Group Therapy

SBHS Outpatient Clinic offers weekly therapy groups  that serve  to help youth and their families manage difficult emotions and behaviors, to strengthen  emotional regulation skills, and to build healthy skills to improve all areas of the child or adolescent’s life.

Individuals who are new to treatment at SBHS will receive an intake assessment before joining a group. To become a group member, please call 630-837-9000 and enter extension 2074 to schedule an assessment with the SBHS Outpatient Clinic Intake Assessment team. 

Anger Management Group

Ages: 4– 11
Tuesdays 4:30pm – 5:30pm

This group is appropriate for a child who struggles with controlling himself or herself when upset, has tantrums, and is aggressive towards others.  This group will help your child learn to more effectively manage feelings of anger in productive ways.  It will also lead to reduction in frequency of tantrums and incidents involving demonstration of aggressive behaviors.

Emotional Regulation

Ages: 10-13
Tuesdays 5:30pm – 6:30 pm

This group is helpful for pre-teens who may struggle to manage to remain calm and regulated when interacting with peers or family members. Group members learn to effectively manage conflict and build skills that support healthy interactions and build strong relationships in all areas of their lives.

Grief and Loss Group

Ages: 5-17
Tuesdays 5:30pm – 6:30pm

This group helps children and adolescents work through losses they have experienced including death, moves, or divorce

Healthy Choices for Navigating Adolescence

Ages: 12-17
Tuesdays 6:30pm – 7:30pm

This group assists adolescents with building capacity for navigating stressors of adolescence in healthy ways rather than turning to unhealthy options such as alcohol or other substances.

Bullying Group

Ages: 5-11
Thursdays 4:30pm – 5:30 pm

This group assists children in navigating the social and emotional challenges of bullying and peer conflict. Group members will learn to recognize bullying in various forms, how to advocate for themselves, and how to identify resources available to assist with managing these difficult experiences. Members will also learn ways to increase their self-esteem and improve their communication skills. This group is recommended for children who have struggles with bullying or peer conflicts in school or community settings.

Managing Conflict of Adolescence Group

Ages: 12-17
Thursdays 4:30pm – 5:30 pm

This group assists adolescents in navigating the social and emotional challenges of peer relationships and conflict. Group members will learn to recognize conflict in various forms, how to advocate for themselves, and how to identify resources available to assist with managing these difficult experiences. Members will also learn ways to increase their self-esteem and improve their communication skills. This group is recommended for adolescents who struggle with bullying, aggression, or peer conflicts in school or community settings.

Managing Anxiety Group

Ages: 4-17
Saturdays 11:00am – 12:00pm

This group assists participants in building skills needed to negotiate school anxiety, social anxiety and general anxiety.  This group teaches children and adolescents how to more effectively manage stress, how to make worries seem smaller, how to speak up for themselves, and how to feel better about themselves.  Participants are split into groups based on their ages – Children ages 4-8. Pre-Teen ages 9-13, Teens 14-17.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Group

Ages: 12-17
Saturdays 9:00am – 10:00am

DBT Group is designed for adolescents who struggle with self-harming behaviors, depression, or coping with overwhelming feelings in compassionate ways.  This group teaches participants how to regulate their emotions, cope with strong emotions in compassionate ways using DBT therapy which is an evidence based therapeutic approach based on the work of Dr. Marsha Linehan.

Global Skills Group

Ages: 5-17
Saturday 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Global Skills group is for neurodivergent clients or those whose brain processes, learns, and/or behaves differently from what is considered “typical”.  Often these clients have been given a diagnosis on the autism spectrum.  The group focuses on interventions and activities focusing on the following areas – attention, critical thinking, impulse control, and calming strategies.  Many activities also focus on building social skills and connections and learning to tolerate others and tolerate differences in the environment.

ADHD Group

Ages: 5-17
Saturdays 10:00am – 11:00am

ADHD Group addresses attention, memory, focus on self and surroundings, concentration on task, impulse control, self-regulation (i.e., nervousness, feeling on edge, agitated) and pro-social skills.

The participants are split into groups based on age – child 5-9, pre-teen 10-12, Teen 13-17.  The groups are designed to be interactive allowing the group members to learn skills in experiential ways and practice the skills in the setting.  Overall topics are reinforced frequently with different interventions to increase repetitive learning shown to have more effectiveness for retaining knowledge and skills.

Transitions Group

Ages: 17 – 22
Saturdays 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Entering adulthood can be stressful for young people. Transitions Group assists young adults with navigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood. This group supports participants in building both practical and social emotional skills needed to manage new adult roles and responsibilities related to employment, education, family, social life and general health. Group members are supported in taking responsibility for themselves, making independent decisions, and becoming self-sufficient.

Individuals who are new to treatment at SBHS will receive an intake assessment before joining a group. To become a group member, please call 630-837-9000 and enter extension 2074 to schedule an assessment with the SBHS Outpatient Clinic Intake Assessment team.