celebrate successes, and to discuss difficulties experienced along the way.

Facilitator: Babayemi Aiyegbo, LCSW

Healthy Relationships – Thursdays 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm

In this group, we will discuss the characteristics of a healthy relationship and how to communicate effectively with individuals. This group is for anyone that desires to explore and identify their relationship needs, learn about unhealthy relationship behaviors and patterns, improve their communication skills within the context of any relationship, set and uphold boundaries, maintain a self-identity within the relationship, and many other topics that will be discussed.

Facilitator: Debeka Bennett, Ph.D.

Perfectly Imperfect – Fridays 10:00 am – 11:15 am

Do you often experience feelings of anxiety, shame, guilt, and/or self-doubt?   Do you fear that others will judge you?   Does perfectionism control your life? Through a self-exploration journey that recognizes that we are all “works in progress,” participants in this group will increase their confidence and learn to manage their stress.  Please join us in this safe, supportive, and encouraging setting.

Facilitator: Robbin Loonan, LPC

Moving Forward Through Grief – To Be Determined

This non-clinical support group is designed to support those who are managing the process of grieving a loss.  This loss could be a death, the end of a relationship, or a significant disappointment.  Many people do not know how to discuss these difficult topics, and their avoidance can leave them feeling isolated.  In this space, you can openly express these emotions with others who share your sense of loss and know what you are going through.  Anyone dealing with loss or impending loss is welcome.  Weekly attendance to this drop-in group is encouraged but not required.

Facilitator: Sue Gradl

Queer Group – Date/Time: To Be Determined

Tired of heterosexism? Wish you could connect with more LGBTQ+* people on campus?

This confidential support group primarily focuses on exploring and managing issues related to sexual orientation such as coming out, dealing with family and friends, intimacy, and self–esteem. People at various stages of the “coming out” process are welcome. Open to students of all genders. The emphasis is on support and exploration of LGBTQ+ issues impacting personal and interpersonal functioning.

Facilitator: Beverly Mason, LCSW

Parent Loss/Step-Parent Loss – To Be Determined

WE GET IT!
Come together with other TCNJ students and an experienced facilitator to share the feelings, stories, tears, and even laughter that can accompany the life-altering experience of losing your parent or step-parent.  You are welcome to join, no matter how long ago,or how recent your loss happened

Facilitator: Alex Turpin, LCSW, M.Div.

Chill Out: From Anxiety to Resilience

Do you worry too much about what other people think? Does meeting new people make you uneasy? Do you find ordering at Starbucks to be overwhelming? Does your anxiety keep you from doing things you enjoy? Join us in this weekly group!

Timeout: Student Athlete Support Group

This is a confidential supportive process group for current TCNJ varsity student-athletes. This group will serve as a safe and uplifting space in which student-athletes can gain support with balancing athletic demands, academic responsibilities and interpersonal relationships. This group will allow student athletes to learn skills relevant to managing injury and setbacks, performance anxiety, team dynamics, time management, and stress reduction.

Focus 101: ADHD Support Group

Would you like to meet other diagnosed students with ADHD to gain peer support? Would you like to get and provide encouragement? Each week, besides providing support, we will alternate through topics like academic and life balance, organizing/prioritizing, emotional regulation, procrastination, starting and completing projects, keeping healthy habits, how to use behavioral conditioning to your advantage, and general discussions about the frustration of living in a neurotypical world.

Coping 101

Coping 101 aims to teach students relevant coping skills that are often used to address stress and mental health concerns.

Food, Mood and You

This support group provides an opportunity to talk about and better understand how thoughts, feelings, one’s sense of self and relationships with others affect eating, body image, and exercise. Group members will gain insights into the triggers for their unhealthy patterns and learn coping skills to improve their eating and body image.

Adjustment to Campus

This group is to help first year students, as well as second year students attending classes on campus for the first time, to address common issues such as homesickness, stress management, building relationships, and self-care as well as adjustment to campus life during a pandemic. Learn helpful skills and get support from other students experiencing similar issues.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Support Group

Are cultural values and experiences different from your peers? Feel like you’re straddling two different worlds (at school and at home)? Experiences of microaggressions affecting your self-esteem or mental health?

This confidential support group will explore how your experiences as an AAPI may affect your identity, relationships and mental health. It will be an opportunity to connect with others and develop healthy coping strategies in a supportive environment.

Art Therapy

Creating art is a great way to reduce stress, express yourself, & improve self-esteem. You do not need to be Picasso! No training, experience, or artistic talent is necessary. Please come join us for this 4-week workshop. Open to students will all levels of artistic ability.

Assertiveness and Healthy Boundaries

Do you find that you tend to meet the needs of others while ignoring your own?  Does fear of hurting other peoples’ feelings prevent you from expressing your own boundaries?  This group is for students who wish to learn how to refrain from minimizing their own needs and communicate more honestly and effectively with others.   For many students, this group is also a place to discuss their own issues with trust, intimacy, anger, and assertiveness.

Beyond the Label

Have you started to realize or have known that you focus a lot of your time and energy on labels that are given to you by society? Do you find that such labels have an impact on you and stop you from being motivated to be more than the label? Does this impact your self-esteem, relationships, and/or your self-confidence? This group offers an opportunity for students who have been diagnosed with a learning disability and/or Autism to share, to receive support, and discuss ways to relate to your peers who have similar experiences, that go beyond the label.

CA Support Group

Biweekly group for community advisors to give and get support and to focus on their own mental health and self-care.

Everyday Wellness: Self Care Resources for your Toolkit

This wellness meeting will provide a safe environment for TCNJ students to access emotional support content.  Resources will be provided to help manage the impact of the pandemic on daily living. Students will have an opportunity to submit their own health and wellness strategies. The format encourages relationship building and peer to per support as students will engage in challenges, competitive trivia and games. *This is a drop-in group. Attendance at all sessions is encouraged but not required*

Men’s Workshop

In this workshop, we will explore how trying to live up to other people’s ideology of masculinity can cause distress and impede your relationships with yourself, family, romantic partners, and friends.

This workshop is for those who desire a supportive and encouraging community with other individuals exploring male-ness. Sessions will cover healthy coping strategies, tools to develop insight, and awareness of toxic relationship patterns. The intent is to help you balance sociocultural expectations with personal life goals while learning ways to identify and express emotions.

New Student Drop-In Group

Freshmen and transfer students are welcome to stop by and join this group for students working to adjust to college. No screening necessary!

Racial Trauma Support Group

This group will provide a safe space to examine the impact of racial trauma on mental health, relationships, and identity. This group will take a process-oriented and psychoeducational approach towards discussing the various ways Black and Brown people are affected by racial trauma. Additionally, facilitators will offer strategies for self/community care aimed at improving and maintaining mental wellness.

Sleep Management

Are you worried about your sleep schedule?  Does the idea of going to sleep up bring up worry and concern about tossing and turning, sometimes for hours on end?  This 4-week sleep management workshop offers information on healthy sleep habits and hygiene as well as techniques that may help students improve their sleep schedule.

TRANScend

A support group for transgender, gender fluid, genderqueer, non-conforming, and gender questioning students. Come together with other TCNJ students and an experienced facilitator in a safe and confidential environment to explore the many aspects of gender identity, give support to others, and get support yourself. Whether you know for sure or are questioning, you are invited to join!