2026 Group Schedules
Location – The Psychology Centre, Gate 4a of The University of Waikato, 204 Hillcrest Road
Coping Skills
- 05 March – 23 April, Thursdays 1.30-3.30pm
- 11 March – 29 April, Wednesdays 9.30-11.30am
- 28 May – 16 July, Thursdays 1.30-3.30pm
- 28 July – 15 September, Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am
- 05 August – 23 September, Wednesdays 9.30-11.30am
- 18 August – 06 October, Tuesdays 5.30-7.30pm
- 20 October – 08 December, Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am
Navigating Emotions
- 03 March – 21 April, Tuesdays 5.30-7.30pm
- 25 May – 20 July, Mondays 9.30-11.30am
- 12 October – 07 December, day and time TBC
Being Effective With Other People
- 09 February – 30 March, Mondays 9.30-11.30am
- 26 May – 14 July, Tuesdays 5.30-7.30pm
- 21 October – 09 December, Wednesdays 9.30-11.30am
INFORMATION
Coping Skills
Everybody has times when life is harder, and painful events occur, and most people can benefit from additional means to cope.
For some people, these times come along more often, or they struggle more intensely than others.
Sometimes, usual mechanisms for managing intense distress can be ways that also contribute to other problems.
Aims of the Coping Skills group:
- Develop the ability to manage difficult times and difficult emotions more effectively
- Learn new ways of managing distress
- Get through problem times without doing something that makes them worse
What can Coping Skills do?
Coping Skills are designed to:
- Help you to slow down
- Perhaps look at a situation in a different way
- Proceed in a way that you are more likely to feel good about later
Coping Skills may not solve the situation that caused the problem in the first place, although using them might help you to get yourself in a better space to be able to deal with the problem.
More about the group…
You are welcome to be in other therapy at the same time as the Coping Skills group. It is likely useful to let your therapist know about this group, and to talk with them about what you have learned.
Evaluation of the group
We also want to measure the effect of what we are doing in the group, so will ask you to complete some questionnaires before the first session and at the last session. We anticipate these will take 10-15 minutes, and will give us some useful information to help us evaluate our work.
How to join
A clinician or your therapist will provide us with your details and we will contact you about joining the group.
- The Coping Skills group runs for eight weeks, in one two-hour session each week.
- We will focus on one or more new skills each time, and you will have the week in between to practice them.
- Each session will have an opportunity to discuss your skills practice, and to tell us about what went well, or get ideas on where you got stuck using a skill.
- You choose how much detail to share – there is no obligation to tell the group everything about yourself.
- The group is open to people of all genders, and all ages (over 18 years).
Navigating Emotions
Emotions can be overwhelming and confusing, and some people experience emotions more intensely and more acutely than other people. If you already have skills for tolerating intense emotion, then skills for navigating emotions can help you to know what to do with them next.
Who is the Navigating Emotions group for?
This group is for people who:
- Want to learn skills for understanding and knowing what to do with their emotions and
- Who already have skills for tolerating distress (i.e. you can get through difficult times without doing something that makes it worse)
What can skills for Navigating Emotions do?
Skills for navigating emotions are designed to:
- Help you to learn more about emotions and what they are for
- Learn how to evaluate your emotions, and change unwanted emotions
- Solve problems when emotions can’t be changed and the situation is the problem
More about the group…
You are welcome to be in other therapy at the same time as the Navigating Emotions group. It is likely useful to let your therapist know about this group, and to talk with them about what you have learned.
Evaluation of the group
We also want to measure the effect of what we are doing in the group, so will ask you to complete some questionnaires before the first session and at the last session. We anticipate these will take 10-15 minutes, and will give us some useful information to help us evaluate our work.
How to join
A clinician/therapist will provide us with your contact details, and we will call you about joining the group.
- The Navigating Emotions group runs for eight weeks, in one two-hour session each week
- We will focus on one or more new skills each time, and you will have the week in between to practice them
- Each session will have an opportunity to discuss your skills practice, and to tell us about what went well, or get ideas on where you got stuck using a skill
- You choose how much detail to share – there is no obligation to tell the group everything about yourself
- The group is open to people of all genders, and all ages (over 18 years).
Being Effective With Other People
This group is intended to provide skills for thinking about how to approach interpersonal situations, with the following goals:
- increase the chances of getting what you want from someone else, including having your opinion taken seriously
- while also maintaining or increasing how much the other person likes you
- all while maintaining or improving your self-respect
For most people this is a difficult balance, and for some it is more difficult more of the time. Difficulties tend to fall on one or other end of a continuum – from being hesitant to speak up, perhaps out of fear or shame, to being quick to anger, with a manner that is perceived as more pushy or even aggressive.
Either scenario can mean not meeting goals of getting what you want, maintaining relationships, and maintaining self-respect. Gaining skills for Being Effective with Other People can help to find this balance.
More about the group…
All of the skills in this group are from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), a therapy designed to help people with emotional suffering.
Skills for Being Effective with Other People rely on the ability to use:
- mindfulness skills
- skills for tolerating distress
- and skills for regulating emotion
Options to gain these skills include Coping Skills group and Navigating Emotions group. When you consider joining this group, a group leader will discuss this with you.
You are welcome to be in other therapy at the same time as Being Effective with Other People group. It is likely useful to keep talking with your therapist about what you have learned.
Evaluation of the group
We also want to measure the effect of what we are doing in the group, so will ask you to complete some questionnaires during the first and last sessions of the group. We anticipate these will take 10-15 minutes, and will give us some useful information to help us evaluate our work.
How to join
A clinician or your therapist will provide us with your details and we will contact you about joining the group.
- The group runs for eight weeks, in one two-hour session each week.
- We will focus on one or more new skills each time, and you will have the week in between to practice them.
- Each session will have an opportunity to discuss your skills practice, and to tell us about what went well, or get ideas on where you got stuck using a skill.
- You choose how much detail to share – there is no obligation to tell the group everything about yourself.
- The group is open to people of all genders, and all ages (over 18 years).