The Moment
In Group Therapy, You Are Not Alone.
Someone says something — carefully, maybe nervously — and before the clinician responds, someone else in the group says: me too. Not as a courtesy. As a confession. As a relief.
That moment is why group therapy works. Not the techniques. Not the structure. The moment when isolation cracks open and you realize the thing you have been carrying privately is something others understand completely.
Group therapy is built on that truth. You hear yourself in other people’s stories. You find language for things you could not name. You practice being honest in a space where honesty is met with understanding rather than judgment. And the connections that form, even in a virtual room, have a quality that is different from most relationships in your daily life. They are built on shared experience and mutual honesty. That is rare.
Our Approach
Group Therapy Built Around Connection.
A strong body of clinical research shows group therapy is as effective as individual therapy for a wide range of concerns, and for some people it is more effective.
At Centered Connections, group therapy is a primary service. Not a fallback. Our groups are designed from the ground up to be therapeutic experiences in their own right, led by experienced clinicians who understand that the group itself is the instrument of healing. The relationships between members, the shared language that develops over time, the safety of being witnessed by people who understand. That is not a side effect of the work. That is the work.
Our groups are virtual. Whether you are in the Sammamish, Issaquah, or Bellevue area or anywhere else across Washington State, there is a place for you. You can join from wherever feels comfortable and safe.
Centered Connections shares ownership with Centered Mind Counseling Services, a comprehensive mental health clinic serving the Issaquah and Sammamish community for more than ten years. If your needs extend beyond what group therapy can offer, that support already exists. Therapy, medication management, and integrated care. Without starting over or being handed a referral list.
If you are a clinician looking to refer a client, we would love to connect. Visit our Referring Clinicians page to learn more.
Who It’s For
When You Are Tired of Carrying This Alone.
For Adults
Maybe you have been managing for a long time. You have built a life, maintained relationships, shown up for the people around you. And underneath all of it, something has been harder than it looks from the outside. The anxiety that never fully quiets. The grief you have not had space to process. The sense of disconnection from the people around you even when you are surrounded by them.
Group therapy offers something that individual work often cannot. Being truly understood by people who are living something similar. People who have been there too.
For Teens
Being a teenager has always been hard. Being a teenager right now is something else entirely. Navigating school, social media, identity, relationships, and a world that feels increasingly overwhelming.
A group offers something most teens have never experienced. A space where honesty is welcomed, where their experience is taken seriously, and where they are not the only one. For many teens, the most powerful moment in group therapy is finding out that what felt most private and most shameful is actually something others understand completely.
Our teen groups are led by clinicians who work with adolescents specifically and who understand how to create a space where teens actually want to show up.
You belong here.
What to Expect
What to Expect When You Join.
Our groups meet virtually, on a secure platform, once a week. Groups are small by design. Typically six to ten members. Small enough that everyone has a voice. Large enough that the room feels alive.
Every group forms around shared experience. Which means you will be in a room with people navigating something similar to what brought you here. You will not be the only one. That is the whole design.
What you share in the group stays in the group. Confidentiality is a foundation of the work and a non-negotiable standard.
You do not have to figure out if group is right for you before you reach out. The next step is just putting your name on the waitlist. We will do the rest. When a group is forming that feels like a good fit, we will reach out. We will tell you everything you need to know. No commitment until you are ready.
From the Founder
A Note From Paula
I have spent more than 32 years walking alongside people in some of the hardest moments of their lives. And in all of that time, one thing has never stopped moving me. The moment a person realizes they are not alone.
I have watched it happen in individual therapy. But I have watched it happen differently in group. More powerfully. More viscerally. There is something that occurs when people come together around shared experience that cannot be replicated anywhere else. Healing happens. The kind that comes not just from insight or skill-building, but from being truly seen by someone who can say: me too.
I have seen people find connection in group who had spent years convinced they were fundamentally different from everyone around them. I have watched self-awareness emerge not from a therapist’s reflection but from hearing yourself in someone else’s story. I have seen belonging take root in a virtual room full of strangers who, within weeks, were anything but.
We live in a world that is pulling people apart. The isolation is real. The disconnection is real. And the hunger for genuine community. The kind where you do not have to perform or pretend. It is more urgent than it has ever been.
Group therapy is one of the most powerful responses to that hunger that I know of. It is why I built Centered Connections. Not just to provide a service, but to create something that gives people back what the world too often takes away. The experience of being known, understood, and not alone.
That is what we are here to offer. It is the reason I built this practice.
— Paula Johnson, MS, LMHC
Founder, Centered Connections | Owner and Director, Centered Mind Counseling Services
The Next Step
There Is a Place for You Here.
Whatever brought you here today. We are glad you found us. Groups are forming now and there is a place for you.
There is no commitment required. No pressure. Just a chance to tell us a little about what you are looking for so we can make sure the right group finds you.
If you are curious about our psychological assessment services, visit our Assessments page to learn more.
We would be glad to walk alongside you.
