Sierra Psychotherapy Group, Sacramento

Group Therapy Specialists in the Heart of Mid-Town

916-444-1786

In group therapy a small number of people meet together, with the guidance and facilitation of a professionally trained therapist to help themselves and one another.

Group therapy can help you learn about yourself and improve your relationships. Group therapy can help with feelings of isolation, depression or anxiety.  It can help you make significant changes to enhance the quality of your life. Group therapy can be a tool to better understand conflicts and difficulties in your life. It can help you find ways of moving beyond those conflicts and old patterns to create new pathways for your life.

Our approach to group psychotherapy utilizes the interpersonal gestalt model which assumes that each person has his or her unique challenges in making contact with others and in growing.  We draw upon psychodynamic and gestalt therapy theory to understand personality and group development.  We seek to help our clients become aware of roles and patterns first learned in their families of origin and early life experiences. Until they are uncovered and worked with, such roles and patterns get played out in our lives unconsciously, limiting our ability to live fully and make conscious choices for ourselves.

Old roles and patterns of thought/feeling/interacting often will naturally get played out in the therapy group.  Each group member has an opportunity to learn more about his or her old patterns and to experiment with new ones. Each participant in the group has committed to offer honest, responsible feedback.  Group member have many opportunities to both share feedback with others and to use others’ feedback as a means of learning and growing.

Group feedback helps us to understand ourselves better.  We learn about our blind spots, difficulties and vulnerabilities.  We also learn to appreciate our strengths.  

Over time, a feeling of connection emerges between group members, creating an atmosphere in which each participant can explore his or her vulnerabilities and strengths in the group.

Thus, the purpose of group therapy is to help one know oneself better, to grow and to participate in an atmosphere of honest, caring, and responsible feedback.  Group therapy can be an effective and fascinating venue to promote one’s personal growth and emotional development.

THERAPISTS

Daisy Reese LCSW has been in practice for over 25 years and maintains a private practice in Sacramento in which she specializes in work with women and couples. She facilitates ongoing therapy and retreats. Daisy has trained extensively in Gestalt Therapy, Object Relations and Group Therapy. She is a Certified Group Therapist with the American Group Psychotherapy Association. She has pursued studies in Sufism for many years and brings this perspective to her work as a therapist and trainer.  Daisy currently serves as president of the Northern California Group Therapy Society.  She is the co-author of two books co-written with Peter Cole:  Mastering the Financial Dimension of Your Practice and True Self True Wealth.

Peter Cole LCSW has been in practice for over 20 years.  He has trained extensively in Gestalt and Group Therapy. Along with Daisy, Peter is the co-director of the Sierra Psychotherapy Group. Peter's approach is integrative, combining Self Psychology and Object Relations with Gestalt's interpersonal emphasis.  Peter serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry with the UC Davis School of Medicine.  He also serves as a board member and treasurer of the Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy.  He has written numerous articles on the theory and practice of psychotherapy including "Affective Process in Psychotherapy", "Boundary Disturbances in Hospice Work" and "Resistance to Awareness".  He is the co-author of two books co-written with Daisy Reese:  Mastering the Financial Dimension of Your Practice and True Self True Wealth.