At Womencare, we believe that positive change occurs as a result of collaborative partnerships. We work from an understanding of a relational model that is non-pathologizing and empowering. Group Counseling provides many valuable opportunities for healing and growth within a supportive community.

Therapy Groups Offered

To join one of our therapy groups, please contact the group leader at 847-475-7003. An initial interview is required before joining a group. Fees are established on a sliding scale.

Women’s Trauma Survivor Groups

Traumatic experiences can impair a person's sense of self, relationships and belief in a hopeful and promising future. Working through trauma and building new skills can provide deep healing and break the cycle of abuse.

These groups offer opportunities for healing and support women’s ability to transform their experience from trauma into hope. Trauma isolates; group creates a sense of belonging.

Three Ongoing Groups:

• Women Survivors of Trauma and Childhood Abuse
  Led by Laurie Kahn
  Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  Contact Laurie Kahn at ext. 22
• Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse
  Led by Amy Steinhauer
  Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  Contact Amy Steinhauer at ext. 24
• Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse: A Skill-Building Group
  Led by Judith Ierulli
  Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
  Contact Judith Ierulli at ext. 27

Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Too often men who are abused feel disconnected from themselves and the people around them. Gender expectations can interfere with men seeking help and receiving the support they deserve.

This group will provide education about sexual and physical abuse and how current behaviors often are linked to past abuse. We will help survivors reframe many current symptoms and behaviors as real attempts to cope with past trauma, supporting the establishment of healthy coping skills. In a safe environment, participants can address the feelings of shame, isolation and stigmatization which are sometimes amplified for males coping with the impact of abuse.

Led by Judith Ierulli
Time-limited group: repeating 10-week sessions
Thursdays, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Contact Judith Ierulli at ext. 27

The Healing Spiritual Journey for Trauma Survivors

Following the workshop, Healing Your Soul Self, an eight-week group process will be offered to those who wish to deepen their healing around their spirituality. Participants will engage in a therapeutic process that will address the following three phases: 

1. Spiritual Safety
2. Remembrance and Mourning
3. Reconnection to One's Faith Experience

There will be opportunities for reflection, personal sharing and experiencing rituals that will help each participant to reclaim her own soul-self. 

Participants are encouraged to attend the day-long workshop in order to participate in this group.

Led by Maco Cassetta
Time limited group: repeating 10-week cycles
Wednesday evenings
Contact Maco Cassetta at ext. 33

A.R.T.: Adolescent Girls Reclaiming Themselves

At no other time in a girl's life is her sense of self more influenced by peer culture and the need for belonging than adolescence. Relational challenges both at home and at school can create enormous distress and damage a young women's sense of self and voice. Group is a safe place for adolescent girls to gather and use creative expressive techniques to explore and share some of the challenges facing them today.

Led by Nicole Howell
Time-limited group: repeating 10-week sessions; call for schedule.
Contact Nicole Howell at ext. 34

To join one of our therapy groups, please contact the group leader at 847-475-7003. An initial interview is required before joining a group. Fees are established on a sliding scale.