Groups & Workshops

Groups and workshops are a great way to learn about yourself, your relationship patterns, and the skills you need to accomplish your life goals. Group therapy can provide a much broader experience of support, because you belong a community of peers working together for personal growth. While the initial moments of a group can sometimes feel awkward, the experiences in a group can build close relationships that last for years.

DBT Skills Group 

For Female Identifying Teens 2025 

Shine a Light Counseling Center is starting a new DBT Skills Group for Female Identifying Teens. This is an ongoing group with enrollment open every 6 weeks.

Some of the topics you will learn are:
  • Understanding, managing and regulating emotions
  • Tolerating distress and crises without making problems bigger
  • Maintaining satisfying relationships with others
  • Increasing self-awareness, expanding one’s ability to recognize alternative points of view and managing emotional situations
  • Increasing problem-solving skills, learning validation and effectively managing differences of opinion with family members

Wednesdays, 4:00-5:15 pm
Santa Cruz
Fee: $50-$80
(sliding scale available upon need)

See Flyer & Sign Up Form Here

Psychotherapy Process Group

A psychotherapy process group can be a supportive community where you get to explore and understand yourself on a deeper level.

You’ll get honest feedback and interact with others who can offer fresh perspectives on your challenges. It’s a great way to boost your communication skills, learn from diverse experiences, and gain support in a safe space. Plus, you’ll have the chance to experiment with new behaviors and reflect on your growth alongside a vibrant group with an emphasis on authenticity and personal evolution.

The things that people join a process group to work on are many and varied, as are their identities and strengths. Part of the magic is that folks are working together on different things, which helps create a unique and supportive container.

Thursdays, 6:00-7:30 pm
Santa Cruz
Fee: $40. per session
(sliding scale available upon need)

Meg Finlay is a trainee therapist at Shine a Light. She views relationships as the threads that connect us, both internally and externally, adn strengthening these threads as a pivotal element of healing. As a participant herself in a process group for 7 years, she is passionate about the power of groups. Meg is an improviser, and a white, queer, cis gendered polyamorous woman, as well as a sex and sexuality geek and she brings these identities and interests into her work. 

To sign up, please fill out this form:

The Heartful Man: Men’s Group

Shine a Light Counseling Center is starting a new men’s group. This group is 10 weeks long starting in November 11th & runs through January 2024.

This will be a weekly group for all those male-identified. It is a place to be authentic, to be vulnerable, to speak, to listen, and be supported by other men. We will explore different challenges related to being a man in the world today, giving space to feel and process together. Through examining how our own identities are shaped, we can expand who we are as men, giving us new possibilities for how we relate to ourselves, each other, our partners, families, communities and the earth.
The group runs for 10 weeks and can continue. Every 10 weeks the circle opens for additional men to join. Sign up now and get on the list for the next round. 

Mondays, 6:30-8:30 pm
Santa Cruz
Fee: $400 – $600
(sliding scale available upon need)

See Flyer & Sign Up Form Here

DBT Skills Online Group 

For Adults over 21

DBT Skills Group for all adults age 21+

There is a waitlist for this group. If you are interested in joining this group please let us know by filling out the form below.

Some of the topics you will learn are:
  • Understanding, managing and regulating emotions
  • Tolerating distress and crises without making problems bigger
  • Maintaining satisfying relationships with others
  • Increasing self-awareness, expanding one’s ability to recognize alternative points of view and managing emotional situations
  • Increasing problem-solving skills, learning validation and effectively managing differences of opinion with family members

 

To get on our waitlist, please fill out this form:

Request an Appointment

To Request an Appointment at Shine a Light or NPCC, please fill out this form. We respond to inquiries Monday through Friday. All inquiries we receive on the weekends or holidays will be processed the next business day. Thank you for your patience. If you need immediate services, please call 911.

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Your Name
Name of Intended Client
Date of Birth (of the intended client)
Use the drop down menu to select your nearest location.
Of whoever is paying for therapy
Use the drop-down menu to select your insurance coverage.
Please carefully input the number from your insurance card.
Use the drop-down menu to select the type of counseling you want.
Use the drop-down menu to indicate if you have seen a therapist with us previously.
Issues You Want Help With:
MORNINGS you are Available:
EARLY AFTERNOONS you are Available:
LATE AFTERNOONS you are Available:
EVENINGS you are Available:
Contact Preferences:
This helps us track your inquiry and respond to you quickly.

Agency Inquiries

This form is for agency information. If you want information about counseling for yourself or your family, use the other form. Thank you.

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Name
This form is for agency information. If you want information about counseling for yourself or your family, use the other form. Thank you.

New Office in San Francisco!

Shine a Light Counseling Center is please to merge with New Perspectives Center for Counseling. NPCC has been serving the San Francisco community for thirty years. Now NPCC is transitioning to become the San Francisco site for Shine a Light. NPCC will retain its name, character and history. For information about NPCC or counseling in San Francisco:

 

New Perspectives Center for Counseling (link)

Emergency Contact

Shine a Light does not provide crisis services. If you have a mental health emergency, call 988 or 911. Or  click here  for more Crisis Resources

Telephone Contact

You can call Shine a Light at 831-996-1222, but we encourage you to use the email forms to the left. If you call, please leave the following:

  • Phone number
  • Preferred location
  • Best times to meet
  • Issue you want help with
  • What insurance you have (if any)

FAX us at: 831-417-0443

Good Faith Estimate

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your therapy sessions will cost. Your fee will be set according to a sliding scale, in collaboration with your therapist, prior to your first counseling session. Total costs depend upon the number of sessions you choose to utilize.

If you have private health insurance and we are not in-network with your plan, please be aware that your costs for therapy may be less by using an in-network provider. This will depend upon your plan's deductible amounts and co-payments. In some cases, counseling at Shine a Light is less costly than using private insurance.

If you hope to use "out of network" benefits through your private insurance, please be aware that many plans will not reimburse for services provided by trainees. Please request an Associate level therapists for out-of-network billing.

Click here to download a flyer for

Shine a Light Counseling Center

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