Group therapy focuses on relationships and interpersonal issues, mainly as they arise in the group. The aim is to help participants better understand themselves, their reactions, and their impacts on others. We explore how emerging group issues relate to participants' real-life struggles and emotional distress. There is a focus on discovering one's typical patterns of relating to others (sometimes self-defeating) and the roles one typically occupies in relationships. Difficult earlier life experiences may get re-created in the group, and this allows for deep exploration, insight, and the re-working of trauma. With the group's support, participants can also try out new ways of relating in terms of self-assertion, intimacy and closeness, boundary setting, and capacity to deal with conflict and sexuality, allowing participants to show up more authentically in their relationships. The group experience encompasses both working and playing together, supporting and confronting each other.
Loneliness and Intimacy: Negotiating Needs, Fears, and Desires: An Adult Psychotherapy & Interpersonal Process Group (Virtual) Tuesdays 6:00 - 7:15 PM
If interested, please contact one of the group’s co-leaders:
Israel Meth, Ph.D. at [email protected] or +1 347-292-7032
Kendall Schellenger, Psy.D. at [email protected] or +1 347-292-7655
This group is for your patients who may have personal and interpersonal struggles that hinder their ability to negotiate their needs and desires, and for those who have difficulty fully expressing themselves within interpersonal space.
The group aims to provide support, understanding, and new skills to face challenges with intimacy, sexuality, identity, boundaries, self-expression, conflict, isolation, and loneliness. We will gain insight into how we relate to others and the underlying issues interfering with our ability to communicate clearly, connect genuinely, and express ourselves. We aim to understand our fears and defensive reactions with compassion as we explore possible origins in earlier struggles with caregivers, who may have injured or failed us. Together, we will struggle with the sometimes conflicting desires for intimacy and autonomy, noting feelings and reactions that cut us off from others who carry the emotional supplies of recognition, support, and nurturance that we also may deeply need.
As we attend the group process, we will focus on how we show up, discuss issues in the here and now, and identify patterns among us to increase awareness and move us toward better ways of connecting and being authentic. This group is ideally suited for those already participating in individual therapy sessions.
Please contact either of us below if you wish to join or make a referral to the group.
Queer Resilience Psychotherapy Group (In-Person) Wednesdays 6:00 - 7:15 PM
If interested, please contact the group’s leader:
Abigail Elakman, Psy.D. at [email protected] or +1 347-369-4660
This queer-led psychotherapy group is for queer young adults (ages 18 to 30) looking for support in their identity journey. We’ll create an affirmative space to develop resiliency skills and explore gender, sexuality, and other dimensions of your identity - as well as our encounters with an increasingly challenging socio-political context.
Group topics will include:
● Communication skills for authentic self-expression
● Strategies for handling conflict, rejection, micro and macro aggressions, & discrimination
● Self-love, self-discovery, and self-reflection as opportunities for growth
● Local resources and spaces for connecting with the greater LGBTQ+ community
Facilitated by Dr. Abigail Elakman, a Queer, LGBTQ+ affirmative therapist, this group is ideally suited for those already participating in individual therapy.
Please reach out to Dr. Elakman if you're interested in participating.
Adult Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Group (Virtual) Thursday 7:00 - 8:30 PM
If interested, please contact one of the group’s co-leaders:
Gerald Pantoja, Ph.D. at [email protected] or +1 347-201-1814
Jenni Marques, Psy.D. at [email protected] or +1 (347) 201-1669
The Adult Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) group is a skill-focused 90-minute weekly group found to be most helpful for those who have difficulty regulating their mood and emotional states without the use of alcohol or drugs or engaging in maladaptive or self-harming behaviors. The skills are tailored from mindfulness, navigating relationships, and managing one's emotions to help individuals gain self-empowerment and mastery in their lives. People who were raised in invalidating, unstable, chaotic, and trauma-inducing environments are most likely to benefit from the skills in the DBT group. Participants should be in individual psychotherapy while in the group. The complete training cycle is six months or 24 sessions. The group is also open at rotating intervals throughout the program and based on the availability of open spots. You can join the group after you have an intake with Dr. Gerald Pantoja ([email protected]). Please feel free to contact him for any other questions!