Group Counseling2024-09-06T14:32:56+00:00

Group Counseling

sunstone counselors

A safe, supportive environment to grow together.

A safe, supportive environment to grow together.

DBT Skills Group for Adults

Group Counseling

DBT Skills Group for Adults

In this DBT Skills Group, we go over coping skills and strategies from the modules of DBT: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Participants commit to joining eight weeks at a time (two weeks of mindfulness and six weeks on another module). The full program is 24 weeks.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets in Sunstone’s Ashburn office

Participant profile

Consider this group if you are an adult in Virginia experiencing chaotic relationships, difficulty managing your emotions, and/or have problematic behaviors as a result of intense emotions.

DBT Skills Creative Arts Group for Adolescents

Group Counseling

Would you like to gain behavioral skills to help connect with and support your emotional teen?

Creative techniques are used to explore and reinforce DBT concepts in a way that is accessible and beneficial for adolescents of all artistic skill levels.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

Multiple in-person offerings (click Learn More for details)

Participant profile

High schoolers (9th-12th grade)

Participants are often struggling with some level of anxiety and/or depression. This group is ideal for anyone who has difficulty managing intense or extreme emotions, makes impulsive decisions or reacts impulsively, engages in self-harm or self-destructive behaviors, or struggles with conflict at home or at school.

High School Body Image Support Group

Group Counseling

Teens are regularly faced with many external factors, such as social media, culture, body ideals, peers, societal constructs, diet culture, wellness trends, etc. It can be difficult to process and filter this information, which impacts the development of body image, self-esteem, and their relationships with their bodies.

In this group, participants will have the opportunity to share personal stories, explore related topics, and support one another in their journeys to improve their relationships with their bodies and increase self-compassion.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets in Sunstone’s McLean office

Participant profile

High school girls or non-binary teens who have struggled with body image related to weight, gender constructs, self-confidence, and insecurities

High School Support Group

Group Counseling

Are you looking to gain support or to just connect and grow with others who “get it?”

This ongoing, intimate group of up to 8 participants provides a safe, nonjudgmental space for high schoolers to come together for support and peer connection.

Members are encouraged to bring their concerns and be open to receiving input from others. The counselors will provide psychoeducation and facilitate the conversation.

While there is no set agenda in this open process group, themes that commonly arise include depression/anxiety, academic and societal pressures, substance use, relationship and family dynamics, and life paths/transitions, among others.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets in Sunstone’s McLean office

Participant profile

High schoolers (9th-12th grade); all genders welcome

DBT Skills for Parents of Teens

Group Counseling

Would you like to gain behavioral skills to help connect with and support your emotional teen?

Parenting can be especially challenging when your teen has difficulties regulating their emotions. This group provides parents with tools to help their teens accept life circumstances while developing skills to enact positive changes in their behavior and interactions with others.

Each week focuses on a specific DBT skill: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and the teen-family-specific module, Walking the Middle Path.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Parents/guardians of 12-18 year-olds who seek tools to support their child(ren) experiencing mental health struggles and emotional dysregulation

Teens Talk Space: Anxiety

Group Counseling

Is your teen overly anxious and/or struggling to cope with the demands of daily life?

This group aims to help teens understand symptoms of anxiety as well as learn how to identify triggers, shift thinking patterns, develop healthy coping skills, self-advocate across different settings, and create a support network.

Parents will receive weekly information aligned to each week’s topics in order to help families reinforce skills or concepts practiced during sessions. Parents will also have an opportunity to attend one parent support group session midway through the program to provide feedback to the facilitator and to offer insight or support for one another.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets in Sunstone’s Ashburn office

Participant profile

Teenagers age 13-17 who experience difficulties related to anxiety

Children’s Social Connections Group

Group Counseling

Does your child have difficulty making or keeping friends?

Utilizing play and activities, children will find confidence in social situations, with a focus on meeting new people, expressing feelings, managing conflict and problem solving, emotional regulation, and other social skills.

The facilitators will use a mix of psychoeducation and play to create an inviting and engaging curriculum for young children.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

Participant profile

2 sessions offered for children ages 4-6 and 7-9

Integrative Story Telling: Traumatic Loss and Grief

Group Counseling

Have you experienced an unexpected, violent or traumatic death of a significant person in your life?

Group participants can expect to focus on mindful engagement, commemoration of their loved one and resiliency skills and practices through sharing stories, discussion, and learning and sharing coping skills.

Each session will include short grounding/meditative exercises at the beginning and end, brief check-ins, psychoeducational teaching, exercises and group discussions and sharing.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Those who have experienced a traumatic loss, e.g., suicide, homicide, accident, overdose, COVID, etc.

Adults (18+) residing in VA, MD, DC or AZ must be at least 3 months out from loss experience.

We ask participants to commit to attending all 10 sessions to support group cohesion.

Heartbreak Process Group

Group Counseling

Are you currently experiencing the loss of a romantic relationship or struggling to move past a previous heartbreak?

This group supports women who are currently facing heartbreak from any kind of intimate relationship. This includes but is not limited to the loss of a short-term relationship, a casual relationship, a long-term relationship, a partner in ENM dynamics, and even a relationship you hoped would happen but did not.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Inclusive of all women, sexual orientations, and relational orientations, ages 25+

Divorce / Separation Support Group for Women

Group Counseling

Do you find yourself in a season of change due to separation and/or divorce?

This experience can be isolating, but you do not have to go through it alone.

The Weekly Divorce and Separation Support Group for Women is a safe and supportive processing group where you can share your journey, and be seen and heard by other women going through similar circumstances.

Together, we will work to build coping skills for managing challenging emotions, examine beliefs and self-talk about separation and divorce, explore your redefined sense of self and identity, and gain confidence as you move forward into your new chapter.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Women, ages 18+ residing in Virginia

We ask participants to commit to attending the 8-week session to help foster group cohesion.

Sexual and Gender Identity Development Group

Group Counseling

Are you curious about exploring your gender or sexual identity?
Consider joining this group if you wish to deepen your level of self- and other awareness in relation to your gender/sexual identity.

Interpersonal process groups offer a unique and powerful space for growth and change. Members can expect to gain a deeper level of insight on themselves and how they relate to others based off of the “here and now” interactions within the group setting.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Adults ages 18-40; gender and sexual minorities / people questioning or curious about exploring their gender and/or sexuality

Sex and Body Image

Group Counseling

Do you find yourself avoiding sexual intimacy due to body image concerns?

Many women struggle to reveal their true sexual selves because of insecurities about their body. While it is normal to have insecurities and concerns, it is difficult to enjoy yourself if they are preventing you from experiencing true sexual intimacy and confidence.

The facilitators will use a mix of psychoeducation and processing to create an inviting and engaging group for women. This approach allows members to gain support from others with similar experiences while taking home evidence-based skills.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Women ages 25-35

Teen Eating Disorder Process Group

Group Counseling

Do you think you would benefit from extra support on your eating disorder recovery journey?

Eating disorder recovery can feel like a unique and isolating process. This group aims to provide peer support and relatability that is not accessible in individual therapy. The process-oriented group structure allows for open conversation and the opportunity to both support and be supported by people that are going through similar experiences.

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

High school aged (14-18) adolescents with eating disorders

Eating Disorder Recovery Process Group

Group Counseling

Join us in taking a deep dive into your relationship with eating disorder recovery.

Peer support brings a unique level of dedication to the recovery process. This process style group will focus on the issues, questions, and topics brought by group members during each session.

Common topics include:

  • Finding a healthy balance with physical activity
  • Seeking support from family and friends
  • Understanding motivations for recovery
  • Improving body image
  • Challenging diet culture
  • Practicing self-compassion
  • Boosting self-confidence
  • Cultivating a sense of identity beyond disordered eating and more!

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Adults Ages 23+

Rethinking Your Drinking

Group Counseling

Are you considering making a change to your relationship with alcohol?

This group will meet virtually for one hour on Fridays. Sessions will consist of psychoeducation on a different topic each week, activities, assessments, and group discussion.

Participants will:

  • Explore their motivation to change and the role alcohol plays in living by their personal values
  • Assess what kind of changes might be appropriate for their individual situation
  • Learn about the impacts of alcohol on the body and mind, and options to implement and maintain changes (including abstinence, moderation, and harm-reduction).

Dates

Date Varies

Location

This group meets VIRTUALLY via Zoom (HIPAA-compliant version)

Participant profile

Adults (ages 18+) who are considering making changes to their drinking habits. Participants may not like the impacts alcohol has on their lives or have been told by a loved one that they should make a change.

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Book your session today and start your journey towards a brighter, healthier, happier you.

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