Current Group Offerings

Monday 5:00-6:00pm

Nicole Guyette, LCSW & Mariam Halstead, LMSW, CSW-I

In-person This 6-week group is open to UNR graduate and undergraduate students and focuses on skills to recognize and reduce anxiety. Topics covered in group may include self-care, boundary setting, communication skills, and thoughts that fuel anxiety. Group sessions are structured and focus on learning a skill, concept, or tool.

Interested? 

• If you are a current client of UNR Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation

Tuesday 3-4:20 p.m.

Nicole Guyette, LCSW and Ashley Johnson, CSW-I

(In-person)

This group helps persons who experienced trauma of any kind evaluate how trauma has shaped their thoughts and behaviors and work on ways to reclaim their life. Trauma-related issues addressed in this group will include trust, feeling of safety, one’s relationship with power and control, self-esteem, and intimacy. NO traumas will be explicitly discussed in this group to prevent others from being triggered and create a safe space to do this work. In each session, a new skill, concept, or tool is presented, and participants discuss how the material applies to them and help one another with the skills.

Interested? Please email Nicole at nguyette@unr.edu before February 7 and ask for a consultation. Only current University students are eligible.

Monday 2:30-4:30 p.m. (In-person)

Brooke Smith, PhD & Christina Cendejas, PhD

This 6-week group is intended for students who want to increase their self-awareness and ability to tolerate distress and improve emotion regulation and relationship skills. This group is structured like a class where group leaders will teach skills and provide handouts to assist with the development of coping skills. Students must be referred by a mental health professional to this group.

Interested?

• If you are a current client of UNR Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.
• If you are a mental health professional interested in referring a student to this group, please contact Francesca Kassing at fkassing@unr.edu.

Tuesday 3-5 p.m. (In-person)

Tasman Cleaver, PhD & Amy O’Brien, CSW-I

This 6-week group is intended for students who want to increase their self-awareness and ability to tolerate distress and improve emotion regulation and relationship skills. This group is structured like a class where group leaders will teach skills and provide handouts to assist with the development of coping skills. Students must be referred by a mental health professional to this group.

Interested?

• If you are a current client of University Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.
• If you are a mental health professional interested in referring a student to this group, please contact Francesca Kassing at fkassing@unr.edu.

Fridays 2-3:45 p.m. (In-person)

Marquez Wilson, PsyD & Nicole Guyette, LCS

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a role-playing game where participants take on the personas of fictional characters and go on adventures in a fantastic world. D&D group uses these elements to challenge you to role play as a fantasy version of yourself. Your ultimate goal is to develop desired relationship and communication skills and use them in the game to tackle challenges and interact with others. Along the way, you and your fellow players will work as a team to navigate dungeons, complete quests, find treasures, slay beasts, and discover ways to express meaningful parts of your fantasy characters in the real world! No previous D&D experience required.

Interested?

• If you are a current client of University Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are not a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.

Related resources
If this group sounds interesting to you, you may also find helpful the book by McKay, Davis, and Fanning “Messages: The Communication Skills Book.”

Monday 2:30-4:30 p.m. (In-person)

Kseniya Zhuzha, PhD, CGP & Brooke Tousley, CSW-I

In this group students will build awareness of how their family dynamics have impacted the way they feel about themselves and navigate relationships with others. The group will also facilitate healing, including development of emotional acceptance/resolution and healthy communication skills. Each group will revolve around a topic or an activity that will provoke introspection.

Interested?

• If you are a current client of UNR Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.

Thursdays 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. (In-person)

Michael Pauldine, PhD & Rich Warmke

This mixed interpersonal process and support group aims to both focus on improving relationships through "here and now" process while also offering a space for general support. Specifically, in addition to support, students explore how they approach relationships with other group members and practice new interpersonal strategies with each other, which then can be used outside of group. The group is open to any graduate or medical student that is experiencing interpersonal difficulties and would benefit from support from other students pursuing advanced degrees. While the specific focus of each session will be determined by group members' needs, some of the issues addressed may include communication styles, boundaries, emotional vulnerability, self-awareness, academic stressors, as well as other general challenges of interpersonal process and graduate school.

Interested? Please email Michael at mpauldine@unr.edu and ask for a consultation. Only current UNR students are eligible.

Thursday 3:00-4:30 p.m. (In-person)

Marquez Wilson, PsyD & Kaleb Cusack, MS

Improv is not just the butt of every rom-com joke, it’s also an effective way to get more comfortable with spontaneity. If you find yourself frequently frozen with indecision, struggling to speak in emotionally heightened situations, or terrified of doing “the wrong thing”, then this group is a perfect fit! In this group we work on being more flexible in our approach and experiencing the emotions that come along with uncertainty. We do this via made-up, sometimes silly, improv situations but also through volunteer “real-play” based on situations group members are actually facing. If this sounds scary but also kind of intriguing, come give improv group a chance!

Interested? Please email Dr. Marquez Wilson at marquezw@unr.edu by February 16, 2023 and ask for a consultation. Only current UNR students are eligible.

Related Resources:

• Information on how improv helps with anxiety
• Perspective of someone who realized their social anxiety in college and used improv to cope

Thursdays 3-4:30 p.m. (In-person)

Kseniya Zhuzha, PhD, CGP & Brooke Tousley, CSW-I

This group focuses on building awareness of self in relationships with others and practicing new ways of interacting with others within a safe and therapeutic environment. Common issues addressed in this group include but are not limited to forming and/or maintaining relationships, communication styles, boundaries, self-awareness, emotional expression, intimacy, assertiveness, empathy, and trust. Group sessions generally have little to no structure and students have freedom to bring up concerns pertinent to their lives. In the process, they are encouraged to explore and express their emotions, practice effective ways of communication, and to notice how meaningful interpersonal connections are formed in group

Interested?

• If you are a current client of University Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.

Related resources
If this group sounds interesting to you, you may also find helpful:

• New York Times article “How to Have Close Friendships (and Why You Need Them)”
• Book by Glover “Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself”
• Book Donald Miller “Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy”

Wednesdays 3-4:30 p.m. (In-person)

Kseniya Zhuzha, PhD, CGP & Wesley Kobashigawa, MA

This group focuses on building awareness of self in relationships with others and practicing new ways of interacting with others within a safe and therapeutic environment. Common issues addressed in this group include but are not limited to forming and/or maintaining relationships, communication styles, boundaries, self-awareness, emotional expression, intimacy, assertiveness, empathy, and trust. Group sessions generally have little to no structure and students have freedom to bring up concerns pertinent to their lives. In the process, they are encouraged to explore and express their emotions, practice effective ways of communication, and to notice how meaningful interpersonal connections are formed in group.

Interested?

• If you are a current client of University Counseling Services, please ask your clinician about this group.
• If you are NOT a current client with us, please see how to schedule an initial consultation.

Related resources
If this group sounds interesting to you, you may also find helpful:

• New York Times article “How to Have Close Friendships (and Why You Need Them)”
• Book by Glover “Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself”
• Book Donald Miller “Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy”

First Friday of the month: 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. (In-person)

Hilary Son, PsyD, Marquez Wilson, PsyD, Brooke Tousley, CSW-I and OISS staff

College life can be stressful. This can be made more difficult when adjusting to a different culture and other factors that come with being an international student. This support group is open to all UNR International students. The group is run by Dr. Hilary Son and Dr. Marquez Wilson from Counseling Services, along with OISS staff and will offer a safe, supportive space to discuss your experiences with fellow International students. Manage the stress of college life and adjustment better! Join us for supportive conversation! Pizza provided.

Interested? Please contact Adilia Ross at adiliab@unr.edu to register. 

Fridays 1-3 p.m. (In-person)

Hilary Son, PsyD, Mariam Halstead, LMSW, CSW-I, & Fitness Center Coaches

*Additional Exercise Times: M/T/W/Th at 11:00 a.m. (two exercise times required each week in addition to the Friday group therapy time) *Equipment not required.

College life can be stressful, draining, and overwhelming. This is a 10-12 week exercise and therapy group which meets in person 3x/week. It is open to UNR students, designed to help participants increase coping through exercise, develop awareness of themselves and address symptoms of anxiety and depression. The group will offer a safe, supportive space to exercise, process feelings, develop coping skills and connect with peers. Group members will have freedom to bring up concerns pertinent to their lives and have the opportunity to practice new ways of interacting with fellow group members.

Interested? Please email Hilary at hjson@unr.edu and Mariam at mhalstead@unr.edu before February 6 and ask for a consultation. Only current UNR students are eligible.