Who is it for?

People who have already engaged in 2-3 years of personal psychotherapy, who want to:

- deepen their relationships and to be truly met and known.

- learn how to create emotionally intimate friendships.

- practice connecting to self, soul, other and mystery. 

- be supported to navigate change.

- practice being known and loved reciprocally.

- integrate liminal or altered state experiences that are not yet grounded / embodied. 

This is also a friendly space for queer, indigenous and trans members of our community.  

How do I know I’m ripe for it?

- you have a question, a concern, a recurring stumbling block or an emotional wound that you are ready to address.

- you want to attend to your deepest longings.

- you want to start having the biggest and deepest and realest conversations you can have with the world, from your soul.

- you're beginning to prefer the pain of change over the pain of staying the same.

Who is facilitating the group?

My name is Vas Clementine. I learned how group psychotherapy works by being in a group as a participant for 6 years. Then I trained as a counsellor, and have been running groups in a hospital setting and privately for over 4 years. I also a bachelor and master degrees in theology and lived experience of monastic life, big decision discernment and good time/hard time mysticism. I am also an oral folktale and myth storyteller as well as a breathwork facilitator. I’ve navigated dark and difficult emotional and relational terrain and unknown wilderness places of the soul. I offer all of this as a group facilitator.

Does this replace 1:1 psychotherapy?

Short answer, no. But it is psychotherapy. Instead of being a client or patient, you will be a participant, and much more. You will teach and learn, heal and be healed, listen and be listened to, empathise and be attuned to. You will participate in helping others feel safe and connected, and other participants will do this for you. What is often overlooked in therapy-land is that therapists mostly just do what most parents and good humammals (to coin a term) do intuitively - Attend (be there), Attune (feel with), Assist (help) in that order until we're connected and ready to play. When one of these is missed or incomplete or done out of sequence, we end up with unmet emotional needs, relational rupture, disregulated and disconnected. But when these three steps are practiced well and sequentially, we tend to feel good, we begin to build the muscles of trust, deepen in relationship, we allow co-regulation, feel connected, loved and ready to play, learn, discover, grow and co-create. Group therapy is a place where participants can heal their attachment patterning.

What is the level of commitment?

The group meets once per week for 90-minutes for 12-week terms in an ongoing way. For new participants, the first 12-week term is a trial period, by which the participant and facilitator can decide whether this group is a good fit. It is common for participants to derive the deepest and most lasting healing and change in their lives over a period of 12 to 24 months of weekly group therapy.

How much does it cost?

To participate in the group costs $1,440 per term. This offering is not covered by Medicare. 

How do I join? (Apply below)

If you're feeling moved to participate, please provide your details below to book a 1:1 Interview, in which I'll talk for a bit about what group therapy actually is and how it works, and then I'll hear from you about your intentions for participating in the group. If we (you and I) agree that it's a fit, then we'll put you in the group. As we approach the end of your first term we will discuss whether this group is a good fit as an ongoing group.

How long is recommended to be in the group?

Generally speaking 12 to 24 months is the timeframe in which deep work can happen. Deep work can't really happen sooner than that because it takes time to build trust and culture within the group. Having said that, everyone's purposes and life passages are unique. The first 12 week term is the minimum time to know if being in an ongoing group is what you want. It's not enough time to get to the intimate essence or to get into deep relationships, but it is enough time to expose core wounds, coping traits, to begin to build trust and rapport and to get an initial sense for how group therapy works. Deep work needs deep knowing, which needs deep time. Paradoxically, the group bond deepens faster by slowing down and taking time. Many people who are called to group therapy are looking for deeper connections, to feel all of their feelings, their deep, shy and hidden longings. For many people the weekly group is an oasis in their life and an indispensable support for their journey, enabling one to change careers, another to find a healthy relationship, another to find their confidence as a parent, another to explore their new spirituality, another to leave the familiar and the safe for an adventurous life, another to understand the patterns that are undermining their relationships and career. Group can help in more ways than can be written.