Group Counseling & Support Spaces

Led by our licensed clinicians, our groups and support spaces help you improve your relationships, learn about yourself and others, enhance your communication skills, and reduce isolation within a supportive, normalizing environment of peers.

Group Counseling

At CAPS, we offer group therapy as a valuable opportunity for self-discovery and addressing concerns in a supportive and collaborative environment. Our group sessions typically consist of 4-10 students who meet weekly throughout the semester, all under the expert guidance of our CAPS clinicians. Joining a group allows you to gain valuable insights into yourself and others, fostering personal growth and understanding in a nurturing setting.

For more information or questions, please email our Group Coordinator Kortnie Parks, LPC at kortniepgwu [dot] edu (kortniep[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Healthy Relationships

This group is for students who want to better understand their relationship patterns—whether with partners, friends, family, or roommates—and learn practical tools to build healthier, more fulfilling connections.

Meeting Times: Wednesdays @ 4 pm
Location: Student Health Center, Conference Room 2 (G30)
Facilitated by: Laura Finkelstein, Ph.D.

International Student Support Circle

The International Student Support Circle is a biweekly, in-person, support group for international students within the GW community who are looking for a safe space to process various concerns and connect with each other.

Discussion topics include:

Highly uncertain futures

Career-related anxiety

Loneliness/relationship difficulties

Homesickness

Culture shock

Microaggression

Family or parental pressure

Language barriers

No registration needed. Please check-in with the front desk at the Student Health Center located at the Ground Floor of University Student Center.

Meeting Times: Mondays @ 3 pm on 2/9, 2/23, 3/9, 3/23, 4/6, 4/20
Location: Student Health Center, G104
Facilitated by: Yueyi Fan, LGPC

Picking up the Pieces

This is a support space for the many students who seek counseling services prompted by a break-up. Navigating these break-ups and losses can be difficult for many students. The purpose of this group is to help students process and move forward through these break-up/ losses with the support of peers struggling with similar concerns.

Meeting Times: Thursdays @ 4 pm
Location: Student Health Center (G104)
Facilitated by: Leanne Juzaitis, LMFT

Coping in 2026

Everyone can improve their ability to tolerate stress. This group will focus on ways to strategically leverage everyday habits and hobbies, as well as teach basic coping skills to improve our ability to manage stress.

Meeting Schedule:

February 3rd at 12:00pm
February 19th at 5:00pm
March 3rd at 12:00pm
March 19th at 5:00pm
April 7th at 12:00pm
April 16th at 5:00pm
Location: Student Health Center, Conference Room 1 (G27)
Facilitated by: Ahren Grebner, LPC

The Next Phase: a support-focused group for students who will soon graduate

This group is for both undergraduate and graduate school students who are nearing graduation and preparing for the next chapters in their lives. It is a peer support space where students have an opportunity to share their affective and cognitive experiences regarding their futures. This mutual disclosure and exploration is intended to help normalize the students' experiences and facilitate support, encouragement and helpful reflection and feedback.

Meeting Schedule: Wednesdays @ 4 pm
Location: Student Health Center, Conference Room 1 (G27)
Facilitated by: Jay Dismukes, LICSW and Skylar Schaumberg

Healing Through Clay and Painting: Understanding and Addressing Anxiety

We often intellectualize the anxious thoughts we experience. Those thoughts overwhelm us and we feel out of control. Research shows that our nervous systems and minds can quickly regulate when we connect with stable, earthy, and sensory experiences. Moreover, doing this repeatedly and making it a practice can even help in understanding, accepting, and finding a place for the overwhelming thoughts and experiences in our lives. So, let’s literally get out of our heads.

Join us to learn how to connect and regulate your body to better understand and address your anxiety. Week over week we will use two tactile forms of art to help you explore your internal narratives and increase emotional awareness. The group will begin with a grounding exercise, followed by a guided activity using either mediums or both, followed by a short group reflection before closing.

P.S. You need no artistic skill to engage with clay and paint, so please do not let that be a deterrent from joining us.

Meeting Schedule: Wednesday @ 4 pm, bi-weekly, starting February 4, 2026
Location: MSSC Multipurpose Room
Facilitated by: Akshina Trentacoste & Kortnie Parks, LPC

The Journey: Grief & Loss

The Journey is a weekly, in-person, grief and loss group for GW students who have experienced the death of a family member (i.e. parent, guardian, grandparent, spouse/partner, siblings, and/or extended family members). Grief is a natural response to loss. There is no right way to grieve and no set timeline. This group provides a safe environment where students can explore their story and express difficult feelings freely in a supportive environment. The group provides a place for establishing a connection with others with similar experiences in order to decrease the feelings of isolation that come with loss. It’s also a forum for understanding common myths about what grief is and how to grieve in a way that heals. If you have experienced the death of a loved one, this group may be the support you are looking for.

Meeting Schedule: Wednesdays @ 3:30pm
Location: Student Health Center, Conference Room 2 (G30)
Facilitated by: Jeremy Smith, LMSW

Support Spaces

Support Spaces are no-commitment spaces where students can receive assistance, encouragement, and guidance from from peers with the support of mental health professionals. These spaces are designed to be non-judgmental and empathetic, fostering a sense of trust and community

Affinity Support Space

What is an Affinity Support Space?

Affinity Support Spaces are an informal way for students to connect, share, and process their experiences in a safe and understanding environment of others with common interests and/or experiences. Affinity Support Spaces are offered across campus by GW CAPS clinicians in collaboration with campus partners. Previous spaces include: “First In The Family” (First Gen Students), “Kaleidoscope” students identifying as Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), and “The In, Out and In Between” ( LGBTQIA+ students)

How are Affinity Support Spaces formed?

Affinity Support Spaces are formed based on shared characteristics, experiences, or identities. For example, there could be spaces for racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, survivors of trauma, individuals dealing with chronic illness, First Gen, or Veterans. Each space defines how they want to be in a community with one another and reflect on the experiences students’ intersectional identities.

How can I set-up an Affinity Support Space?

Students can request Affinity Spaces through various channels:

Requesting them through the CAPS Outreach Request Form.
Emailing capsoutreachgwu [dot] edu for additional information.

We ask students to request this space at least three weeks in advance with time and date flexibility to help ensure the success of the space. We will do our best to accommodate student preferences of clinician identities in the space as well.

Community Comfort Zone: Post-Crisis Support Space

CAPS Clinicians are available to provide support to GW students following impactful, traumatic, or tragic events that occur on campus or community events that have greatly impacted our students' well-being. This support can include talking with groups on campus (e.g., student organizations, departments, classes) about coping with unjust, violent, or traumatic situations, grief/loss, and/or facilitating conversations about current emotions. Please call us directly at (202) 994-5300 for more immediate assistance if your request is related to a crisis or urgent situation.

Examples of Critical/Urgent Situations

Death of a student, faculty, or staff member
Aftermath of natural disasters or terrorism events
Impactful world events (ie: Social Injustice and Racial Tensions, Political Unrest)

CAPS Support for Departmental Activities

Additionally, if you or your department/organization are planning an activity or other response to recent tragedies or events, CAPS can provide collaboration, presence, and/or resources to support your activity.

THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A REPLACEMENT FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES. If you are or someone else is in crisis or experiencing a life-threatening emergency please call GWPD at 202-994-6111, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room.

Support Spaces are offered by GW CAPS clinicians, in collaboration with campus partners. Support Spaces are not group therapy, but a space to be utilized for support, resources, and community building with the support of a licensed clinician.