Winter 2022 groups

Announcing Winter 2022 Groups

Support Your Well-Being in the New Year

Connect with The Women's Initiative this winter for support groups, mind and body offerings, and more. Click here or on the image below for a printable PDF of our current offerings. For more details about each program and how to register, view our Groups and Social Support page.

Want to receive updates like this in your inbox? Subscribe to The Women’s Initiative e-newsletter.

Summer groups, COVID service updates

Announcing Summer 2021 Groups

Join us on Zoom or Outdoors

Join one of our free virtual or outdoor offerings for self-care, connection and support. Click here or on the images below to learn more.

Update on Our Services During COVID Pandemic

Our focus will remain on telehealth through the summer

The health and safety of our community and staff have been our top priority during the pandemic. Through this summer we are continuing to mainly offer our vital mental health services via phone and video (telehealth). Call our Call-in Clinic to access care.

Limited in-person individual counseling is available

As vaccination rates increase and community spread decreases, we are also beginning to offer a limited number of individual counseling sessions in person inside our Main Office. Please note that wait times for this service may be longer than for care via telehealth, and all intakes will still take place via our Call-in Clinic. Call us at (434) 872-0047 to learn more.

Several groups will be meeting in-person outdoors

  • Chihamba West African Dance (a Sister Circle Program) meets at Booker T. Washington Park on the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays of every month, 5:45-7pm. Click to register.

  • Sisterly Strolls (a Sister Circle Program) will meet on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, July-September, starting July 10 on the lawn at the Jefferson School City Center. Click to register.

  • Outdoor Nature Nurture Workshop will meet at a Charlottesville-area park (TBA) on Fridays, 3-4:30pm, September 10-24. Registration TBD.

Lots of groups continue on Zoom

We're continuing to offer many ongoing favorites and some exciting new offerings via Zoom. Click here to browse all our groups.

Want to receive updates like this in your inbox? Subscribe to The Women’s Initiative e-newsletter.

Support and connection for spring 2021

Dear Friends,

One year ago our lives were transformed by a pandemic that has had a severe toll on our community's mental health. Exhaustion, depression, fear and grief have become far too familiar. And yet, the pandemic has also shone a light on the strengths within us—including the courage of so many who have reached out for help when they needed it.

We meet this anniversary with reasons to hope: the coming of spring, the decrease in local virus cases, and more folks getting vaccinated every day. Still, being in the “third quarter” of the pandemic—with the end in sight and yet no set date for relief—is its own challenge. What can we do to get through? Here are just a few self-care ideas for today:

  • Get outside, even if for just a few minutes. Look to the sky or to the new buds on a tree.

  • Call a friend and talk about a fond memory together.

  • Dance, sing, or just listen to a favorite song.

  • If you need additional support, reach out. Our Call-in Clinics provide a free, confidential session with a therapist who can help you find the next right step for your well-being.

At The Women’s Initiative, throughout the pandemic, the health and safety of our community and staff have been our top priority. We are proud to have offered our vital mental health services via phone and video throughout this year to diverse members of our community who otherwise could not afford care. See this page for links to a recent article and podcast to learn more.

We are finalizing our plans to offer limited in-person counseling with safety protocols in place. As the weather warms, we are also making plans for some of our groups to take place outside. I will provide updates through our e-mail newsletter, and you can always get the most up-to-date information on our Coronavirus Page or via our Main Office at (434) 872-0047.

We are also rolling out a wonderful slate of virtual groups beginning this spring—including support groups with Sister Circle and Bienestar, yoga, meditation and art. See this page for all the details. We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!

Much love,

Elizabeth Irvin, LCSW

Executive Director

Announcing Spring 2021 Virtual Groups

Join us for opportunities for self-care, connection, and support. Click here or on the images below to learn more about each offering. All are free and offered via Zoom.

Want to receive updates like this in your inbox? Subscribe to The Women’s Initiative e-newsletter.

Support your well-being in 2021

Dear friends,

As we begin a new year, we each continue to navigate many challenges. Many of us have faced illness and loss due to COVID, as well as significant financial hardships. Systemic racism continues to lead to disproportionate experiences of trauma and violence, including the recent death of Jamarcus B. Washington here in Charlottesville. During these colder months, increased physical isolation from friends, family and community makes each struggle that much harder.

In spite of these challenges, the transition to the new year is an invitation to look toward changes to come. Some of those changes are large scale, like the vaccine. Others come one person at a time, and they are the kinds of shifts we witness every day at The Women's Initiative: a person reaching out for help; a person scheduling weekly self-care in the form of a support group, a dance class, a knitting circle; a person learning new healthy coping strategies.

During this time, we each have unique needs. The Women's Initiative is a safe, welcoming place, with an emphasis on culturally responsive care. Take a look below at the diverse groups we're offering this winter. All are free and offered via Zoom. For those who need a private space to access our telehealth services, we also have an option for using a computer in our office.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” We hope you can identify the steps you want to take for the well-being of yourself and your community in the coming days and weeks. Please let us know if we can be of support.

Much love,

Elizabeth Irvin, LCSW
Executive Director

Support your well-being in 2021

Connect with The Women's Initiative this January for support groups, mind-body offerings and more. Click here or on the image below for a printable PDF of our current offerings. For more details about each program, and information for registration, click here.


Especially from Sister Circle

Virtual offerings from our Sister Circle Program are spaces for calm & connection for Black women and women of color. Click here or on the image below to see Winter 2021 offerings from Sister Circle.

En español​

Para información sobre nuestros servicios en español durante la pandemia del virus Corona, favor de hacer un clic aqui

Individual counseling with The Women's Initiative

Our counselors provide a safe, supportive and compassionate place for women of all backgrounds to heal. During the pandemic, counseling is being offered via phone and video options (telehealth). If you are interested in individual counseling with us, our Call-in Clinics are the best place to start.

There, you will have the opportunity to connect with one of our staff therapists to create a plan of care, which may include individual counseling with us or one of our community partners. If you have sufficient mental health insurance coverage, we will help you connect to a private provider in our community who can best meet your needs. Learn about our Call-in Clinics.

If technology issues or a lack of privacy in your home are impacting your ability to access our services, please reach out: call or email our Client Support Specialist at (434) 872-0047 or info@thewomensinitiative.org.

New healing offerings start this fall

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Find your path to healing this fall through one of our many new and ongoing groups and offerings.

We are pleased to offer a host of free groups including …

Call (434) 872-0047 or email info@thewomensinitiative.org for more information and to register.

Charlottesville Family Favorite Award Winner

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We're thrilled to be the recipient of a CharlottesvilleFamily Favorite Gold Award in the Support Group category and Silver Award in the Counseling Service category.

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Thank you to CharlottesvilleFamily and everyone who supports our vision that all women in our community have access to innovative, effective, evidence-based mental health care.

All winners are announced in the December issue of Bloom Magazine.

Our counseling services include free weekly walk-in clinics as well as individual counseling on a sliding scale. Our support groups, which are free, include Women's Support Group, Separation & Divorce Support Group, Sister Circle, and Pregnancy/Infant Loss Support Group. Read more about our free groups.

Growing our Mind-Body Program to heal trauma

We're growing our Mind-Body Program to help heal trauma through movement.

Trauma-informed yoga, dance and other movement styles help release muscular tension stored in our bodies because of both everyday stress and histories of trauma. These practices also enable us to use breath to regulate our nervous system, a process which trauma often disrupts. 

All of these offerings are free and open to all women and all bodies, and no experience is required.

Check out our latest mind-body offerings...

Additionally, The Women's Initiative will be hosting a special Holiday Breathe & Move event, with yoga as well as origami paper-crane-making.

Call (434) 872-0047 to reserve your spot, and check out the Facebook event!