CAPS Skills Sessions are open to all currently enrolled KU students. All Skills Sessions build upon the content in other weeks or topics, attend as many as makes sense for you.  Please call CAPS @ (785) 864-2277 for any questions. Skills Sessions are 100% free. 

CAPS Groups are open to current CAPS clients only (if you are not a current client, click here to get started). In group therapy, four to eight people meet either face-to-face or online with one or two group therapists and talk about what is troubling them. Members give feedback to each other by expressing their own feelings about what someone says or does. This interaction gives group members an opportunity to try out new ways of behaving and to learn more about the way they interact with others. What makes the situation unique is that it is a safe system. The importance of confidentiality (not discussing the content of group session outside of group) is stressed with all members. Members work to establish a level of trust that allows them to talk personally and honestly. Group trust is enhanced when all members make a commitment to the group. Groups are 100% free. 

If you require accommodations in order to participate in these groups and workshops, please contact CAPS at 785-864-2277. 

Skills Sessions for Fall 2026

To attend any skills sessions, please fill out the form linked below the descriptions.

Building Your Flock: A Healthy Relationships Skills Series

Series 1: A Healthy Relationship Conversation
Thursdays, September 10 - October 14
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Series 2: Real Talk about (Real) Relationships
Thursdays, October 29 - November 19
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Building Your Flock is a series for students who want to build relationships with friends, family, significant others, and themselves. We’ll identify our individual strengths, examine the common patterns found in healthy relationships, and build more effective communication skills for starting/maintaining the relationships important to us. Each week, you’ll gain knowledge and have meaningful conversations you can apply to help build your flock.

Focus for Success

Series 1
Wednesdays, September 9 - September 30
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Series 2
Wednesdays, October 14 - November 4
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Focus for Success is a workshop for students who struggle to start, maintain, and complete tasks. Focus for Success will help students understand how attention works in the brain and explain the various causes of inattention. Focus for Success will also guide students in improving focus and minimizing distractions by teaching skills that can be practiced at home and in class.


Protect Your Peace: A Skills Session To Help You Become More Than Your Anxious Thoughts 

Tuesday, September 8
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Join CAPS staff for a 90-minute skills session to help you become more than your anxious thoughts. You’ll learn more about anxious thoughts, what they do for and to you, and learn some skills to better manage the thoughts that sometimes get in your way. This is an interactive skills-focused session with time to practice some of the skills discussed. 

Big Feels Better Skills

Monday, September 14
4:30 – 6:00 PM 
Kansas Union, Room 452

Tuesday, September 22
4:30 – 6:00 PM 
Kansas Union, Room 452

In this 90 minute emotion regulation skills session CAPS staff will discuss what big emotions are actually good for and provide practical skills to try out during the skills session so that you can be confident in using them in your daily life. This is a great skills session to try if you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed. 

Find Your Calm: Practical Mindfulness To Fit Into Your Real Life

Monday, October 5 
4:00 pm - 4:45 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

Tuesday, October 27 
5:00 pm - 5:45 pm 
Kansas Union, Room 452

You will walk away from this 45-minute skills session with a better understanding of why everyone talks so much about mindfulness being good for you. CAPS staff will share about the benefits of mindfulness and give you a chance to practice some different forms of mindfulness to then make part of your routine. 

Hard Launch Your Self-Care

Tuesday, October 13 
4:30 - 5:15 PM
Kansas Union, Room 452

Monday, November 2 
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Kansas Union, Room 452

In this 45-minute skills session, CAPS staff will explore barriers to taking care of your emotional and mental health and guide students in developing a personalized self-care plan. 

Group Therapy Offerings for Fall 2026

CAPS Groups are open to current CAPS clients only. Talk to your clinician for more information. Interested in joining a group, but not yet connected with CAPS? Drop in for a Jayhawk Check-in from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm! For further questions, please call us at 785-864-2277. 

Interpersonal Process Groups

Often, the personal issues that bring us to counseling (e.g., stress, anxiety, or depression) have more to do with how we relate to others than we think. Interpersonal Process Groups help members explore the relationship between their interpersonal style and their emotional well-being. Members will be encouraged to experiment with new behaviors, which can foster more meaningful connections with others and enhance emotional health.

Undergrad: Contact CAPS for more information 
Graduate: Contact CAPS for more information

TTRPG Therapy Group

Uses role play and TTRPG game play to make change through connection to others with the support of the group and facilitator. Facilitator/Games Master Theryn Spomer, LSCSW. This semester, we will be playing Masks: A New Generation.

Day and Time: Contact CAPS for more information 

Mindfulness Training Group

Helps students learn and apply mindfulness principles in everyday life.  

Day and Time: Contact CAPS for more information 

Dissertation and Thesis Support Group 
Fridays 10:00 am - 11:30 am

If you are a graduate student whose priority is completing your dissertation or thesis and you are struggling with motivation, loneliness, anxiety, or other challenges that are negatively impacting your ability to make progress, this group may be for you. 

The group will provide support and community in a confidential space with a focus on sharing experiences, offering and receiving support, goal setting, minimizing barriers, and anxiety/stress management. 

Potential benefits include becoming less self-critical and fearful of the judgment of others, clarifying goals and values, gaining confidence in decisions, developing the ability to tolerate and accept difficult emotions, becoming better at asking for what you need and setting boundaries. All of this can lead to a new and improved relationship with your academic work.

This group requires regular attendance and a willingness to engage in group activities and share experiences. 

CAPS Open Group
Tuesdays
October 6 – December 12
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

No pre-registration required. Once you have completed a Jayhawk Check-in for the current year, you may attend as many Open Group meetings as you’d like. 

This group will help students develop and practice skills in various areas, including coping with mental health symptoms, communicating effectively, regulating emotions, tolerating distress, building self-esteem, and improving self-care practices.

Each group session will include a brief check-in, an orientation activity (ground/mindfulness, brief expressive activity, journal prompt, etc.), a psychoeducation topic and relevant skills training, processing time, and a checkout to discuss progress and develop steps for the student to take next week. 

This group may be beneficial for any student interested in learning foundational skills for navigating their mental wellbeing. It may also benefit clients on the waiting list for individual therapy and/or clients already using individual therapy services who need a little extra support.

Why Does Group Therapy Work?

Group therapy is sometimes the most effective way of learning and growing. Here are some ideas about why this form of therapy can be so helpful.

• Once can learn about both oneself and relationships in a group therapy setting. We often learn most about ourselves when we share our experiences and emotions honestly with other.
• We also learn about ourselves when we get feedback from other people.
• Knowing that others have histories and feelings similar to ours can help us feel less alone. As we help others learn about themselves, we often understand ourselves better. Seeing others grow from hurt and pain into creative solutions can sometimes give us hope and ideas.
• Since the roles we play in life tend to be the same roles we adopt in group, experiences inside group, when we understand them, can teach us about experiences outside group.
• The dependability and honesty of group members to each other can rebuild trust and self–worth, both in others and ourselves.

How to Get the Most Out Of a Therapy Group

• Be yourself. Start from where you are, not where you think others want you to be. If you are having a difficult time knowing how to discuss your feelings, ask the group to help you. At times, just knowing what to say can feel uncomfortable.
• Take time for yourself. You have the right to take group time to talk about yourself. Some group members hesitate to focus on themselves because they feel that others need the time or their own concerns are not as important as other group members. By understanding your reluctance to talk, you begin the growth process.
• Be aware of censored thoughts and feelings. We are taught to censor what we communicate to others. Learning to express your thoughts and feelings without censorship in a safe setting is the first step towards self-awareness and the resolution of uncomfortable feelings.
• Take risks. The group setting is an excellent place to experiment with different ways of behaving and expressing yourself. By taking risks, you can discover what works for you and what does not.
• Give and receive feedback. Giving and receiving feedback is a major aspect of group therapy. The best way to get feedback is to request it, especially from specific individuals whose impression means the most from you. Giving feedback is enhanced when you express your thoughts and feelings and avoid giving advice or solutions unless these are specifically requested.
• Be patient with yourself and the group. Growth takes time, effort and patience. It may take a number of sessions before members have enough trust to be open and for the process to work. The leader will help create an atmosphere of trust.