Psychology Skills Group for Adolescents (PSGA) is a psychological group therapy for young people aged 14 to 18 who are experiencing a range of mental health difficulties.
PSGA aims to support young people to learn new ways of coping that can help them to manage distress and difficulties with emotions, and to navigate their relationships more effectively.
This group is centred on learning a mixture of skills from Dialectal Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A), Group Radical Openness (GRO) and Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT).
DBT-A aims to help people who struggle to manage their emotions. People who benefit from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills may experience emotions at a higher level of intensity than others. GRO is a structured group therapy that was developed by psychologists here in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) and helps people who struggle with difficulties associated with costly and harmful overcontrol. These can include difficulties with developing connections, needing control, and suppressing emotions. RO-DBT also aims to help people who experience problems with overcontrol.
While both DBT-A and RO-DBT programmes include skills class and individual sessions, PSGA combines skills and exercises from all three models and is delivered in a group-only format, similar to GRO.
PGSA is delivered in an online format on Monday afternoons, taking place over 22 sessions. It is run by two psychologists.
We invite parents or caregivers to attend the group alongside their young person to help support them in learning and practising new coping skills. Parents or caregivers are also supported in further developing their understanding of the young person’s experience.
Referrals to PGSA can be made by the young person’s consultant or team psychologist.