Groups Currently Offered
Working in mental health means being invited into some of the hardest moments of a person’s life. Sometimes we bear witness to things that are genuinely awful. Sometimes we grow to care about people whose problems we can’t solve, leaving us feeling powerless or like a failure. Sometimes we make a decision and spend the next few days wondering if we handled it correctly.
And sometimes nothing particularly dramatic happened at all. The work just left us tired, and unsure if we can really keep doing it.
Good therapists still get impacted by the work we do. And while we can connect with close colleagues and co-workers, there can be something freeing about processing these feelings with others who get it but aren’t part of your everyday life. This 8-week EMDR group is an opportunity to work through some of what you've accumulated while doing this job, alongside a small group of other mental health workers (3 to 5 people + the facilitator) who understand the context behind what you’re feeling without needing an explanation.
What could I work on?
Despite this being a time-limited group using EMDR, there doesn't need to be one big traumatic incident for you to have something to process.
Maybe there's a client you still think about years later. A mistake that's much harder to forgive yourself for than it would be to forgive a colleague. A crisis that scared you. A client death. A case that hit too close to home. An interaction with a supervisor or a coworker that still rattles you.
Maybe it's the helplessness of knowing what someone needs and watching a system repeatedly fail to provide it. (I know I struggle with this one a lot…)
Or maybe you've spent years, even before entering this field, feeling responsible for everyone around you, questioning whether you're doing enough, absorbing other people's pain, and pushing your own reactions aside because there was always someone who needed you more.
If something about working within the field of mental health feels heavier than you'd like it to, that's enough to join this group. The way this group will function, each person can be working on something entirely different each session.
Wait... group EMDR?
Yes! If you are familiar with EMDR that is typically done individually, this might seem confusing, but this group won’t look like five people taking turns telling their trauma stories or processing with bilateral stimulation while everyone watches.
The group uses a structured EMDR protocol (I’m using the EMDR-IGTP-OTS protocol, modified to suit the group’s format and schedule) that allows everyone to work on their own experiences at the same time. You won't be telling the group the details of what you're processing.
You can share what feels meaningful while we check-in, or at the end of each session when we debrief, keeping private what you'd rather keep private. A lot of times, even though we are very familiar with and dislike the stigma around mental health, we are still nervous healing amongst others within our field, because we’re worried about being judged (now is this judgement from others, or rather ourselves?). This format gives you as much control as you want around finding where your perfect balance is between being vulnerable enough to authentically relate and still feeling safe. Within this group, you can proceed with whatever level of connection or pacing feels most comfortable for you, there’s no obligation to open up.
This format makes it possible to benefit from doing this work alongside other people who get it, without having to disclose sensitive details about yourself, your work, or the people you've worked with. Because this group is focused and only 8-weeks, it can be great if you know you have more you eventually want to work through but just aren’t ready to do all of that just yet.
What will the 8 weeks look like?
This is a closed group with a maximum of five participants. The same people will attend throughout the eight weeks so we can build some familiarity and safety together.
Week 1 will focus on getting oriented to the group, understanding the process, identifying and practicing installing inner resources to support you between sessions, and prepare for the work ahead.
Weeks 2–7 will be our primary EMDR processing sessions. Everyone will have space to work with their own material while I guide the group through the protocol.
Week 8 will give us space to reflect on what has shifted, address anything that still needs attention, and intentionally close out our work together.
You don't need to arrive with eight perfectly organized traumas to focus on. You won’t really know until you begin, because sometimes you will need a few weeks on one major theme, and you won’t know what all that healing might spread to within yourself. Sometimes even things you weren’t focused on within the session can be touched upon during this process within your brain, and you can end up healing more areas than you had realized! We'll figure out what areas you can address as we go (that’s part of what I’ll be helping with as the group goes on).
Is this group for me?
This group is intended for adults who currently work, or have previously worked, in mental health or behavioral health settings and want to address the ways that work has affected them.
That can include therapists, counselors, social workers, psychologists, case managers, behavioral health staff, and other mental health professionals.
You don’t need to be burned out or have PTSD. I would encourage you to keep it simple: if you feel bad, and it is connected with your work somehow, you’d probably benefit from this group.
Because EMDR can bring up significant emotional material, we'll have a phone consultation before the group begins to make sure that a group format is appropriate for you and that you have the support you need to participate safely. I’d have you fill out some paperwork online prior to the group starting, but if you tend to have tech problems, just let me know, and we can figure out some other way to get it all done.
The Important Details
Saturdays, September 26 – November 14, 2026 from 3:00–4:30 PM
8 weekly sessions
$50 per session ($400 total)
In person at Ammonite Counseling LLC in Mesa, Arizona.
Maximum of 5 group members.
Curious if this group might be a fit?
Reaching out doesn't commit you to joining. We'll start with a brief phone consultation where you can ask questions, tell me a little about what you're hoping for, and we can figure out together whether this group feels like a good fit.
In The Works…
Trauma Therapy Groups for adults and teens are always being created, but the details for those future groups haven’t been finalized yet. If you are interested in a particular topic, please reach out to me to let me know so I can give you more details about ones being planned, or so I create one with you in mind!
These trauma therapy groups would be mostly using group EMDR, maybe some elements of ART, and could include some psychoeducation about how trauma shows up in our lives, parts-work, practicing grounding skills, and making time to actually connect with each other.
These groups would likely be on the weekends, from 3:00pm-4:30pm, and $50 per group therapy session
Areas of Interest to Process within these Groups
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Because it is traumatic to inhabit a body that causes you pain! Plus pain and not having control over your body is traumatic, even it is was necessary to save your life. It can be really healing to process this with other people who get it.
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My specialty is perfectionism and people-pleasing because that’s how a lot of this kind of trauma shows up. When a person is rejected or made to feel like they are inherently bad at life, of course you are going to feel strongly when you mess up or when you disappoint others!
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One: going from living with family to living on your own comes with so many more responsibilities to keep track of. Then you often start realizing how messed up your childhood actually was and now you want to heal. Breaking generational trauma with people your own can help create a sense of support and community - and that itself is healing!
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No one talks about how traumatizing the dating scene is these days. You put yourself out there, have your value diminished down to what you look like, get told one thing and find out you’ve been lied to, and you find that over and over you feel betrayed, disheartened, and losing hope that love will ever find you. Healing this in a group of peers can help remind you that there are plenty of kind people willing and able to hold your heart.