Many people find that group therapy helps them: 

• Reduce feelings of isolation and shame 

• Understand how trauma affects the brain, body, and relationships 

• Learn and practice coping and regulation skills 

• Build confidence and self-trust 

• Develop a sense of belonging and shared resilience 

Our group programs focus on understanding trauma and developing practical skills to help regulate the nervous system and manage its impacts in everyday life. 

These skills can include: 

• recognizing trauma responses in the body and mind 

• grounding and regulation techniques 

• ways to respond to triggers and overwhelming emotions 

• strategies for strengthening boundaries and self-compassion 

Learning and practicing these skills in a group setting allows participants to see how others apply them, share insights, and build confidence together. 

For many people, this foundation makes deeper therapeutic work more effective. 

Group therapy can be an important step before or alongside one-on-one trauma therapy. 

Understanding trauma responses, developing regulation skills, and strengthening a sense of safety can help prepare survivors for deeper trauma processing work when they choose to pursue one-on-one therapy. 

In this way, group therapy often supports and strengthens the impact of one-on-one counselling, helping survivors enter that work with more tools, confidence, and stability. 

Facilitators and participants will create group agreements to encourage safe participation, including confidentiality. However, it is important to know that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in any group setting. 

PEIRSAC staff are bound by ethics codes to maintain the confidentiality of any PEIRSAC client. Group participants will be encouraged to use the rule “What’s learned here can leave here, what’s said here stays here,” meaning they are free to discuss learnings from the group while keeping any personal details shared private. 

PEI is small, so you may know someone in the group. If there is a conflict, we will do our best to make sure both people can access services in a way that feels safe and confidential. For example, you could be placed in a different group cohort. 

Our Trauma Skills Group takes place over 10 sessions. It is once a week for 2 hours. There may be the option to join either an online or an in-person group, depending on availability and interest.    

No. Participation looks different for everyone. You can speak, listen, or participate in other ways.  

Participants do not have to share their trauma stories and are encouraged to engage at their own pace.

You can step out, take breaks, or let a facilitator know. Groups are designed with grounding and support built in.