Nurture Group for Single Women

Ready to stop being sad about your relationship status? Join a group of women committed to transforming from good girl to badass women.

You’re holding an invitation…

The envelope is beautiful - an off white, heavy weight, with filigree embossed. Your hands flip it over and over. It feels solid. Solid like the pit in your stomach. The one you’ve ignored over and over again. Because you’re happy! Of course you’re happy. But you still can’t bring yourself to open this envelope. This invitation.

To the last wedding of your single friend. 

You can’t figure out why you’re the last single one in the group…

Glass of rose in hand, your girlfriends try to analyze the situation in a horrifying compliment-sandwich.

Well, obviously you’re smart, funny, and kind. I mean, the cake you made for my engagement party was insane!

Everyone nods. You delegate the compliment to the recipe you followed. And now you take another sip of wine and brace yourself.

Maybe you could loosen up on what you’re looking for?

Ah, yes, the ‘your standards are suddenly too high’.

I mean, have you tried Bumble? My neighbor’s niece found her husband on Bumble! You gently remind them that you’ve tried the apps, and didn’t have much luck getting to a second date.

Sometimes the diamonds are in the way-way rough, too, you know. You take a sip of wine, unsure how to respond to this. 

Finally, the finale of this too-sweet-and-sour sandwich. You wonder who’s gonna land the final zinger - a blend of hope, vague optimism, and permission to move on to other conversation topics. Well, the one always shows up when you stop looking. Yup. You throw back the rest of your glass, and nod.

I’m going to tell you what your girlfriends never will - you are the complete package. You’ve worked damn hard to be the complete package. And that is the entire problem.

While perfecting your sourdough shaping, pining after crushes while rewatching Pride & Prejudice, and trying every workout on earth to get ‘the look’, you’ve missed it. 


Not him, to be clear. You’ve missed you.

Bridesmaid to Main Character

I want to invite you to a community of kick ass women who are not interested in treating your singleness like a problem that needs to be workshopped.

I’m not hosting a dating service. Or a manifest-your-man group. Nor is this a self love group in the hopes that once you love yourself enough, your spouse shall appear like a dove descending from heaven. 

Nurture Group

  • Is...

    • A permission slip to be the woman of your own dreams

    • A practical guide to tangible tools that will break you out of your social anxiety perfectionism nightmare

    • A small community of like minded women who will never ever say “Your time will come”

  • Isn't...

    • A guidebook to become immune to rejection

    • A class you put on in the background while cleaning your kitchen

    • An elaborate pity party

Let's Go

How Nurture Group Works

  • Click on the link waiting for you in your box. You’ll have a box I hand made and mailed to you just waiting to be opened. You’ll be muted, with video on, so you get to awkwardly sip some tea while checking out the plants and/or cats in the background of the other women’s videos.

    Will you feel anxious right here? Sure will. But will it feel better than when all of your married friends hosted a backyard BBQ and didn’t invite you because they were afraid you would ‘feel awkward.’ Yeah. It’s easier than that.

    Because right below your zoom link is a schedule (I know, your butthole just unclenched in relief, right? It’s a nice feeling) of how the hour is gonna break down.

  • I start off group the exact same way every time, to shake out the little uncertainties. And then you get to check in with just one woman - easier than talking in front of everyone, right? You figure out that you both love to crochet and can quote Parks and Rec at length. She listens to you describe work stress and says, “Man, I see you, that's tough” instead of problem solving.

  • You settle in for the learning part of the hour. I break down a helpful tool from Radically Open DBT so we can let go of perfectionism and find our humanity. At first you’re pretty sure you know how this skill is going to go - setting boundaries, you think, revolutionary.

    But then I breakdown an acronym. And you realize that the specific steps of this skill actually make sense. And seem easier to do than “just say no”, like your mom can insist. You say to the group, “I can actually see myself saying this to my boss tomorrow morning.” And I say “That’s awesome! And maybe one day…your best friend turned bridezilla.”

    You pop open a Diet Coke and shake your head. “I’m not that advanced yet.” You pop a Bugel in your mouth and enjoy the crunch. Your partner from earlier chimes in - “but you’ll get there. Learning is process.” You chew and nod, feeling seen and supported again.

    The hour ends. You exchange numbers with Julie and almost squeal when she immediately texts a Parks and Rec gif. I think I just made a friend you think.

Emilea Richardson, LMFT

Emilea Richardson, LMFT

So how does a married Southern woman have the audacity to hold such a group?

Let me TELL YOU my friend. 

With a story. 

I grew up in conservative evangelical culture…

 (I mean, it was South Carolina in the 2000s, so the main thing you need to know is it wasn’t fundamentalist conservative, we didn’t believe drums were the devil’s music, but also women who wore v-necks were temptresses, if you get my drift). I went to an evangelical college. Where I hoped, like every professor my freshman year touted, I would meet my husband. 

I had my eye on a few candidates - any straight (or straight-passing) dude who seemed to enjoy my company. One afternoon, our friend group decided to grill out behind our dorms (I know, super mature of us). I brought potato salad and brownies, hoping I looked like the perfect future wife. My friend spilled soda all over herself. I sprang into action - got her a towel, ran back for a replacement shirt, and started her laundry.

And then it happened. Andrew Cross. Tall. Dark hair. Dreamy green eyes. He looked at me so thoughtfully, a small smile spreading across his face. It’s happening, I thought, he’s falling in love. 

Wow, you’re so helpful Emilea. I brush off the compliment, like any hard working perfectionist would. He leaned in, and said You’re going to make a great mom some day.

I wished the floor could swallow me. 

And then my friend with the new shirt walked in, and he went to go talk to her.  They ended up dating for a year. 

Perfectionism got me the “you’re gonna be a great mom” award. No boyfriends. Just an unending amount of self esteem problems and no idea what to do on a Friday night by myself. And then I watched all of my friends begin dating their future husbands. And I can’t emphasize this enough - I was 21 years old. I thought my life was over. 

But it wasn’t…

I had to learn how to grow out of my rigid rules of who a datatable woman was, and find a tribe of people who were going to treat my people pleasing as a problem, not my singleness. 

And now with a Master’s degree, a license in marriage and family therapy, certificate in dialectical behavioral therapy, enthusiasm about how Radically open DBT helps overachieving women reclaim the joy of being human…

I think I get to host this group. 

And I think you get to come. 

And I think it’ll just knock your socks off.

Who’s Ready for Nurture Group

Ready Babyyy

  • Women who are ready to risk a little for a lot of warmth and relationships

  • Women who can commit to coming every.single.week for ten weeks.

  • Women who already have a mental health professional on their team if needed.


Not This Time

  • Women who want cookie cutter answers

  • Women who want to catch up on emails with their mic and video off

  • Women who might have work come up during group time

  • Women who are hoping a group will be enough for their panic attacks, self harm, or difficulty functioning. 

FAQs

How much is it?

$50 registration fee and then $50 for each week. You can pay all up front ($450) or in the weekly installments.

When is it?

Applications for Single Girl Summer are open, and it’ll run from June 15 - August 15.

Thursday nights from 7:30p - 8:45p

Are you ready?

  1. Fill out the interest form with detail & honesty

  2. Pay your registration fee & pick your billing frequency

  3. Get excited for some mail & our first session!