Starting Point Therapy Group

Ready to take the next stop with your mental health? Begin here for practical tools!

• Mondays at 1 PM
• Fridays at 9 AM
• Walk-ins are encouraged
  • Arrive 30 minutes before group for registration
• Sessions located at Myrtue Behavioral Health

Topics Rotate (six sessions total):

1. Understanding Stress and the Body
   1. Learn what stress is and how it shows up for us in our present moment experience
   2. Build understanding of the body process behind experiences such as depression, anxiety, and trauma reactions
   3. Learn how working through the body’s stress cycle can help us feel calmer, safer, and more able to navigate challenges
2. Using the Five Senses to Feel Grounded and Present
   1. Learn how to use the five senses to shift out of stress response patterns toward more calm and control
   2. Identify how stress responses tend to distort our perceptions and how connecting to the five senses helps the us access more accurate and helpful thoughts
   3. Discover how using the five senses is helpful not only when our stress system is activated but also any time we want to be more present

3. Breathing strategies to feel more calm and in control

   1. Understand why breathing strategies are helpful for self-regulation and how they work with our automatic stress and calming body processes
   2. Learn and practice breathing techniques to find what works for you
   3. Identify how to use breathing practices both as a way to transition out of stress-activation and as a preventative practice to build resilience

4. Taking small steps to build momentum

   1. Identify and plan simple, doable actions that build momentum toward larger goals
   2. Learn the types of small actions that can improve mood and strengthen confidence
   3. Develop strategies for when we don’t feel like doing anything so we can get unstuck and move forward

5. Moving the body to reduce stress and improve mood

   1. Build understanding of the body’s stress cycle and how movement helps complete the stress cycle to move toward calm
   2. Identify the body sensations that are a normal part of experiencing stress and how the body initiates responses designed to help us get back to safety and deal with stressors
   3. Learn and practice movements to burn off stress energy, reduce tension in the muscles, and reconnect us to the moment

6. Unhooking from difficult thoughts + feelings to act effectively

   1. Develop strategies to become more flexible when experiencing difficult thoughts and feelings in order to regain a sense of choice in how to respond
   2. Learn why thoughts and emotions usually showing up as anger, anxiety, sadness, or a sense of hopelessness when our stress system is turned on
   3. Learn mindfulness and body calming strategies that can help reduce the grip of difficult thoughts and feelings so we can respond in helpful ways

Talk to your therapist or call 712.755.5056 to learn more!