York Psychology Clinic offers several programs this month

York University’s Psychology Clinic will offer a number of programs beginning this month, including a cognitive behaviour therapy group for anxiety and worry; an emotional intelligence workshop; an ADHD strategy and support group; and two mindfulness meditation programs.

All of the programs are open to anyone at York or in the greater community.

Managing your Anxiety and Worry – 12-session Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Group

In this group you will learn practical skills to cope with anxiety, including:

• how to understand and identify the cycle of anxiety and worry;
• how to use worry management techniques in everyday life;
• how to use relaxation techniques to reduce anxiety;
• how to challenge and reframe thinking patterns that promote anxiety; and
• how to effectively deal with fear and other emotions triggered by anxiety.

The program runs from 6 to 7:30pm every Thursday, beginning Jan. 19 in the Behavioural Sciences Building, Room 102. The fee is $300 for the 12 sessions (which includes receiving the Mastery of your Anxiety and Worry Workbook).

A brief assessment interview will be conducted prior to the group starting in order to ensure participants will benefit from the program.

Important note regarding fees: Fees for psychological services are reimbursable through most workplace extended health plans. York University students may also have access to funds to cover the cost of the group through York Federation of Students’ or CUPE 3903’s health plans. There are also some financial bursaries for students with limited financial resources.

Contact yupc@yorku.ca for more information.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Adult Workshop

In this workshop, you will up your EQ and improve your emotional competence in your work, relationships and life by:

• Learning why emotions are important and their universal characteristics
• Learning to tell the difference between healthy and problematic emotions
• Learning to map out and understand your own personal emotional patterns
• Learning how to manage your emotions better to work more productively, have more satisfying relationships, and live a more emotionally intelligent life

The program runs from 6 to 8pm every Wednesday beginning Jan. 25 in the Behavioural Sciences Building, Room 102. The workshop facilitators are Dr. Alberta Pos and Bryan Choi, MA.

The fee for this workshop is $300 for the eight sessions. The fee may be reimbursable through workplace/student extended health plans. Bursaries are also available through the clinic for individuals with limited financial resources.

Go to yorku.ca/yupc/group-programs to download the registration form. If you have questions, email yupc@yorku.ca. A brief intake interview will be conducted prior to the group starting to ensure participants will benefit from the workshop.

Motivated or Unmotivated? – A Student-Based ADHD Strategy Group

The clinic is pleased to offer a six-session group to help students better understand ADHD and to discuss coping strategies. Topics include:

• positive aspects to ADHD;
• ADHD stigma and negative self-talk;
• does medication help?; and
• strategies to help improve motivation, goal-setting and follow-through.

The program runs from noon to 2pm on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 31 in the Behavioural Sciences Building, Room 102.

There is no fee for this program.

Click here for registration form.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – V2

Another session of this program will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 24, and run weekly from 5:30 to 7pm until March 28 in the Behavioural Sciences Building, Room 102.

With the mindfulness “movement” comes visions and actions devoted to world peace and a more compassionate society. In this 10-week group we adopt an interpersonal focus, emphasizing peaceful, compassionate relationships with self and significant others.
The mindfulness techniques emphasized are shamatha and tonglen, practices devoted to peace-making and healing exchanges where all people derive benefits.
These approaches are integrated with an interpersonal approach to cognitive behaviour therapy, changing the distorted thoughts and emotions that regularly occur and result in unnecessary internal and interpersonal conflict.
This combination is further integrated with recent cognitive and neurophysiological research on mindfulness and CBT, where indices of brain health are used as scientific validations of subjective processes and their benefits.

The fee for this 10-session program is $225 ($75 for students with valid ID).

To enrol in this group, visit the clinic website to download the registration form.

A Noon Hour of Mindfulness Practice

Another session of this program will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 25, and run weekly from noon to 1pm until March 29 in the Behavioural Sciences Building, Room 102. It will be instructed by Dr. Paul Ritvo.

Mindfulness meditation is being applied in every major medical centre and university setting in Canada. This is an introductory group that aims to use eight consecutive noon hours to guide participants towards a personal practice with pragmatic benefits (reduced stress and anxiety, improved sleep) and performance improvements (via better attentional control).

The fee for this 10-week program is $150 ($50 for students with valid ID).

To register, visit yupc.org.