Group Counseling / Skill Building
General
Group counseling and skill building groups are part of every youth’s life at St. Mary’s. During their first 30 days at St. Mary’s, each youth is evaluated and placed in a group(s) based on their individual treatment needs. Each youth learns and practices new behaviors and skills. Youth participate in several different groups while at St. Mary’s, with residential counselors, while learning more specific treatment related skills to their individual goals from case managers. Therapeutic groups are also offered later in treatment to help with more difficult and sensitive topics.
Purpose
Group counseling helps our youth replace their behavioral concerns with more appropriate and acceptable behaviors so they can successfully re-enter the community with less risk to themselves or others.
Guided by skilled counselors, residents become active participants in their own treatment as they:
- Become more aware of their attitudes and feelings
- Learn new ways of responding to situations
- Learn to weigh the consequences of their actions
- Learn and apply new tools and coping skills to manage their emotions
- Learn to share their honest thoughts and feelings
In the skill building groups, youth learn specific skills for living. The counselor is a model for the youth, showing them how to look at problems in different ways, evaluating their skill deficits, providing opportunities for skill development, and helping them reduce maladaptive behaviors. Through the use of projects and homework, the youth learn appropriate behaviors to help them throughout their lives. Evaluations of the youth’s progress in treatment is made through observation of their ability to retain and understand how they can use what they learned in the program and community, alongside witnessing their changed actions over time. Full assessment’s of these changes are made monthly through updating what new problems to be solved surface every month and at 90-day intervals for full reviews.
Standard Groups
These groups are standard at St. Mary’s:
- Impulse Control
- Critical Decision Making
- Communication Skills
- Prepare Curriculum/Social Skills Development
- Moral Development
- Self-Esteem
- Mood management
- Anger management
- Resilency
- Problem solving
- Independent Living Skills
- Grounding/Coping Skills
Other groups are conducted, depending on the needs of the youth in residence at any given time:
- Assertiveness
- Fire Safety
- Listening
- Sex education
- Problem-solving
- DBT
- Conflict Resolution
- Self compassion
Further groups are conducted by mental health therapists to address specific concerns by history.
- Mindfulness
- Survivors (Trauma Work)
- Grief and Loss
- Drug and Alcohol Treatment is provided through LifeWorks NW.
The Counselors
Our group counselors are trained to facilitate groups in their area of expertise in collaborative problem solving (CPS), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and general milieu management while always expanding their horizons in terms of what evidenced based therapy they can provide the youth. These talented, sensitive, capable, experienced and dedicated individuals are the agents of change at St. Mary’s Home for Boys.