ANNOUNCING AN Ongoing INTERPERSONAL GROUP FOR ADULTS FOR CONNECTION, PERSONAL GROWTH AND WELLNESS.
New Groups Starting Online Throughout the Year!
Session duration is open-ended
(Biweekly Tuesday and Wednesday evenings)
Free Initial Consultations Starting Now - Contact Today!
PATHWAYS TO CONNECTIONS
A program that provides ongoing group therapy events creating a community in which shared experiences lead to personal growth and healing.
About:
This group is for individuals who want to understand and improve the quality of the relationships in their lives. We will use our interactions with each other to explore interpersonal patterns that interfere with intimacy and connection with others and learn new ways of relating that deepen and strengthen the relationships to themselves and to others. In an environment of safety, trust, honesty and open communication, group members will have the opportunity to examine their style of relating to others. They will learn to live in full, open, honest relationships, experience emotional and social support and learn from others regarding ways to handle interpersonal challenges.
We are currently in the process of forming new groups. Feel free to contact us below.
Pathways to Connections recognizes the cultural meanings we attach to our identities. We believe that acknowledging differences between individuals shows respect for diverse cultures, identities, beliefs and experiences. All group members have differing life experiences — making group therapy a fantastic way to hear new perspectives. Resulting in richer and more positive group experiences for everyone involved. We work from a client-centred, anti-oppressive and strength-based perspective, and are knowledgeable, experienced and affirming practitioners of LGBTQ2+ identities.
Format:
We form our groups continuously throughout the year. Groups are limited to 6-10 members and meets every other week for an hour and a half. The groups run from September until the start of July. Group members are asked to commit to all sessions to optimize the therapeutic benefits for everyone involved. You may be able to join one of our existing interpersonal groups if there is a spot available.
In order to ensure that this group will be helpful for you, you will participate in one individual consultation session prior to beginning the group, to assess your needs, discuss how to get most out of the group, clarify group expectations and identify your personal goals. This is also an opportunity to address any questions you may have about the group.
HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS?
How do I make sense of other people?
How can I work most effectively with my work colleagues?
Why do I often not say what I really want to say?
I love my siblings, but…
Why do certain people in my life irritate me? … make me angry? … make me defensive? … make me envious? – for seemingly no reason?!
Why do I “over-give” in my relationships?
How is it that I know what needs to be done to fix my partner’s/family member’s/friend’s problems, but they won’t listen to me – or, they can’t seem to hear what I have to say?
Why do I often feel alone when I’m amongst my friends?
Why do some of my dearest friends make me feel inadequate, or anxious?
Why do I feel so uninspired by or confused with my relationships? Or with my own goals?
How can I change the dialogues I have within myself that keep me so ‘stuck’ and anxious?
How can I find my way (back) to my most joyful, inspired, hopeful and confident self?
Risks and Benefits of GROUP THERAPY:
“Risk - the possibility of failure or loss - cannot be avoided if the possibility of success is to have any meaning. There are risks of emotion that involve honestly and spontaneously expressing feelings, admitting fear, or professing love. There are risks of growth in giving up control, in being yourself, or in trying something that has never been attempted before. There are risks of intimacy in working through vulnerability, jealousy and trust. There are risks of autonomy in cutting off dependencies and being more responsible. And there are risks of change that involve breaking old rules, patterns, habits, and moving into the work of the unknown.”
- Jeffrey A. Kottler, Professor Emeritus, Psychotherapist, Educator and Author
Along with being a place to begin to find answers to the above questions, discover the benefits of being in a Group of people - only strangers at the beginning …
You will:
Develop greater self-understanding and ‘grow your roots’ to become a more grounded, self-confident human being.
Learn to address anxieties of speaking in a public space, so you can do it in the ‘real world’.
Learn to face the fears and feelings of embarrassment about your experiences in an emotionally supportive, positive, constructive atmosphere.
Discover that others feel similar or the same as you and develop self-compassion and more compassion for others.
Learn how to maximize your ability to relate to others, so that you feel more connected and not so alone.
Discover ways to communicate more effectively and build and sustain healthier relationships.
Explore how you impact others and how others impact you.
Begin to understand the meanings you give to your experiences.
Learn what triggers you to be the person you DON’T like being, so that you can be the person you DO like being!
DESCRIPTION:
If you find yourself hungering for emotional truth, while trying to make sense of your thought-limiting emotions or responses to others, then a psychodynamic, relational Group, full of like-minded people, might be able to provide you with some of those answers.
Encouraged by your Group leader, Amber, a trained registered psychodynamic, relational, group psychotherapists, you will begin to find your true voice in a group setting designed for transformation in self-discovery and in developing stronger communication and social skills.
Group therapy is based on the idea that a great many of the difficulties that people have in their lives can be understood as problems in getting along with other people. As children, we learn ways of getting close and talking to others and ways of solving issues with others. In general, these early patterns are then applied in our adult relationships. Sometimes, these ways of relating to others are not as effective as they might be, despite our good intentions. Group offers an opportunity to learn more about these “interpersonal” patterns.
Very often, symptoms such as anxiety or unhappiness, bad feelings about ourselves, or a general sense of dissatisfaction with life, reflect the unsatisfactory state of important relationships. Group therapy is designed to help particularly with these sorts of problems.
Group Therapy is a fascinating, exciting journey into your emotional inner world that takes courage, commitment and desire to deepen your emotional truth so that you can be more fully present for your most intimate relationships.
Join us! We are excited to meet you and to share in your journey of self-discovery. As you uncover your patterns of behaviour that are triggered by others’ patterns of behaviour. As you find your way toward healthier, less anxious-ridden relationships with colleagues, bosses, friends, family, and intimate partners … and, most importantly, with yourself.
Let’s turn “poor-me” into “powerful me” all together!
AMBER SAGER, REGISTERED PSYCHOTHERAPIST, GROUP FACILITATOR
Amber currently works in a well-established private practice in Toronto as well as Northumberland County as a Psychodynamic therapist for individuals, couples, families and groups.
Graduate of the Ontario Psychotherapy and Counselling Program and the Toronto Institute of Group Studies. Amber continues to support group members in deepening empathic connections.
FEE:
$90 per session (tax included) payable by e-transfer before each session
$90 (tax included) per Group Orientation
TIME:
WEEKNIGHTS - 90 MINUTES
DATES:
We are currently accepting new members for group. Contact us if you are interested in joining and we will send you dates and time of the starts of the upcoming group sessions. You may even be able to join one of our existing interpersonal groups if there is a spot available.
LOCATION: All groups are currently held online only.
PATHWAYS TO CONNECTIONS
36 Madison Ave., Third Floor
Toronto, ON, M5R 2SR
647-939-6006
Contact: AmberSager@ProtonMail.com
By Appointment Only
