SERVICES
Group Counselling
No one should have to struggle alone. Mental health challenges are so commonplace, affecting people from all walks of life. If you've been searching for a way forward for your child or youth and feel you'd like someone by your side supporting you, Bright Star’s group counselling sessions can help.
Unlike individual counselling, which is solely counselling between one person and their therapist, group counselling aims to bring together several people who are facing the same types of issues. Counselling is done with the entire group in mind, and aims to help multiple people overcome their issues through shared understanding.
What kinds of group counselling are there?
There are a number of different obstacles and challenges where group counselling would be appropriate. At Bright Star, our group counselling services are mainly provided to children and youth—think of us as a circle of care and support to help get through a wide range of challenges every day.
Through group counselling, your child will learn to interact with other children, helping them to build social and play skills and create lasting relationships with their peers. Your child will also get better at:
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Play skills
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Staying focused/on topic
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Finding common interests with others
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Resolving conflicts with peers
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Group DBT for youth can help your child to learn healthy, positive skills, coping strategies, and behaviours. It also helps to build the skills of:
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Managing feelings of distress
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Tolerating discomfort
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Communicating effectively with friends, family, and peers
We offer a group focused on supporting children dealing with selective mutism, called the Brave Talking group. We coach your child, helping them learn to use their words to interact and play with others.
We also offer groups for children with anxiety, where your child will learn to be bigger and braver than their worry dragons. Our therapists teach healthy coping skills and strategies, as well as help your child as they conquer common childhood phobias, like fear of vomiting or germs.
​Some of the other group sessions we offer at Bright Star include:
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Social skills support
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Social skills support for neurodiverse children
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Parenting groups
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Circle of Security groups
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Support for parenting through the toddler years
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Parenting your anxious child group for parents
Whether group counselling is the only source of outside care, or is a supplement to a larger mental healthcare plan, the effects of being surrounded by people who know and understand you or your child's life situation is often comforting.
How does group counselling work?
People come to group counselling for so many different reasons, and their exact process and outcome will be different every time. But for most cases, and especially in the beginning steps, there are a few things you can expect from group counselling.
Group counselling usually takes place in-person, with all participants and the therapist(s) meeting in one of our therapy rooms. Some group therapists will use a more free-form, open dialogue approach to the session. This means there is freedom to discuss whatever comes up organically, with your therapist working to keep the conversation focused while also interjecting with their own knowledge from time to time. On the other hand, like our social skills groups, there may be a more structured approach, with a plan for each session, sub-topics, and other tasks to be completed outside the group time.
No matter what format the group counselling session takes, you can count on us at Bright Star to help guide the conversation and support you through the challenges you or your child are facing. Group counselling will give you and your child a sense of belonging.
How can group counselling help?
At Bright Star Counselling, we’ve had the chance to see firsthand the lasting effects that group counselling can have on children and youth. Our service has the unique advantage of creating a community—a supportive network of people in similar circumstances who can learn from one another.
If you and your family commit to group counselling, you’ll quickly find that sense of rhythm within the community and notice a difference when it comes to the way you and your child are thinking and feeling in your day-to-day life. Members of the group will help lift your child up, expand perspective, and collaborate on creating a space where everyone feels like they belong.
Bright Star’s group counselling is such a great way to learn and grow. We’ve been able to help so many people in our groups over the years, and we’d love to welcome you or your child into our next circle.