Group counseling offers a safe environment in which to give and receive support, understand yourself and your relationships, relate to others dealing with similar concerns, practice communicating, and develop new ways of coping. While all of our groups have an interpersonal focus, our General Therapy Groups are designed to explore your identity and patterns in the context of your relationships. Our other groups are focused on specific challenges or for individuals of a particular community.
Unlike individual counseling, there is no limit to the number of group therapy sessions available to students. To get started, schedule a brief assessment with the Counseling Center or email the facilitator of the group you are interested in joining from the list below.
Spring 2026 Group Schedule
Below is the list of our current therapy groups. Click the tabs to find more information about each therapy group. All groups this semester will occur in person.
General Therapy Group Options
General Therapy Groups
A safe space to understand and express emotions, explore better ways of interacting with others, and find increased authenticity in relationships in and out of the therapy room.
Undergraduate/Graduate Student General Therapy Group – Tuesdays
- 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. (contact Dr. CJ Polihronakis, Ph.D. (he/him) at cjpoli@umd.edu)
Graduate Student General Therapy Group – Mondays
- 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Erica Merson (she/her) at merson12@umd.edu)
Graduate Student General Therapy Group – Tuesdays
- 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Allison Asarch (she/her) at aasarch@umd.edu)
Undergraduate Student General Therapy Group – Thursdays
- 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Amani Johnson (she/her) at amanijoh@umd.edu)
ADHD Support
ADHD Support Group
Do you have- or suspect you have- ADHD? Do your symptoms impact your academics, relationships, and mental health? Please join us for our ADHD Support Group, offering education, skills, and social support.
- Mondays, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. (contact Michele Moriarity, LCPC (she/her) at mmoriari@umd.edu)
Grief and Loss
Memory Circle
This group offers emotional support and information about the process of grief and helps students develop adaptive coping strategies for managing loss.
- Wednesdays, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Yi-Jiun Lin (she/her) at ylin1234@umd.edu)
Body Image
My Body My Self
Explores the experiences of women-identified and nonbinary people in their struggles with body image and self-worth and the ways that dieting, obsessing about thinness, binge-eating, over-exercising, and purging may affect their lives.
- Wednesdays, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Erica Merson (she/her) at merson12@umd.edu)
Identity-Based Groups
Circle of Sisters
Undergraduate students only
A support group for Black women to talk about various topics such as identity development, self-confidence, family, friendships, dating & relationships, academics, sexuality, and navigating life at a PWI and beyond.
- Mondays, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Shealyn Blanchard (she/her) at sblanch1@umd.edu)
LGBTQIA+ Support Group
The LGBTQIA+ Support Group provides a co-created space for sexually marginalized (e.g., bisexual, asexual, queer, lesbian, gay, questioning) and gender expansive (e.g., transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, gender non-conforming) undergraduate and graduate students to engage in discussions around their intersecting identities, coming out and/or transitioning experiences, relationships, families, as well as struggles and victories. This group aims to provide a space for LGBTQIA+ students to decompress, share what is happening in their lives, and find support from other Queer individuals.
- Mondays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (contact Dr. CJ Polihronakis (he/him) at cjpoli@umd.edu)
Entre Nosotrxs Latinx Support Group
This group is meant to be a safe space for Latinx students to share their stories, struggles, and successes as they work to accomplish their academic goals at UMD. Students may discuss experiences related to their identity, cultural values, academics/career, family, and relationships, among other topics. Students will learn about themselves, gain support, and work on improving their self-care and life balance.
- Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (contact Dr. Maria Berbery (she/her) at mberbery@umd.edu)
Trauma Support
Hope and Healing
A supportive and confidential environment for female survivors of sexual assault.
- Fridays, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. (contact Dr. Pepper Phillips (she/her) at pepper@umd.edu or Dr. Jayoti Soor (she/her) at jsoor@umd.edu)
International Students
International Student Support Group
International students are invited to participate in a weekly support group where they can talk about adjustment concerns, acculturative stress, academic stress, social challenges, personal problems, and mental health. This also is a great place to share information and connect with others.
- Mondays, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. (contact Dr. Srutika Bakshi (she/her) at bsrutika@umd.edu)
Coping Skills
Build Skills to Reduce Stress
Open to all undergraduate and graduate students who find themselves overwhelmed or flooded with intense emotions. Build skills to manage distress, develop multiple strategies to self-soothe, and learn new tools to navigate difficult relationships. This group is run as a learning environment with a class-like structure. Lots of participation is encouraged to maximize benefit. Group is split into four sections, each for three weeks. Students can join in the beginning for all four modules or start at the beginning of a new section. 1. Mindfulness 2. Distress Tolerance 3. Emotion Regulation 4. Interpersonal Effectiveness
- Tuesdays, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (contact Alicia Flanagan (she/her) at aflanaga@umd.edu)