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Group Counselling, Semester II - 2024

The vast majority of students who attend group therapy feel nervous initially about participating in this kind of support. It might feel incredibly difficult and off putting to open up about personal difficulties with a wider group of peers. However most students report how powerful this way of working can be. By helping them overcome such anxieties and develop greater interpersonal confidence, group members also report the benefit of realising first-hand how they are not alone in their experiences.

As a service we endorse the value of therapeutic and supportive groups in helping students manage distress and improve wellbeing. Some of our groups focus on a particular issue that members of the group share in common. Others are open to any and all struggles that members might bring from week to week. Some groups require a commitment to attend, while others operate on a drop-in basis. Please see below for a comprehensive list of the types of groups currently available and how to access them.

In summary, groups can be a valuable way to share one's experience with others who are also struggling, and to explore coping mechanisms in a supportive therapeutic environment. To learn more about group therapy, what it involves and how it works, please watch the video above which has been developed for you by a counsellor on our team.

All groups are free of charge.

Drop-in Groups, Semester II - 2024

Rainbow Group (Mondays)

Date: Mondays during term-time

Time: 3 - 4.30 pm

Venue: Seminar Room (318), SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Brendon Glon and Andrew Douglas

This group aims to provide an affirming space for all members of the LGBTQ+ Community to improve their mental health and resilience through providing support to one another as well as receiving support from professional group facilitators and SCS staff. At SCS, we recognize that Trinity students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community might experience inequality, prejudice, or bias during their lives based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, which can cause increased stress during their college careers. Members of this group will have space to process concerns and stressors through a strengths-based, non-pathologizing format. All Trinity students who identify as members of the broader LGBTQ+ community are welcomed and encouraged to join.

Ethnic Minorities Support Group (Mondays)

Date: Mondays, running weekly from 4th March (except for Bank Holidays in which case the group will move to the Tuesday of that week)

Time: 4.45 – 5.45 pm

Venue: Seminar Room (318) and Group Room (331), SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Sinead Crowley and Ejiro Ogbevoen

This support group is a therapeutic support space for students from different cultures and ethnic minorities, run within the Trinity Student Counselling Service. It offers an inclusive and supportive space for members of these communities to meet, share experiences and advocate for their needs. This group will be facilitated by a counsellor in SCS and an external therapist from within this community, with a similar lived experience.

Addictive Behaviours Support and Recovery Group (Tuesdays)

Date: Tuesday during term-time

Time: 6 - 7.30 pm

Venue: S2S Student Room (319) at 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Dee O'Keeffe and Aisling Holland

This Addictive Behaviour Support & Recovery is a safe and confidential space for members to support each other in relation to substance and alcohol misuse and other harmful behaviours. Group participants will respect the confidentiality of others in order to maintain a safe place for members.

FFIA (Families and Friends in Addiction) Group (Tuesdays)

Date: Tuesdays during term-time, starting 6th February

Time: 1 - 2.30 pm

Venue: SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitator: Dee O'Keeffe and Tony Rice

Weekly Process Group (Wednesdays)

Date: Wednesdays during term-time

Time: 1 - 2 pm

Venue: SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Alice Kelly and Britta Thiemt

The group offers students a supportive place where they can discuss any challenges they are experiencing in relation to their emotional wellbeing. It will focus on providing a place where students can connect with others in similar situations, gain psychoeducational knowledge and skills which might be useful for the distress they are experiencing and help them to reflect and gain validation and acceptance around their own individual experiences.

International Students Group (Thursdays)

Date: Thursdays during term-time

Time: 3.30 - 4.30 pm

Venue: Seminar Room (318), SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitator: Graham King

This group is designed for facilitating International Students’ adjustment, academic success and personal growth. Members have opportunities to explore and share experiences, discuss different topics, engage in various group activities, and learn useful strategies. Additional topics may also include exploring identity, family relationships, dating, faiths, academic/work/financial stress, immigration, stigma, discrimination, invalidation, exclusion and the impact of these issues on their TCD experience by increasing connection, self-empowerment, and advocacy as students academically advance in a multicultural world.

Compassion-Focussed Drop-in (Fridays)

Date: Starting Friday 9th February

Time: 12 - 1 pm

Venue: Seminar Room (318), SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Nina Slingerland and Ciara Joyce/Tony Rice

This group is helpful for students who struggle to feel content, reassured or safe, and for those who have difficulty receiving compassion from others and offering self-compassion. The group aims to increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism and shame.

Pre-registration Groups, Semester II - 2024

Surviving Your Postgraduate Experience

Date: Fridays, starting on 16th February and running for 8 weeks

Time: 11 am - 12 pm

Venue: Seminar Room, SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Joanna Kesicka and Martin McAndrew

Surviving Your Postgraduate Experience (SYPE) is an 8-week support group exclusively for postgraduates who are experiencing one or a combination of the above common emotional and social challenges. It is co-facilitated by Student Counselling and the Postgraduate Advisory Service.

A support group is a reflective two-way process; attendees come both to be supported and to offer support to others through listening and offering an empathetic perspective. We don’t solve specific problems in a group, but we do create a confidential space to safely explore issues, test tools and strategies, reflect on ourselves, and build resilience by both listening and being heard.

Participants are asked to commit to attending all 8 sessions. The group is reflective by design and some ‘homework’ (e.g. journaling, testing strategies and self-care practices) between group meetings will be required.

To register for group sign-up please email student-counselling@tcd.ie

Forest Bathing (**for postgraduate students only**)

Date:Tuesday 5th March and running for 8 consecutive weeks

Time: 10 am - 12 pm

Venue: Trinity College Botanic Garden, Dartry, Dublin 6 (nextdoor to Trinity Hall)

Facilitator: Kamila Kwasniewska

Forest Bathing (or shinrin-yoku) is a preventive medicine technique that comes from Japan and means immersing your senses in the atmosphere of a forest. This nature-connection method was established in the 1980s and has been proven scientifically to reduce stress, improve well-being, reduce muscle tension, and boost the immune system and creativity. Forest bathing experience helps to turn the attention to nature through exercises and invitations designed by the guide.

It is an outdoor experience amongst the trees and shrubs of TCD Botanic Gardens. Each session is guided by a trained forest bathing guide and includes mindful exercises related to the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste and proprioception), using props and natural features to create an engaging experience.

There are limited spaces available each week, so please be sure to book your place at the following link. New spaces are released every Tuesday.

Menstrual Cycle Support

Date: Thursdays, start date tbc

Time: 11.30 am - 1pm

Venue: Group Room, Student Counselling Service, 7 - 9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Laura Fitzpatrick and Hannadi Al-Hassan

To register for group sign-up please email student-counselling@tcd.ie

Mind, Body, Boost

Date: tbc

Time: tbc

Venue: tbc

Facilitator: Graham King

Mind, Body, Boost is a 6-week custom designed fitness and mental health programme that includes mindfulness skills training, group inclusivity work, challenging physical activities and psychological support tools, while also addressing societal issues of social isolation and stress management. Trinity Sport and the Counselling Service will be recruiting participants shortly. To register your interest please email student-counselling@tcd.ie

Social Anxiety Group

Date: Alternate Wednesdays, starting on 31st January and running until 10th April 2024

Time: 2.30 - 4 pm

Venue: Group Room, Student Counselling Service, 7 - 9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Frances Walsh and Sinead Crowley

To register for group sign-up please email student-counselling@tcd.ie

UP Group

Date: Friday 26th January and running for 9 weeks

Time: 2 - 3.30 pm

Venue: Student Counselling Service, 7 - 9 Sth Leinster St

Facilitators: Chuck Rashleigh and Andrew Douglas

UP Group stands for Unified Protocol. It is a CBT based program with a focus on understanding, tolerating and accepting emotions. The group will be a mix of skills-based psychoeducation, homework, and process-based therapy. Each week contains general psychoeducation with modules tailored to specific elements of the emotional experience. Over the course of the group, we will be looking at:

Goal Setting

Understanding Emotions

Mindfulness

Cognitive Flexibility

Countering Emotional Behaviours

Facing Physical Symptoms of Emotions

Emotional Exposure

To register for group sign-up please email student-counselling@tcd.ie

Bereavement Support Group (BSG)

Date: Starting on Thursday 15th February and running for 5 weeks

Time: 5.30 - 7 pm

Venue: SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster St

Grief is a normal part of experiencing loss. Everyone grieves differently, and most people experiencing grief won’t require more than general support and information. For those who require additional support we provide an annual Bereavement Support Group (BSG). The BSG is a small group of no more than 12 students, which meets in a safe, confidential space. The BSG gives us space to talk with others who understand grief – we take time to talk about our lost loved ones and the impact of this loss on our lives. The goal of the group is to help you process your own grief and to find a sense of healing through this.

  • The BSG meets annually for five 90-minute sessions.
  • To inquire about the BSG email us at student-counselling@tcd.ie.

  • Referral-only Groups, Semester II - 2024

    Ongoing Therapy Group

    Date: Wednesdays

    Time: 6 - 7.30 pm (during term), 2.30 - 4 pm (out of term)

    Venue: Group Room, SCS, 7-9 Sth Leinster Street

    Facilitator: Mark Robinson and Czara Casey

    The Ongoing Therapy group at Trinity College SCS involves a group of up to ten students working with a group facilitator (therapist) in weekly therapy sessions. Group Therapy is a respected method of working through a wide range of distressing emotions such as depression, self esteem difficulties or discomfort in relationships. The characteristics of group therapy enable a type of interaction that is not possible in one to one counselling and offer a chance to learn through others, how to manage distress.

    Learning Outcomes

    • to explore emotional issues and receive support and reassurance from others
    • to learn from others about how to manage distress and the chance to be creative about resolving these issues
    • to achieve insight into repeated patterns of behaviour
    • to increase confidence in group situations
    • to improve ability to seek help when encountering problems

    Referral is through your counsellor

    Group Analytic Therapy

    Date: Tuesdays

    Time: 6 - 7.30 pm (during term) / afternoon (out of term)

    Venue: Seminar Room, SCS, 7-9 South Leinster Street

    Facilitator: Bronagh O'Neill

    Experiential Weekly Group Analytic Therapy

    Learning Outcomes

    • to explore emotional issues and receive support and reassurance from others
    • to learn from others about how to manage distress and the chance to be creative about resolving these issues
    • to achieve insight into repeated patterns of behaviour
    • to increase confidence in group situations
    • to improve ability to seek help when encountering problems

    Referral is through your counsellor