New group offerings are truly a group effort

The BNC summer psychosocial group going bowling.

With the offering of several new therapy groups for youth at the Bert Nash Center, it truly has been a group effort.  

“The therapists who are leading these groups are really excited because these are the areas where they want to be leading groups,” said Tamara Heishman, Child and Family Outpatient Therapy program manager. 

The new groups include an ADHD skills group for middle school youth, a high school anxiety group, an elementary and middle school anger management group, a dual diagnosis substance use group for teenagers, as well as an adolescent dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) group. In addition, there are groups in the works for bullying, grief and LGBTQ+. 

The curriculums have been established for all the groups, including the ones not yet up and running. The therapists themselves helped to create the curriculums. 

“They had a part in the development of all of these groups,” Heishman said. “These are essentially pilot programs to increase access to services.” 

Typically, the groups last six to eight weeks and meet for one hour a week. Group members must be a client and receive an internal referral. 

The dual diagnosis substance group is a bigger commitment. That group meets three times a week, for two hours a day. It’s a total of six hours a week for 16 weeks.  

“The goal is the longer they are in the dual diagnosis substance use program the fewer days they will need to be involved,” Heishman said, adding, “The DBT group is an open group where new clients can jump in at certain entry points instead of waiting for a new group to start.” 

There is a family component with the groups and group members also receive individual therapy. 

“Individual therapy is where these skills can be discussed at a deeper level,” Heishman said. 

Groups can be extremely beneficial for any age group. 

“They’re in a room surrounded by peers, many their age, some even from the same school, all navigating similar challenges and sharing common experiences,” Heishman said. “Research shows that peer support is one of the biggest indicators for improvement.” 

When asked what they enjoyed most about the ADHD group, one group member said, "I made a friend.” 

“What is profound about this statement is that oftentimes kids who have ADHD struggle with making and keeping friends. They are often seen as annoying or too energetic or impulsive for others,” Heishman said. “I felt really proud that we were able to help this client take a step in a direction that would last outside of the group process. “ 

Heishman is excited about the Judge Jean Shepherd Youth Recovery Center (YRC) project and the opportunity to expand the group offerings even more. To learn more about the future of the YRC, go to www.bertnash.org/yrc.

“With the YRC, we will have more dedicated space to provide these kinds of services,” Heishman said. “My dream is that we have capacity to have a group system running all year round, like what we do for our summer psychosocial group.”