Group 1: Surviving and Thriving during Covid-19 - Connection and Support for You and Your Loved Ones

The global pandemic has created uncertainty and anxiety. This group will provide a safe place to share concerns, worries, and experiences related to the current global pandemic. In addition, we will explore how the pandemic has challenged us to think differently or take up new interests. For those who have recently returned to Shanghai, are mourning the loss of a family member abroad, or are separated from family, as a group, we will learn from each other and find pathways forward. 

Location: CCS Pudong Center

Time: Tuesdays 6:00pm-7:30pm; September 7 – November 23; No group October 5

Open to: Adults

Format: Group is open for anyone to attend any week

Price: Free, no fee, but a donation of 50-100 RMB per session or whatever you feel compelled to offer towards the CCS Subsidized Counseling Fund is encouraged and appreciated.

Facilitator: Sarah Harkin, Counseling Intern, Group Supervised by Carrie Jones, LCSW, Director of Counseling, Community Center Shanghai.

Group 2: Executive Functioning Group - Emotional Wellnessfor Tweens and Teens

This group will help students ages 11-14 years. Many smart children struggle with executive functioning and may have trouble with sustaining attention, keeping track of belongings, and organizing information. According to many researchers, the seven main areas of executive functioning include: planning and goal setting, organizing, prioritizing, working memory, shifting, inhibition, and self-regulation. The group will use researched based activities and games designed to help students to develop routines, study skills (e.g., reading for understanding), and cultivate a mindfulness practice. Books referenced in program include Organizational Skills Training for Children with ADHD: An Empirically Supported Treatment and Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential.

Location: CCS Pudong

Time: Saturdays 10:00 am-11:30 am, September 4 – November 13; no group October 2

*All children will be scheduled for a 30 minute intake session prior to the start of the group.

Open to: Students ages 11-14 years

Format: Closed group limited to 8 kids maximum

Price: 1,200 RMB/person for the 10 sessions

Facilitator: Sarah Harkin, Counseling Intern, Group Supervised by Carrie Jones, LCSW, Director of Counseling, Community Center Shanghai.

Group 3: Grief & Loss Support Group - Expressing grief through connection, words, and action

"Each person's grief is as unique as their fingerprint. But what everyone has in common is that no matter how they grieve, they share a need for their grief to be witnessed. That doesn't mean needing someone to try to lessen it or reframe it for them. The need is for someone to be fully present to the magnitude of their loss without trying to point out the silver lining." - David Kessler, Finding Meaning

This group will allow individuals to witness and support each other through their grief and will be a powerful reminder that we are not alone in dark, difficult times. Group members also will have the opportunity to participate in planning a CCS Grief Memorial Event and project if they wish.

Location: CCS Pudong

Time: Thursdays 7 – 8:15 pm; September 2 - December 2; No group October 7 or November 25

Open to: Adults & Teens age 16 and up

Format: Group is open for anyone to attend any week

Price: Free, no fee but a donation of 50-100 RMB per session or whatever you feel compelled to offer towards the CCS Subsidized Counseling Fund is encouraged and appreciated.

Facilitator: Carrie Jones, LCSW, Director of Counseling, Community Center Shanghai and Katrina Volente, Counseling Intern

Group 4: Wholehearted Parenting - Raising kids guided by the principles of Wholehearted Living

Each week, this group will focus on one of the 12 points in Brené Brown's Parenting Manifesto. Parents will support and encourage each other through the joys and challenges of parenting, especially here in Shanghai, and will explore how to more consistently practice Wholehearted Parenting.

Location: CCS Pudong

Time: Thursdays 1:15-2:30 pm; September 2 - December 2; No group October 7 or November 25

Open to: Parents of children of any age

Format: Group is open for any parent to attend any week

Price: 2,100 RMB/person for all 12 sessions OR 200 RMB per session

Facilitator: Carrie Jones, LCSW, Director of Counseling, Community Center Shanghai

Group 5: Emotional Regulation and Distress Tolerance - Practical techniques and tools to help navigate emotional distress

This group aims to help people increase their resilience through the acquisition and practice of tools that can help process challenging emotions, unwanted behaviors, and difficult thoughts. This group will provide a safe place for participants to talk through situations that have been challenging for them in their own lives and the distress this may have caused to them and those around them. Additionally, group members will be introduced to skills related to analyzing their own behavior, reactions and styles of communication that may be contributing to ongoing patterns of disruption in their personal and/or professional lives.

Location: CCS Downtown partner location

Time: Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm; September 21 – November 23; No group October 5

Open to: Adults & Teens age 16 and up

Format: Group is open for anyone to attend any week

Price: 600 RMB / person for all 9 sessions OR 100 RMB per session

Facilitator: Karlene Rowland MSc, CCS Counseling Intern, Community Center Shanghai.

Group 6: Relationship with Self - A Teen Writing Group for Exploring Authenticity

Our relationship with Self influences our interpersonal relationships and how we perceive aspects of them (i.e., whether or not the relationship is healthy, our role in the relationship). Teens who develop the habit of taking care of their own self-interest without selfishness are more likely to participate in interdependent, rather than codependent, relationships. Ultimately, teens learn how to be better relationship participants and better enjoy the relationships they enter into.

This group is designed for teens aged 15-19 who are interested in building awareness of their relationship with themselves (known as the Self). Awareness grows through the use of self-exploration activities such as writing, meditation, mindfulness, and self-esteem-building practices. The primary intervention used in this group is expressive writing. Unlike school writing, expressive writing is not graded, judged, or even shared if the teen prefers to keep it private. Whether you're a seasoned or new writer, creative or analytical, expressive writing offers insight into your Self.

Location: CCS Pudong

Time: Saturdays 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.; October 9 - December 11

Open to: Ages 14 - 18* (*Please note that all interested participants will be scheduled for a 20-minute screening interview prior to the start of the group.)

Format: Closed group limited to 12 participants maximum

Price: 1500rmb per teen for all 10 sessions

Facilitators: Katrina Volante, Counseling Intern, and Carrie Jones, LCSW, Director of Counseling, Community Center Shanghai