Group Psychotherapy Services
GPS, under the guidance of Director Terri Lipkin, PsyD, is now accepting clients for interpersonal process groups. These groups are led by doctoral students at GSAPP and supervised by licensed psychologists at Rutgers and in the community. If you are interested, please email groupclinic@gsapp.rutgers.edu or call 848-445-6111, option 3, then option 7.
What is an Interpersonal Process Group?
Facilitators encourage members to "think and feel out loud" in a safe and secure place, i.e., to talk about the feelings behind their reactions to other members and to offer feedback to other members.
They then have the opportunity to try out new ways of interacting that can lead to more satisfying connections in their lives. lf they have difficulty trying out new behaviors, this is explored as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Like a support group, an interpersonal process group provides a caring environment for the members. Members share their concerns and receive acceptance, understanding, and feedback from each other.
Unlike a support group, the interpersonal process group is composed of clients with a diverse set of concerns and serves to elicit long-lasting emotional and interpersonal change.
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An interpersonal process group aims to address social skill deficits that a member may have; however, this is not accomplished through structured psychoeducational activities. Instead, the interpersonal group observes and explores when relationship patterns that cause members issues in their lives come up in the process group.
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In a general interpersonal process group, the members of the group will have some similarities and some differences. Ideally, they will be heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and diagnosis.
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People with a range of concerns (anxiety, depression, loneliness, shyness, intense anger, and a lack of clarity with one’s own identity) and/or difficulties in interpersonal relationships (e.g., friendships, roommates, romantic relationships, colleagues, family, people in positions of authority or subordinates) can benefit from interpersonal process groups.
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Yes! In fact, the two modalities often enhance one another.
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When clients learn new skills in their individual CBT therapy, they can come to the safe, controlled environment of the group to practice those skills and continue to get feedback and reinforcement.
If clients are getting stuck in their CBT therapy and struggling to progress, the group offers a place for the client to explore any interpersonal issues that may be getting in the way of skill development.
Logistical Questions
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Currently, GPS offers virtual groups as well as in-person groups.
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Group is covered by Rutgers Student Insurance.
For those who do not have Rutgers Student Insurance, the group fee is determined on a sliding scale according to the client’s household income. The cost is half of the price of the client’s individual therapy sessions at CPS.
Clients can pay for group online or by phone.
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Groups meet for 1.5 hours each week.
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Clients can join groups at any point.
The group runs indefinitely and clients may decide with the group to leave when they have met their treatment goals.
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Groups are led by student clinicians in a doctoral psychology training program at the Graduate School of Professional and Applied Psychology (GSAPP). Group leaders receive supervision from both GSAPP professors as well as from professional psychologists in the community.
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If you are interested or want to learn more about groups at GPS, email groupclinic@gsapp.rutgers.edu to connect with the GPS clinic coordinators.
If you would like to join a group, you will schedule a virtual intake call with a GPS clinician. In this call you will have the chance to assess if group is a fit for you and will provide information about your goals and history.
If group seems to be a good fit for you, you will then join one of the existing GPS groups.