Oklahoma Christian University’s Counseling Center recently began offering support groups for students. These groups provide support for areas like depression and anxiety, pornography and social skills.
Director of the Counseling Center, Sheldon Adkins, said there are many students struggling with these issues.
“We have numerous students on campus who struggle with these issues, and we wanted to offer therapy groups so that more students have the opportunity to receive help,” Adkins said.
Adkins said these skill groups are not only a way to seek therapy at an individual level, but they also offer new opportunities to be with others who share the same struggles.
“As an alternative form of therapy, group therapy gives students an opportunity to see things from other perspectives. Second, you are able to see and hear you are not alone in your struggles. Third, you can be encouraged and supported by peers. There are also opportunities to try new skills with people who may be very different from you in a safe environment,” Adkins said.
Molly Burke, who started working at the Counseling Center in Feb. 2024, explained the groups she currently leads and will lead in the future.
“I am currently the co-leader for the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) group focused on Pornography Addictions,” Burke said. “Starting next semester, I will also be leading groups/workshops aimed at seriously dating, engaged and married couples.”
Though the benefits of group therapy are many, Burke highlighted a few of the reasons the school now offers such groups.
“Support and Therapy groups have multiple benefits. One benefit is that we are able to serve a larger number of students. At the University Counseling Center, we want to help as many students as possible succeed and have high levels of life satisfaction, so offering groups assists in getting help to more students,” Burke said. “Second, since our groups also focus on various topics, they help to give focused care to students who live with specific concerns. Finally, the biggest reason we offer support groups is connection.”
For those who are unsure what these groups look like, Burke explained what happens during a typical meeting.
“If you are in a group, you will get to learn, share and listen in a room with 4-8 other people who have similar concerns as you, but probably had very different journeys to get to this point,” Burke said. “The vulnerability involved in being in a group 1) Grows empathy; 2) Increases connection and 3) Decreases the stigma of receiving help.”
Although these groups meet together, Burke said the confidentiality of a regular therapy session remains within a group setting too.
“We learn from each other, and we grow with each other. One important point: our groups are confidential,” Burke said. “Not only do the therapists keep what is shared and who is in the group confidential, but it is also very crucial that the group members do as well. We take emotional safety very seriously so it is hopefully easier for vulnerability to exist.”
While the personal outcomes of group therapy vary, Burke said her biggest hope is for students to find healing.
“I truly hope our students who participate in therapy groups find healing and are able to be more confident in their lives (and maybe make some friendships along the way). Especially in the DBT groups, we give a lot of psychoeducation and practical skills that help people make changes in their lives. However, we pair this with processing which is very crucial in the implementation of these skills into one’s actual life. We hope that using these evidence-based treatments increase our student’s ability to live their lives in the way they see best fit. My goal as a therapist is always to work myself out of a job, so that is my main hope with the therapy groups as well.”
For those interested in joining a therapy group or scheduling an individual appointment, they can email the Counseling Center at counseling.center@oc.edu.
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