WOMEN'S ANXIETY AND TRAUMA GROUP OFFERED IN-PERSON IN WESTLAKE VILLAGE (WEDNESDAYS) AND VIRTUAL ACROSS CALIFORNIA (TUESDAYS)
You go to work, take care of the people who depend on you, and show up for your life in all the ways that are expected of you. From the outside, it looks like you have it together. But there is a version of you that you've kept hidden, one that prevents you from truly being PRESENT in your life.
It's the anxious thoughts that spiral before you can catch them. It's the shame that follows you into rooms where you've done nothing wrong. It's the feeling that, no matter how much you accomplish, it's never quite enough.
You have tried to manage it — the breathing, the books, the apps, maybe even therapy. And still something keeps pulling you back to the same place. What you are carrying has roots that coping strategies were never designed to reach.
This group was created for you. You’re done trying to cope and ready to heal.
WHY THIS GROUP WORKS
What Makes This Women's Anxiety Group Different
Most anxiety groups teach you how to manage what you are feeling. This one is designed to help you understand where it is coming from, whether that is anxiety you have carried for years, trauma that has never fully been addressed, or both. What sets the Women's Anxiety and Trauma Healing Group apart is not just the approach. It is the room itself.
There is something that happens when you sit across from a woman who understands without you having to explain yourself from the beginning. The shame loosens. The isolation lifts.
Irvin Yalom's decades of group therapy research identified this as one of the most powerful forces for change, the experience of realizing you are not alone in what you carry.
This group is built on one core belief. We do not heal in isolation. We heal in connection with others.
EMDR-informed tools
Every session includes resourcing and stabilization skills drawn from EMDR that go beyond symptom management. They are designed to help your nervous system learn to feel safe, so that over time you are not just coping with anxiety but changing your relationship with it.
Between-session support
Each participant receives a thoughtfully designed workbook to use between sessions for reflection, tracking personal growth, and continuing the work beyond our time together. The workbook is something to return to between sessions, and long after the group ends.
I have spent 24 years sitting across from women who are holding it together on the outside while quietly falling apart on the inside. I know this experience not just clinically, but personally. I have done my own EMDR work and I know firsthand what it feels like to carry something your nervous system has not yet let go of.
For years I kept thinking the same thing after many sessions with my clients. I wish I could refer her to a room full of women who truly understand. Eventually I stopped wishing and built it.
This group is the result of that. Eight weeks, six women, one room. In person in Westlake Village and virtually across California.
MEET ANITA
The Therapist Behind the Group
24 years of clinical experience
Specializing in anxiety, trauma, and nervous system regulation.
Certified EMDR therapist
EMDRIA Certified, meaning years of advanced work beyond initial training, including complex trauma and dissociation.
Trained in EMDR group therapy
Completed specialized training in bringing EMDR tools and techniques into a group setting safely and effectively.
Founder, Healing Connections Counseling
Anita Kaplan, LCSW. Private practice in Westlake Village, serving clients in person and virtually across California.
THE PROGRAM
Eight weeks. One room. Real change.
This group is structured to build progressively from one session to the next. Each week introduces new tools, insights, and skills that deepen the work you are already doing. By the end of eight sessions, you will leave with a clearer understanding of yourself, practical skills to regulate your nervous system, and a personal workbook to support your continued healing.
1.
Understanding the impact of trauma and anxiety
What is actually happening in your body and mind when anxiety takes over. We begin by building a foundation of understanding so the work that follows makes sense.
2.
Attachment styles and relationships
How the relationships you grew up in shaped the way you connect, trust, and protect yourself today.
3.
Reducing shame, blame, and defectiveness
Shame thrives in silence. This session begins to loosen its grip by naming it, understanding where it came from, and recognizing it for what it is.
4.
Building self-compassion
Learning to relate to yourself with the same kindness you would offer someone you love. Not as a concept, but as a practice.
5.
Regulating overwhelming emotions
Practical tools to reduce overwhelm and regulate emotions BEFORE a stressful situation begins so you are prepared to handle them when they happen.
6.
Expanding your coping skills
Skills that do more than help you cope. They support the kind of regulation that changes how you move through the world.
7.
Understanding your relationships
A deeper look at the patterns showing up in your current relationships and how the work you are doing in this group begins to shift them.
8.
Mastery, empowerment, and self-worth
Closing the eight weeks with a focus on who you are becoming, what you are capable of, and how to carry this forward.
THE DETAILS
Schedule and Investment
IN-PERSON GROUP
Westlake Village, California
SESSIONS
8 sessions, 90 minutes each
MEETING DAY/TIMES
Wednesdays · 4:00 – 5:30 PM
DATES
October 7, October 14, October 21, October 28, November 4, November 11, November 18, December 2
VIRTUAL GROUP
Available virtually throughout California
SESSIONS
8 sessions, 90 minutes each
MEETING DAY/TIMES
Tuesdays · 4:00 – 5:30 PM
DATES
October 13, October 20, October 27, November 3, November 10, November 17, December 1, December 8
$800 total · $100 per session
Led by a certified EMDR therapist and includes a personal workbook to support your growth between sessions. Individual therapy is not required to join, though it can deepen the work for those already in it.
GROUP SIZE
6 participants maximum
PAYMENT
Private pay only · Insurance not accepted
A brief free screening call is required before joining the group.
Both groups do not meet Thanksgiving holiday week.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Anxiety does not have to be your baseline
This group is for women across California who have been living with anxiety, trauma, or both, for long enough to know that managing it is not the same as healing it.
Many of the women who join have never thought of themselves as someone with trauma, even when past experiences are clearly shaping how they feel today. They just know that something has felt off for a long time, and that what they have tried has not been enough. A formal diagnosis is not required, and you do not need a label or a particular trauma history to belong here. What matters is that you recognize yourself in what you have been reading, and that you are ready for something that goes deeper than coping.
Not sure if it is the right fit? That is exactly what the screening call is for. It is a brief conversation, and there is no obligation to join.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Everything you need to know before the screening call
Still have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact us.