Groups



Attending a group program can be an efficient and cost effective way to develop effective tools to create change in your life.

We run a number of courses which may be used as a compliment to your individual therapy or as a change process on their own. Anyone is welcome! You don’t have to be attending as an individual client to register for our groups. Please note, for some groups we may also require you to be receiving support elsewhere if you are engaging in high risk behaviours. In these instances, the group is not a substitute for individual treatment.

 

Mindfulness Meditation

We run this group consistently throughout the year. Contact us to find out about the next start date. It is suitable for both beginners and more advanced meditators.

This is an experiential and practice based course that will teach you a number of different mediation practices and methods. Each class involves guided meditations, with clear step by step instruction and the chance to get face to face individual questions answered, so you can successfully learn the skills to meditate on your own or as a group, and get your meditation dose in for the busy week.

Meditation is recognised by western psychology and many other traditions. It has been shown to help reduce stress, create emotional balance as well as the other benefits listed:

  • Calms the mind
  • Relaxes the physical body
  • Reduces anxiety and stress
  • Improved emotional balance and less emotional reactivity
  • Improved sense of wellbeing and more happiness, joy and optimism
  • Improved concentration, focus and mental clarity
  • Improved creativity
  • Increased self-awareness and self-understanding
  • Helps with healing and managing pain
  • Improves sleep

The course is presented in small group format over 6 x 1 hour weekly evening sessions.

Introduction to Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Learn to master your emotions and other life-changing teachings and tools

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a powerful practical approach for learning to manage your emotions, build resilience, cope with distress, and improve your relationships. DBT is especially useful for people who experience high emotional sensitivity, have up-and-down emotions, have difficulty managing their reactions, and find this interferes with their self-esteem, mood, coping, and relationships. The Institute for Healthy Living is one of the few private practices in Sydney to offer a DBT course.

We are currently in the middle of running this group. Our next group is due to start in June 2018.
Course length: 8 weeks, 90 minutes skills learning per week.

Places are limited, so if you would like to register your interest for our next group, please contact us via email at info@institute4healthyliving.com or by phone on 02 8937 0667.

The upfront cost is $500, and we require a $100 deposit to secure your place in the course. The course must be paid in full one week prior to the start of the course. With a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you will be eligible for a rebate of $31.65 per session for up to ten group sessions per year. We will lodge a Medicare claim on your behalf for each session you attend. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about costs and rebates.

DBT is highly practical, and will equip you with essential life skills. The course covers:

  • mindfulness
  • emotional resilience and coping with distress
  • changing problematic coping behaviours
  • understanding and managing emotions
  • letting go and practicing radical acceptance
  • accessing more balanced states of mind
  • building communication and relationship skills

Next course: Introductory Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Group begins Saturday 27th of April, 2019

Our next LEVEL 2 DBT program will be scheduled for July or August 2019. This course is designed for those who have completed our Introductory course or have had exposure to DBT concepts. The course focuses on practical application of the DBT skills in your life. Email us now to register your interest as this course is popular and has a limit of 10 participants.

Enhanced DBT-based program for overcoming problem eating behaviours

This 6 week course is useful for those experiencing the following problem eating behaviours:
– binge eating
– emotional eating
– stress and comfort eating
– over-eating
– bulimia
– uncontrollable urges and cravings
– mindless eating
– secret eating
– yo-yo dieting

Created using effective psychological approaches, this course will teach you about the specific barriers and underlying issues causing these problem eating behaviours. You will learn a comprehensive set of the most up-to-date tools and know-how for changing and resolving these problem behaviours. Across 6 weeks, we will provide you with very practical, step-by-step skills training and coaching in the methods for systematically analysing the complete picture of a problem behaviour that you struggle with so that you can understand it more accurately and identify which skills need to be applied in order to change the pattern. This course provides insights and skills from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Psychology, Neuropsychology for addiction and behaviour change, and Health Psychology.

About the Facilitator

The course is led by Clinical Psychologist Bianca Glajz, who has previously run DBT groups for The Sydney Clinic and St John of God Hospital. Bianca has great experience, enthusiasm, and warmth. She has specialised training in helping clients use DBT to take control of their life and feel empowered to find authentic happiness. You can learn more about Bianca here