Group therapy is a highly effective type of therapy. In group therapy, a small group of people meet with a professionally trained group therapist to help themselves and each other. It can be a powerful choice for self-development and connection, and often the ideal way to affect interpersonal change. What group therapy groups have in common is a supportive, safe and cohesive space to address personal, relational and even societal issues and concerns. Group therapy can help you make significant changes in your life!

What should I expect?

Group therapy typically involves a psychotherapist who leads and facilitates a group of patients – usually five to twelve people. Group normally meets for 1.5 hours on a weekly basis. You can, as many do, attend both individual therapy and group therapy, or participate in group therapy only. Group members are asked to not socialize with each other outside of the group, typically know only the first name of other members, and are asked to keep confidential the sharing of other group members. 

Groups can be short term or open-ended and ongoing, closed or open. In closed groups, a limited number of people start and go through a specific amount of time together, (for example an 8-week support group for caregivers). In an open group, new members are periodically added, and the group is ongoing – you graduate from group  when you feel your goals for personal growth have been met. 

Group therapy is not a support group (although patients often feel deeply supported by their group members over time). While support groups tend to be educational and topic-focused (such as a support group for transplant patients), group therapy is relationally focused. Some group therapy groups do have a topic focus, such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain, grief, disordered eating, or relationships, while other groups have a more general focus (yet still effectively deal with issues such as those). But even group therapy groups that formed around a theme focus on expressing the “here and now” feelings in the room, and on the relationships between the group participants. 

The goal of group therapy groups, also called psychodynamic groups or process groups, is to improve social functioning and lessen isolation, and to improve social skills such as appropriate self-disclosure, asking for help, seeking feedback, and expressing emotion. Process groups are a safe place to practice letting yourself be “seen”, being authentic, expressing feelings safely, experiencing conflict and safely processing it, being vulnerable, and eventually letting others get closer to you. Process groups help significantly with social anxiety, shyness, loneliness, and self-esteem. 

Benefits of group therapy

It might sound daunting to join a group of strangers, but the risk is worth it! Led by an experienced, group-trained therapist, the group provides significant benefits that simply are not available in one-to-one therapy, support groups, or in friend groups. Group members, all in the group for the similar goal of personal growth, become therapeutic helpers to one another. Members express surprise at how quickly connected they feel to the group, and credit group therapy for helping them overcome difficulties they thought would challenge them lifelong. Group members, within the sense of safety and belonging within the group, help each other belong, and help each other change in deep and abiding ways. 

Groups can be a sounding board, a witness for your efforts, and an important supportive social network for you. Group members can help you brainstorm, and can hold you accountable, at your request, for changes you want to make. And just as impactful: watching other group members make changes in their lives is motivating, inspiring, and creates a sense of safety and possibility for you. 

Group does things that people in your “outside” life cannot do for you. Group therapy can help you break conscious and unconscious patterns and step out of the entrenched roles you play in your life. Group is a microcosm of our macro world. Whatever role you tend to play in your life with family, friends, and colleagues, you will inevitably recreate it within the group. But in the group, you can notice and investigate what you’re doing – what you like and what you don’t like – and you can break the patterns. The group can help you do this. 

Group helps with perspective. Sharing your feelings, talking about your worries or problems, and listening to others do the same – you learn on a visceral level: you are not alone or unique. Yet it is so uncommon, in the “outside world” to speak openly about our difficulties. Being in a room where people are speaking honestly about their lives and their relationships and their feelings: this is profoundly normalizing and relieving. It also helps you put your concerns and problems into words, and eventually in the correct perspective. Group members routinely express feeling less anxious, less depressed, less alone feeling. 

Another real benefit of group therapy is diversity. Your group therapist thinks about putting people who can help each other in the group together, and chooses group members who she/he believes can do this. But this doesn’t mean everyone in the group is just like you. You’ll meet people from different backgrounds and people who have sometimes quite different personalities from you. Yet underneath these differences, we have so much humanity in common. In addition, differences between group members  often result in approaching or looking at problems and situations in different ways. In group, you get to watch people tackle real problems in their lives in ways that may have never occurred to you. You see them make positive changes and you witness their growth. This experience gives you access to a whole range of strategies you might never find otherwise. 

More than support

Formal group therapy sessions offer benefits beyond informal self-help and support groups. Group therapy sessions are led by an experienced psychotherapist with specialized group training, who can teach group members evidence-based strategies for managing specific problems. For example, in an anger-management group, your group therapist will describe scientifically tested strategies for controlling anger. For a group where participants are working on anxiety, the group psychotherapist can offer evidence based suggestions for reducing anxiety. The expert guidance offered by a group-trained therapist offers you and other group members real, validated help, and this elevates the group therapy experience. 

Is group therapy enough? 

Some people participate only in group therapy. But for many people, the most effective way to affect their growth is to participate in both group therapy and individual psychotherapy. In individual therapy, the therapist only sees you and hears about your perspective. But in group, the therapist can witness your social interactions in real time, and sees you in full dimension. Being able to reflect back on the group in the individual therapy session is invaluable for making inroads on the changes you want to see in your life. Group therapy can turbo charge what you’ve been working on in individual therapy. 

What about confidentiality and privacy?

Confidentiality is an important ground rule for group therapy. Your group therapist will ask everyone in the group to commit to guarding every member’s privacy. They will state that you are welcome to share your own experience of group with whomever you’d like in your own life, but to not share anyone else’s story or information. That said, there is no absolute guarantee for privacy in the group. If you tend to overshare, this might be a pattern you want to work on, and group can help you with this. To paraphrase Brené Brown: consider who has earned the right to hear your story! Trust grows incrementally in group. And remember that group works best when group members share as openly and honestly as they can. Group members start out as strangers, but in a short amount of time, you’ll see them as trusted confidants and a valued source of support.

I want to start group therapy. What do I do? 

Let your therapist know that you’d like to add group therapy to your therapeutic experience. If you’re already working with a therapist who does group, you can discuss in your sessions and prepare for group there. If you’re working with a therapist who does not offer group therapy, they can help you reach out to a group therapist. You can also reach out to our practice by calling us at 352-363-1998 and leaving us a message that you’re interested in group, or via our website, www.wolcottcounseling.com. Or, you can reach out to the American Association of Group Therapists (AGPA) here. When contemplating joining a group, you’ll likely have a short phone screening call by the therapist, and if you seem like a good fit, one to two screening and preparation sessions to ready you for group. 

We look forward to seeing you in group!