Workshops and Groups

Getting Better Sleep with Grace Wong, OTD, OTR/L, and Lee H. Coleman, Ph.D., ABPP

When: Wednesday, October 16, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Hameetman Center 2nd Floor Conference Room
RSVP for Lunch - RSVP is required for lunch on a first come first serve basis. 

This 1-hour workshop is perfect for people who have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. We'll cover strategies for managing insomnia, changing your sleep schedule, and dealing with worries that might keep you up at night.

Getting Started with Lee H. Coleman, Ph.D., ABPP

When: Wednesday, October 23, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Hameetman Center 2nd Floor Conference Room
RSVP for Lunch - RSVP is required for lunch on a first come first serve basis. 

We've all dealt with low motivation and feeling stuck. We know what we want to do, but we can't bring ourselves to get moving. These are the times when we procrastinate, daydream, panic, or just stay in bed. This workshop focuses on evidence-based techniques to help you start taking effective action – even when you don't feel like it. We'll review practical steps to get yourself moving, and we'll cover some ways of changing your mindset so things don't feel so overwhelming. Come join us!

Getting Things Done: An Introduction with Grace Wong, OTD, OTR/L, and Lee H. Coleman, Ph.D., ABPP

When: Wednesday, November 6, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Hameetman Center 2nd Floor Conference Room
RSVP for Lunch - RSVP is required for lunch on a first come first serve basis. 

Getting Things Done (GTD) is a popular system developed by David Allen for structuring your work at both the big-picture level and at the level of your daily responsibilities. It's an effective way to get your work out of your mind and into a trusted system that shows you only what you can handle right now. Come join us for this fun and engaging informal overview of the GTD system. Please come ready to take notes and jump right in! *This workshop and the presenters are not affiliated in any way with Getting Things Done, David Allen, or the David Allen Company.

Join us for one (or both) parts of the Financial Literacy Series this Fall!

Financial Literacy: Budgeting

When: November 13, 2024, 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Where: Central Cats Rec Room
Budgeting isn't just about cutting back and skipping your favorite latte! In this workshop, we'll cover what it means to budget and build the life you want to have.

Financial Literacy: Intro to Investing for Retirement

When: November 20, 2024, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Where: Central Cats Rec Room
When it comes to personal finance, the sheer amount of information available can be overwhelming and it can be easy to get stuck in decision paralysis. In this workshop, we will cover the basics of investing for retirement. Walk away with concrete steps and resources to start on right after the workshop!

Caltech Connect training is a 2-hour interactive experience designed to give participants practical skills for having supportive conversations and making referrals to resources for those in crisis.

Caltech Connect is highly interactive, as participants engage in multiple exercises throughout the training to increase both their skills and awareness concerning the emotional intensity of responding to suicidal college students. The training culminates with a role play, in which participants are given the opportunity to practice the skills they are taught during the course of the training.

View the training schedule and sign-up information.

The Counseling Center will be facilitating a weekly interpersonal process group exclusively for graduate students. Unlike a class or a skills-based group, a process group is designed to allow participants to engage with one another in an organic way, where peers collaboratively guide the content of conversations. Clinician(s) encourage the exchange of constructive feedback and discussion, as group members gain insight into their interpersonal style, address challenges, and identify strengths.

• This group can be valuable in various ways, including:
  • Enhance communication effectiveness with others
  • Strengthen your confidence in creating meaningful relationships
  • Become more comfortable identifying your emotions
  • Receive feedback about how you present and engage socially
  • Practice interpersonal conflict resolution skills
  • Have a safe & confidential space to process challenges

When: Thursdays 3:00pm - 4:30pm; start date to be determined pending participants' schedules and availability

Where: Student Wellness Services North (1245 Arden Rd.)

Who: Currently enrolled Caltech Graduate Students, brief screening meeting required.

• Those who can commit to attending group weekly for at least one academic term.
• Those who have previous or current experience in individual or group therapy.

Please use the Student Health Portal to send a message to the Counseling Center Front Desk and ask to set up a screening appointment. You can also call the Counseling Center at (626) 395-8331 to schedule the meeting. 

• Are you currently in individual therapy?
  • If you are currently seeing a therapist at Caltech's Counseling Services, this group should take the place of your individual therapy this term. If you are in therapy with an outside provider, you may choose to continue that concurrently.

Facilitator: Karyn Maczka, LMFT (Caltech SWS Staff Clinician). Read about Karyn.

LGBTQ+ people experience mental health challenges at higher rates than the general population. The counseling center will be offering a weekly support group for members of the Caltech LGBTQ+ community. Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to attend. Discussion topics will be chosen by participants and facilitated by a staff clinician.  
This group can be valuable in helping you:

1. Become more comfortable with your own identity
2. Get LGBTQ+ specific support around issues like coming out, dating, and relationships
3. Practice interpersonal skills in a safe and affirming environment
4. Build community and camaraderie with your LGBTQ+ Caltech peers
5. Have a reliable and safe place to share experiences 

When: Date and time to be determined based on students' scheduling needs

Who: Undergraduate and graduate students who identify as LGBTQ+ who can commit to a weekly support group for at least one session. New members are welcome even if the group has already started meeting.  

A 30-minute screening appointment is required before the first meeting. You can email Jamie Turner, use the Student Health Portal to send a message to the Counseling Center Front Desk, or call (626) 395-8331 to set one up.

Facilitator: Jamie Turner at the Wellness Center. Read about Jamie.

We're a drop-in mindfulness meditation group open to all Caltech students. No previous experience is required; we offer techniques that are appropriate for everyone from newbies to more experienced meditators. There's no religious component: We offer secular practices that are, whenever possible, based in research.

We meet every Tuesday from 12:00 - 12:50 pm at Hameetman Club Room 2 (bottom floor).

Learn more about the Meditation Mob and view the mp3 archive.

Mindfully Resilient is an 8-week in-person class focused on helping prevent relapse of depression and anxiety. You'll learn to identify your specific triggers for relapse, and will learn the skill of mindful awareness to cope with those triggers when they arise.

This class will teach you to:

• Be more aware of the workings of your mind and of unhelpful patterns in your thinking
• Recognize that you have choices other than slipping back into old patterns
• Refine the capacity to recognize warning signals and take helpful action
• Put less effort into ‘fixing' things by dwelling excessively on them
• Focus on the here and now. There is no requirement to explore the past.

When: This group will next run in Winter term 2025, but you can screen for the group now during Fall term 2024. Just call Counseling Services at (626) 395-8331 and ask to schedule a 30-minute group screening for the Mindfully Resilient group.

There is a significant out-of-class expectation for daily mindful awareness practice - usually about 30 minutes every day. Most of the gains from the class will take place during these periods of private individual practice. I recognize that this is a lot to ask - and the feedback from Caltech students has consistently indicated that it's both doable and worth the effort.

Read more about Mindfully Resilient.