Group Therapy

SPARCS

Sessions: 1 hour per week, 16 weeks

SPARCS is a group intervention that was specifically designed to address the needs of chronically traumatized adolescents who may still be living with ongoing stress and are experiencing problems in several areas of functioning.

These areas include difficulties that affect regulation and impulsivity, self-perception, relationships, somatization, dissociation, numbing and avoidance. The adolescent struggles with their own purpose and meaning in life as well as world views that make it difficult for them to visualize a future for themselves. Overall goals of the program are to help teens cope more effectively in the moment, enhance self-efficacy, connect with others and establish supportive relationships, cultivate awareness, and create meaning.

Yoga, Music and Movement Multi-Family Group

Sessions: 5 weeks/50 minutes per session

This unique music and movement-oriented group intervention provides therapy for children and their families who have experienced abuse and/or neglect.

The group music and movement therapy intervention is designed to reduce symptoms of distress in children and adolescents. These symptoms may include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and conduct Issues.  In addition, the group will create a sense of attachment among family, build internal capacities to regulate emotions, and raise the child and family’s senses of competencies.

This group is a protocol that builds on research from other disciplines to target key physiological areas or functions while utilizing the best practices within the trauma field. The other areas include research on music’s impact on the brain, yoga’s impact on the autonomic nervous system, and the impact of creative arts on hemispheric development among others.  The trauma-informed practices help dictate both the content and the structure of the group, considering stages of intervention, skills building, choice, transitions, family involvement, building resources, etc.  This group also incorporates practices that are appropriate cross-culturally.

To sign up for group therapy, call Dr. Smith at 415-418-4456.