Therapy group offers connections for millennials

Amy Volweider can relate to what it’s like to be a millennial. Because she is one.

Volweider is a therapist in the Adult Outpatient Program at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. At 28, she is at the upper end of the millennial age range, which is considered to be 18 to 34. So she can appreciate the issues and challenges facing millennials; she’s faced many of them herself. And is still facing them.

“On a lot of levels, I get them,” Volweider said of her fellow millennials. “Because I still experience a lot of the same things they do.”

Which is why Volweider was a good fit to lead a new therapy group at Bert Nash that is specifically designed for millennials. She also leads a depression recovery group and a women’s group at the Center.

The group for millennials, which started meeting in October and meets weekly from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays at the Center, is called Mindful Connections and uses several evidence-based protocols for its curriculum. Group members said they have found the curriculum and the interaction with other millennials to be helpful.

“I like the activities we do. Keeps me wanting to come back.”

“I didn’t have much hope but had a better week after I left the last group session.”

“The age group we are in now people expect more of us in decidingour futures, so it’s nice being around others who understand me.”

Millennials have been characterized in the media as lazy, impatient, narcissistic, and entitled, but also as adventurous, entrepreneurial, civic-oriented, and technology savvy; they are the most educated generation.

“I love the idea of having a place for people in that age range,” Volweider said. “The group is for people who are coming of age and trying to figure out what the heck they are doing with their life, which can be stressful.”

Volweider has been through a lot of stressful coming-of-age decisions herself. She went to college, got married, still has student loans, started a career.

“I hope to have a place where people can talk openly,” Volweider said. “And to offer a mental health piece to go along with all of these stressors: What are your goals? What steps can you be taking to align yourself with those goals?"