Reclaiming Self: Women’s Support Group For Relational Trauma, Anxiety, & Self-Trust
Led by Alyssa Kushner, LCSW
Relational trauma & unhealthy relationships
People pleasing and fawning
Enmeshed or complicated family dynamics growing up
Anxious or disorganized attachment styles
Anxiety or hypervigilance in your relationships (being on high alert, waiting for something bad to happen, overanalyzing every interaction in relationships)
Perfectionism and high expectations of yourself
Low self-esteem, lack of self-trust, difficulty with self-compassion
Getting your worth or validation from others
Challenges with boundary setting and asserting your needs
Fears of abandonment and disappointing others
Over-giving and believing that you are under-receiving
Absorbing others emotions/problems, the mood of others, and feeling overly responsible
Putting other people above yourself and over-extending, but left feeling resentful
Frequent guilt, anxiety, and shame
Join me in a 12 week virtual support group (will extend after to go deeper but not required) to find healing in connection and community with other women who are going through similar challenges and working on improving the relationship with others and themselves. Break free from anxious patterns that don’t work anymore. Better understand attachment wounds and how its impacting your relationships now. Start attending to your needs first. Learn how to actually set boundaries and let go of the guilt and fear of disappointing others. Become a more assertive and authentic version of yourself. Develop and enhance your self-trust and self-love!
Tuesdays from 4:30 - 5:45 pm EST via zoom, started April 1st but accepting new members until April 8th or again once group has extended after 12 weeks in June.
In addition to a space to share challenges, wins, and dynamics in relationships - each week I will provide psychoeducation or handouts on topics related to relational trauma and trauma responses, unhealthy family dynamics growing up, managing anxiety, emotion regulation, people pleasing, fawning, emotional needs, boundaries, how to develop self-trust, and other topics requested from the group. I will also lead somatic and mindfulness exercises each week, teach mindful self compassion skills, and bring journal prompts to develop insight.
*Will tailor topics and exercises according to group needs
For adult women wanting to heal from:
Who: Adult Women in their late 20’s - 40’s
Where: Virtual support group for those in NYC, New Jersey, Washington DC, or Maryland but via zoom
When: Group started April 1st, running for 12 weeks but will accept new members until April 8th. Tuesdays from 4:30 pm est to 5:45 pm est. Group will extend after 12 weeks, so you may still set up a consultation if you are interested once we extend it this June (time tbd).
Fee: $90 per weekly group, total of $1080
(if requesting superbills, can pay weekly or pay upfront and receive a small discount off)
Join for a safe, open, non-judgmental space where everyone is working on creating healthier relationships. The key is not only with other people and loved ones - but with ourselves.
If you feel stuck in cycles of self-doubt, anxiety, putting other people first, and a deep fear of disappointing others but you’re ready to heal, grow, and step into your power - this is just the place!
Experience feeling less alone in your challenges and traumas, receive feedback, support, and accountability from compassionate group members. Build a community of like minded women also on the journey of healing and self-love.
Develop the tools, skills, and processes to unlearn unhealthy patterns. Become more assertive, authentic, and more fulfilled in your life.
This group meets for 12 weeks (with a likely possibility of extension though not required), because we are diving into deep topics and working on this and improving your relationships & self-relationship takes time, commitment, and effort. The expectation is committing to the entirety of the 12 sessions so we can truly get to know one another and build a safe and consistent space where everyone can feel empowered to be vulnerable.
We will have time and space for open discussion around these topics, you have will a safe place to process and share with one another and develop connections with the group. I will also be bringing topic specific handouts for learning, journal prompts to build insight, mindful self compassion exercises, and other somatic/mindfulness exercises to actually practice some of this.
This group is a good fit for you if….
You grew up in a chaotic environment or unhealthy family dynamics
You were responsible for caregivers emotions or had a family member struggle with mental health/substance use
You have trauma from relationships impacting you currently
You have an anxious attachment style or anxiety/hypervigilance in relationships
You overanalyze interactions and make meaning out of small things, fearing the other is mad at you or going to break up with you (or stop being your friend)
You struggle to put yourself first and often neglect your own needs, wants, and desires for other people’s
You take on other people's problems and emotions as your responsibility and try to fix
You say yes when you mean no and people please
You fawn and appease others to “keep the peace” and avoid conflict
You are unsure what your needs, values, and desires are or how to attend to them
You have a deep fear of disappointing others
You experience constant guilt, shame, frustration, and anxiety
You don’t actually know how to set a boundary or feel bad doing it
You experienced relational or attachment trauma growing up and see it impacting your current relationships
You have low self worth and self trust and a loud inner critic
You have a high need for control and struggle to let it go
You get your worth from others validation or being needed/useful
You believe its your job to help people or are unsure who you are outside of what you do in relationships
Where these patterns come from and which are not serving you
What is truly behind people pleasing & fawning and how to overcome
Communication styles and how to set/maintain/hold boundaries and assert needs
What your needs, values, opinions, and interests even are
What are trauma responses and how to regulate emotions (including going over the window of tolerance to learn about your nervous system)
How to tangibly develop self-trust and practice self-compassion
How to let go of control and practice mindfulness skills
How to prioritize yourself through self-care, self-compassion & practice mindfulness skills
Why you put other people above yourself, what the fears are behind rescuing everyone else, and how to let go of responsibility for other peoples emotions/behaviors/decisions
Other mind-body connecting practices and what it truly means to listen to your gut/intuition
We will learn and go over…
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This group takes place via zoom every Tuesday from 4:30-5:45 pm est. We meet weekly and this is a 12 week commitment since we are diving into deep work and it requires openness, time, effort, and readiness to take action. It’s not a quick fix. Group started April 1st, accepting new members until April 8th and then will accept new members again in June as we extend or start a new round. You may reach out for a consultation at any time!
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This group costs $90 per weekly session, however there is no cancellation policy, you are responsible for the fee each week regardless of participation. I can provide superbills to submit for reimbursement, if your insurance provides that. You can either pay weekly or upfront and receive a small discount.
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Women that are currently living in NY, NJ, MD, or DC (due to my licenses in these states) can join! We take a range of ages, however our group consists of women primarily in their late 20’s-40s. This group is online via zoom.
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I start each group with a mindfulness exercise to get grounded. Then, we do a check in- group members can share updates, wins, challenges and receive feedback and support from fellow group members and myself. Then, I usually have a topic prepared to either discuss and share more on, journal prompts to build insight, somatic exercises to connect mind body, or a mindful self compassion practice. After, we come together again to share insights, explore takeaways, and discuss together. I will be tailoring according to the needs of the group which we will discuss as a community during the first session.
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We will be tailoring the topics after the group meets and shares what everyone is looking for. However, I anticipate and will prepare topics on: relational trauma, anxiety/hypervigilance in relationships, whats behind people pleasing and fawning and how to overcome, mindful self compassion, self trust and self esteem, boundaries, healthy communication, emotional needs, attachment styles, self-care, managing anxiety, guilt, shame, and perfectionism. I will also bring in active meditations, mindful self compassion skills and somatic exercises that help connect mind and body. This will be heavy on learning, however we will have plenty of time to discuss/process with one another.
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Please schedule a free 20 minute phone consultation with me to see if its a good fit! Either email me at alyssakushnerlcsw@gmail.com or click the link directly above on this page to find my scheduling page. We will discuss your needs together and I can share more information and details on group!
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My name is Alyssa Kushner, Im an LCSW and have my own private practice where I specialize in all of the above challenges & needs. I love group work - I’ve been running groups since I first started working at a PHP/IOP back in 2018 (from process groups to skills based groups) and again at another IOP setting. During the pandemic, I create and led an anxiety support group that ran for over a year and about 2 years ago I created and led a Codependency group that is actively still running. My approach is relational, trauma-informed, and compassionate. I love bringing in mindful self compassion skills and other mindfulness exercises to start the group especially, and then I will often teach about trauma responses through a polyvagal and somatic lens. I love to lead groups in a style where we have time to talk and connect, but I will also bring handouts and journal prompts to teach as well. If you’d like to learn more about my background, you can learn here!
