Group Therapy

A relational playground for women in their late 20’s - 40’s who struggle with self-worth.

Relationships and self-worth tend to be intimately tied together - when we struggle with feelings of inadequacy and/or too much-ness, we may also struggle with cultivating the types of relationships with friends, partners, and colleagues that we want.

But it can feel lonely and isolating to not know how to tend to these inner states. We may feel at a loss as to how to create meaningful relationships that have space for all of who we are.

We long for caring and supportive relationships, yet find ourselves pushing them away.

We crave intimacy and closeness yet find ourselves in unfulfilling and stagnant relationships.

We desire raw and honest connections yet avoid speaking the truth about our needs, boundaries, and feelings because we are terrified of conflict and abandonment.

Whether we call these behaviors avoidant or anxious attachment, codependency, people pleasing, or relational trauma, at the core of so many of our struggles in relationships is this tension between wanting so desperately to bring people close, and yet feeling like when we do so, we lose something of ourselves. How do we be together without falling apart?

Group is an opportunity to explore these difficult questions with others who are on a similar path.

Most of us tend to relate to each other based on unconscious relational models we carry from childhood (our first group!). So much of our sense of worth stems from these initial relationships. Now, you may find that how you learned to see yourself and your relationships are no longer conducive to the types of intimacy and connection you want to experience (both with self and with others). You have a sense that you want things to be different. You want to understand your emotional landscape. You want to communicate openly and vulnerability. You want relationships that respect your complexities.

And yet it seems there are very little spaces to learn how to do all of this. Where do we go to learn relational awareness? Where can we practice these difficult skills before attempting to change (and risk) important relationships such as the ones with our partners, caregivers, colleagues, etc.? What do we do when self-improvement advice doesn’t actually work in nuanced situations?

Group is a weekly meeting of minds where we will work through self-worth and other deeply entrenched beliefs and relational patterns with other like-minded women so that you may feel more spacious and flexible in yourself and in your relationships.

“Thaís is a relentlessly compassionate, kind and thoughtful facilitator, who knows how to hold people’s complexities in mind as they work through their relational patterns. I am in awe of her and how she does this work.”
— Dr. Mary Lipen

What you can expect inside of Group:

  • Experiential learning: An opportunity to learn how to develop boundaries, express needs, grapple with differences, navigate conflict, and gain feedback on how you are in relationships.

  • Consistency: Meeting every week where we start and end at the same time offers a container where play and risk can take place.

  • Clarity: We learn about ourselves through relationships. In Group, you will be invited to bring thoughts and feelings to any and all reactions you may be having in the moment. As we learn how to put our rich internal landscape into words, we begin to expand our understanding of ourselves and others. This is how emotional intelligence develops and relational awareness takes place.

  • Discomfort: Relationships are messy and tend to evoke a lot of difficult feelings. These feelings will inevitably also come up in Group. That’s a good thing! Because if they show up in Group, they an opportunity to be understood and worked through. This is how change happens.

What you will not get in Group:

  • Structure: Unlike skills-based groups like coaching groups or AA, you will not be given homework, workbooks, etc. This is because the type of learning and skills development we are doing is relational and takes place through developing relationships with each other. The Group is “the tool” so to speak, a play laboratory where deep change can take place.

  • Support: While yes, you may receive advice, ideas, and support from the other participants, this is not a support group in the sense that many support groups are time-limited and topic specific. Instead, Group goes one step further where any and all topics are invited to be explored together. Nothing is off the table.

  • Friendships: Part of what makes Group work is that the relationships with each other is contained to the Group. Therefore this is not a place to make friendships that you can take outside of Group, but rather a place to develop capacities to make strong relationships with people outside of the Group.

What gets broken in relationships can only be healed in relationships.

Another way of putting this (and what research continues to support) is that the best way to heal old wounds and learn the skills and tools for increasing self-worth, confidence, and capacity for intimacy, is through relationships. Our minds are deeply interpersonal.

This can feel really confusing though when relationships itself have been the source of emotional distress and anguish.

Group offers a supportive, engaging, nurturing environment for you to learn and practice ways to restructure deeply seated relational fears with other smart, caring, engaged humans who are all passionate about becoming emotionally intelligent, self-aware and capable of having deeply satisfying relationships.

Together, we will repair the inner scaffolds required for greater connection so you can be more of you in the relationships that matter.

About Thaís

I have always been fascinated with belonging, identity, relationships and how to feel more connected to people without losing important aspects of myself. What I have found is that while there are many wonderful vehicles of change, Group work offers a unique opportunity to address these complicated relational patterns in a supportive environment.

I have a Master’s in Clinical Psychology and since 2010 I have worked with individuals, couples and groups in a variety of different contexts (life coach, psychotherapist, community mental health, crisis hot line, coaching programs). I will bring modern analytic group theory, family systems, somatic healing and developmental psychology perspectives into our work together.

I am a member of the Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles (GPALA) as well as the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). I have facilitated groups since 2016 and have received extensive supervision on how to masterfully facilitate transformative spaces.

In Group, you will gain insights and skills such as:

  • How you are perceived by others and what other people really think and feel about how you interact

  • How to express your feelings in a way that will build relationships and elicit the responses you want from others

  • How to give feedback in a way that builds connection and helps people understand the impact of their behavior on others

  • What behaviors and reactions from others trigger emotional responses in you

  • How to regulate your feelings so you don’t repress them but can communicate them in a way that builds connection and doesn’t undermine your interpersonal power

  • How to connect effectively with others across differences

DETAILS

Group is limited to six to eight participants.
Individuals from all backgrounds, cultures, and sexual orientations are welcome.

We meet virtually on Zoom every Tuesday at 6pm.
Long-term weekly commitment is important to the experience.

The fee for participation is $75 per session per participant.
I do not accept insurance but I am happy to give you a super bill at the end of each month.

I meet with potential Group participants for two to three sessions to decide if Group is the best way to meet your needs and for you to get a sense of my working style. These sessions are also an opportunity for me to know more about you so I can better support you in the Group. My fee is $250 per session and I offer a sliding scale fee based on income.

FAQ

  • I welcome women of all sexual orientations, race/ethnicities, professions, relationship statuses and type, and ages from mid 20’s to mid 50’s to join. Together with other smart, successful, interesting, caring people, we will grapple with the ways in which we struggle similarly and differently from each other. As long as you are looking to become more emotionally intelligent, self-aware and have better connections with others, this experience may be a good fit for you.

  • Because of the on-going nature of Group, it is understandable that you may have to miss a week due to illness, vacation, conflicting obligations, etc. However, it is important to keep in mind that an essential aspect of Group is consistency in attendance. It is this consistency that allows for a richer, deeper experience for you and the other members. Making sure you prioritize Group, and minimize disruption to the experience, is critical to the achieving what you want from the experience.

  • Unlike highly structured, skills-based groups, every week we will come together to learn about each other and ourselves by giving attention to the thoughts and feelings that spontaneously arise, especially as it relates to each other. As we do this, we will begin to notice that old patterns and ways of relating will inevitably arise in group. This is a sign that group is working! As we notice similar thoughts and feelings arising, we have an opportunity to invite change and reflection. That means every session will feel and look different depending on what is arising within the members that week.

  • Group is an opportunity to work through deeply entrenched emotional and relational patterns. Because these patterns have been with you for a long time, for many of us our whole lives, it takes time to change them. My invitation is to commit to at least six months to a year before evaluating if you are getting what you want from the experience. That is when some people start to see permanent, sustainable shifts start to take place.

  • Group is not a replacement for individual work, and individual work (with either me or a trained professional) is highly recommended to help you further your experience of Group.

  • It depends! We can certainly discuss more in our individual session about your difficulty and how Group may support you.