Group Overview:

The goal of this group is to assist individuals in learning, developing, and practicing mindfulness skills and routines in their daily lives. Mindfulness practices are effective techniques for both stress management and for coping with elevated symptoms of anxiety.  Development and consistent implementation of these skills may assist members with making meaningful advances towards established treatment goals.

Group members will be asked to complete a stress inventory (the Perceived Stress Scale) to determine their baseline stress level prior to beginning the group. The initial portion of this group will focus on psychoeducation regarding mindfulness techniques (including meditations, breath work, and mindful movement practices such as yoga) and the philosophy behind mindfulness as a practice. Once this foundation is established, group members will be expected to engage in active practice of mindfulness skills during group time and discuss their shared experiences. As the group progresses members will be expected to practice these techniques outside of the scheduled group time and track their experiences between sessions, while continuing to learn and practice additional skills in each group session.

A second Perceived Stress Scale will be completed during the last group session in order to assist group members in identifying progress that they have made in learning and practicing techniques to reduce symptoms.

This group may be utilized as a supplemental intervention alongside individual therapy to assist members in attaining their goals of learning and practicing new strategies to manage stress and anxiety. Members of this group are expected to have some insight regarding their mental, emotional, and somatic responses to stress and anxiety, as well as motivation and commitment to practicing techniques and tracking progress between sessions.