Share Your Concerns Safely and Confidently

Check out our Spring 2026 Group Therapy options and call our front desk at 951-827-5531, opt. 2 if you are interested in joining!

Group Introduction

Therapy groups allow students to work with others who share similar concerns. Members talk about what is troubling them and give feedback and support in a safe, supportive environment. Interactions offer group members an opportunity to learn more about the way they interact with others and to try out new ways of relating to one another.

The first session focuses on the establishment of trust, allowing members to get to know each other, learn about the group and its goals. Having each individual make a personal commitment to the group and its goals significantly fosters group trust and cohesion.

Therapy groups usually have up to 8 members and two clinicians. Groups typically start during Week 3 of every quarter and meet weekly for 90 minutes.

What's the Difference Between Processing and Skills Groups?

Counseling and Psychological Services offers both processing groups and skills-based groups.

Skills groups are more structured than processing groups and have more of a workshop format than a talk-therapy format. In skills groups, one or more clinicians provide psychoeducational information and provide opportunities for members to apply the concepts they are learning to their real, everyday lives.

Processing groups are less structured and tend to focus on the interactions of group members to process, relate to, and explore emotional and life experiences.

Pre-Screening

If you currently have a therapist at CAPS, your therapist can directly refer you to a group. If you do not have a therapist with us, you are required to complete a pre-screening session. A pre-screening session is a brief meeting with group leader(s) before group begins. The pre-screening provides information about the group and helps determine if group therapy is the best treatment option or adjunct treatment option. 

Ground Rules

Group sessions are confidential. Group members are asked not to disclose the content of sessions or to reveal the identity of members to others outside of the group.

It is expected that you will attend group every week and arrive on time. If there is an urgent matter that prevents you from attending or you are running late, please notify the CAPS Front Desk via phone call (951-827-5531, option 2) or the group leader(s) via secure message (UCR Student Health portal). If, after a number of sessions, you find that the group is not a good fit for you, please let the group leader(s) know.

Therapy Groups

Group Therapy offerings are based on the needs and interests of students and current groups are listed below. If you are a current CAPS client, please talk with your counselor about being referred to a group. If you are not a client, please schedule a pre-screening appointment by calling or visiting Counseling and Psychological Services at 951-827-5531, option 2.

CAPS Clinical Groups for Spring 2026: 

• Anxiety Management Group

  Do you feel like you are constantly worried? Do you feel tense and on-edge? Do you tend to over-think social situations and have difficulties staying in the moment? If so… consider joining the CAPS Anxiety Management Group! During this 6-week group, CAPS therapists will discuss the tools and techniques that will help you lower your anxiety.

  Topics and skills include: Understanding the Anxiety/Avoidance feedback loop, learning to restructure and get distance from anxious/unhelpful thoughts, practicing relaxation techniques to decrease stress, and the benefits of mindfulness. 
  
  This group will meet in person on Thursdays from 3pm - 4:30pm during Weeks 3-8.

• Creative Coping Skills

  The Creative Coping Skills Group is an in-person group that offers a safe space to learn hands-on coping skills and authentically express identity, hopes, dreams, experiences, and truth. This is an invitation to enjoy the process. Breathe, observe, and play. There is no right or wrong way to participate. No art skills are required! 

  2026 Spring Quarter Group Session Scheduled Topics:

  • Take a Break, Self Regulate
  • Disarming Your Inner Critic
  • Daring Greatly
  • Intersectionality Masks
  • Inspirational Scrolls
  • Traveling Drum

  This group will meet on Thursdays from 1:15pm - 2:45pm during Weeks 3-8.

Past Groups

As mentioned above, the groups we offer each quarter are dependent on student needs and interest. Here are some of the groups that we have offered in the past.

• Cafecito y Comunidad

  Cafecito y Comunidad is a space for all students who identify with the Latino/a/e, Chicano/a/e, or Hispanic community. Join CAPS counselors as we build community and share experiences with mental health, well-being, and academic/professional success on campus and within our communities. Discussion topics will be determined by group members and may include family, culture, diversity, relationships, identity, and belonging. Spanish/Spanglish is welcomed, and cafecito/snacks are provided. 

• General Therapy/Process Group Coed

  A general therapy group.

• Graduate Student Therapy Group - Coed

  A general therapy group for graduate students.

• Introduction to Mindfulness

  This skills group will help you to understand the basic principles of mindfulness, increase your well-being through increased self-awareness, and practice a variety of mindfulness exercises that will help with difficult emotions. 

• Overcoming Social Anxiety

  This skills group will help you to process and reduce social anxiety.

• Project Life Force-College

  This is a group therapy intervention for students experiencing suicidal thoughts that combines safety planning, emotion regulation skills, and social support. Participants create and/or revise safety plans throughout the course of treatment while learning distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and friendship building/interpersonal skills to integrate into their safety plans. 

• Reclaim: An Empowerment Circle

  Discover a supportive haven with "Reclaim: An Empowerment Circle," a trauma-informed therapy group dedicated to fostering safety, community, and resilience for trauma survivors. This group experience is designed to help female-identifying folks navigate their journey of healing by identifying areas of safety while developing somatic skills to respond to triggers and cultivate a sense of empowerment. In a nurturing environment, come and connect with others who understand the challenges of restoration, learn practical techniques to ground in moments of distress, and build lasting strategies for emotional wellbeing. Join us to find solace in shared experiences, gain confidence through somatic practices, and begin to step forward with renewed strength and hope. All trauma survivors are welcome regardless of their location along their path of reclamation. 

• RelationShift

  This is a semi-structured in-person group that will provide a safe and supportive space to explore and learn skills about common relationship concerns such as boundaries, conflict resolution, and attachment. The goal of the group is to leave group members feeling more aware of how they relate to others and more confident in navigating relational issues.

• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity & Expression (SOGIE)

  The SOGIE in-person therapy/support group is for queer and TGD UCR students experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma and other relevant mental health concerns as well as for individuals in need of a welcoming space for discussing matters of sexual and/or gender identity. The LGBTIQ communities are underserved within the Riverside County area, and we are looking forward to offering a safe place for our students.

In An Emergency

Find out where to go and who to call for help.