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 Finding Secure Attachment:

A Relational Group Therapy Experience 

starting Summer 2026

Group Therapy for People Who Feel Different:

I understand feeling like you don't fit in for reasons that are sometimes obvious and sometimes invisible.

So I wanted to make a group that is more accessible to people who have had life experiences or inhabit identities that do not fit society’s mainstream. Some examples of this may include: People of Color, people living with disabilities/differabilities, neurodivergence, queer folks, adoptees, and the myriad of other identities and experiences I am absolutely leaving out.

I myself have a stutter, which is a thing that many people have misguided opinions about and caused a state of hyper vigilance I have had to heal from as an adult.

In my experience, at any given time, as people who feel different, our “things” occupy differing amounts of space in our psyche, from debilitating to empowering.

How can we make more glorious room for our identities while holding the possibility that we are MORE than our identities?

We are the Misfits, The Lovers, The Mystics, The Fools, The Rebels, The Nerds and The Weirdos

This group will challenge you to answer these questions in community with other people:

Can you feel accepted with your difference? 

  • How does your identity and otherness affect how you show up in real time?

  • What are the roles you take on to survive relationships? (pursuer, distancer, manager, fixer, avoider)

  • What happens in your body when closeness, conflict, or vulnerability arise?

  • How do others actually experience you? And can you share with others how you experience them?

This is not a psychoeducation or skills group.
This is a relational process group, where the work happens between members in the here-and-now.

Why a Process Group?

Process groups are one of the most effective ways to create lasting behavioral change because they allow you to:

  • Receive honest, real-time feedback about how you are experienced

  • Notice your automatic assumptions and reactions

  • Practice direct communication, rupture and repair

  • Learn to tolerate closeness, conflict, and vulnerability in a contained way

  • Develop a stronger, more grounded sense of yourself in relationships

Ultimately, what you learn about yourself in group begins to foster the internal secure base you carry into dating, partnership, friendships, and family dynamics.

This Group is For You if:

  • Have insight but struggle to make real change in relationships

  • Feel anxious, avoidant, or conflicted in intimacy

  • Want to understand how you are experienced by others

  • Are ready for deeper relational work beyond coping skills and surface level sharing

  • Are open to a new experience of vulnerability, even if it’s uncomfortable at first

While this is a process-oriented group, our shared lens includes:

  • Attachment wounds & relational trauma

  • Breakups, abandonment anxiety, and avoidance

  • Shame, self-criticism, and people-pleasing

  • Emotional regulation in relational contexts

  • Boundary setting, repair, and secure relating

Grounded in:
Attachment Theory • Relational/Psychodynamic Therapy • Polyvagal & Somatic Awareness • Mindfulness • Parts Work

📅 Start Date: Summer 2026

Format: Virtual, 75 minutes weekly, 5:15-6:30pm on Tuesdays

Commitment: 6-month commitment

Fee: $400/month + $50 40-minute 1:1 Clinical Consultation (credited towards first month upon enrollment) to establish that the program is a fit
Monthly tuition reserves your ongoing space in the group and is not prorated for absences.

A small number of sliding scale spaces are offered on an as-needed basis

If you’ve been in therapy and are looking to keep growing, this group offers an affordable way to continue on that path while deepening self-understanding through real-time relational experience and honest feedback from others.

Contact me to learn more and schedule a consultation. I look forward to hearing from you.

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About Your Facilitator

Sam Gennuso, LMFT (Lic. #142532)

I’m an attachment-focused, trauma-informed relational therapist in Oakland. My work is shaped by both clinical training and my lived experience navigating insecure attachment and shame, finding my voice (and getting to keep my stutter), and building secure lasting inner security over time.

I support people who feel stuck in codependency, people-pleasing, and harsh self-criticism to build relationships that feel more honest, mutual, and secure—starting with the relationship they have with themselves.

In group, I bring warmth, humor, attunement, and directness, and I care deeply about creating a space where members can be real and grow.

I hold a master’s in Clinical Psychology, as well as specialized training in group therapy (at The Psychotherapy Institute) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing).