Longwood University’s Counseling Center unveiled its newest support group this past week, titled, Understanding Self & Others. A weekly one-and-a-half-hour meeting, the Understanding Self & Others Support Group is a new service to assist female students struggling with feelings of low self-confidence.
Lauren Conner, graduate intern at the Counseling Center and co-facilitator of the Understanding Self & Others Support Group, said, “The purpose of the group is to bring people together, talk about their concerns and help them better understand themselves and how they are interacting with other people.”
Speaking on the topic of low self- confidence, Conner said, “Usually it’s related to how they interact with people in their lives.” She stated that one might experience low self- confidence due to issues with one’s family and friends.
While discussing the move to restrict the support group to females only, Conner said, “I think we just found that whenever we want to do one of these groups, we try to base it on the problems and what kinds of concerns do we see coming up for students who are seeking services over here.”
She further stated, “One of the underlying things that we try to do with any group is help students realize that they’re not alone in their concerns ... and I think just deciding to limit it to female students was another way of achieving that to help students feel that there are people who are experiencing some very serious concerns like them.”
To participate in a support group at the Counseling Center, students may set up a 30 minute initial consultation to be referred to either individual or group counseling.
A 50-minute follow-up session called the “intake session” may be scheduled to gain further background information. Students are not required to be referred by a counselor to seek further information on any support groups offered.
Conner said, “When we get concerns like stress management or low self- esteem, those seem to be the primary concerns. We really feel like the group options are the treatment of choice because they provide some unique elements that individual counseling doesn’t offer.”
Other support groups held at the Counseling Center include the Advocacy,Communicationand Transition (ACT) Group for students registered with the Office of Disability Services and the Stress & Anxiety Management Support Group for students to gain strength-based approaches for stress management.
The ACT Group meets on Wednesdays from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Office of Disability Resources conference room.
The Stress & Anxiety Management Support Group meets on Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Counseling Center.
The ACT Group is co-facilitated by both the Counseling Center and the Office of Disability Resources. The
Stress & Anxiety Management Support Group is the longest running support group held by the Counseling Center and is run by Dr. David Davino, a licensed counselor at the Counseling Center and co-facilitated by Amanda Hopkins, graduate intern at the Counseling Center.
For more information about the Understanding Self & Others support group or other support groups held by the Longwood Counseling Center, contact Director of the Counseling Center Maureen Walls-McKay or Lauren Conner at (434) 395-2409.
The Counseling Center is located in the upper level of the Health & Fitness Center.
