Is Group Therapy Right for Me? An Honest Guide
There's a moment I hear about constantly in my work as a therapist. Not just from clients; more frequently, from friends, family, and non-clients who want my opinion on what kind of therapy is right for them.
It usually sounds something like this:
"I've been in therapy for many years. I'm doing the work. I'm self-aware. But nothing feels like it's actually changing — because everyone else in my life isn't in therapy, but they should be."
If you've said this or thought it, you're not failing at therapy. You may just need to take a new approach.
That approach might be group therapy.
In this guide, I'll help you determine whether group therapy is right for you by exploring the key differences between group and individual therapy, the unique benefits of group therapy, and what to look for in deciding if this path fits your needs.
Group Therapy vs. Individual Therapy
One-on-one individual therapy is a powerful tool. It gives you a designated safe space that can help you understand yourself in ways you never have before.
But here's what I've noticed after years of sitting across from clients: the more self-aware we become, the more clearly we can see that our struggles don't live inside us in isolation. They live between us and other people.
We come to therapy thinking the problem is us. Sometimes it is! In the beginning of someone’s therapeutic journey, there are often many insights about oneself that give us something to work on.
However, over time we come to realize that some of our issues are relational. It's the dynamic with our mother. The pattern we repeat with partners. The way we shrink in groups, or take up too much space, or say yes when there's a part of us that wanted to say no.
Individual therapy can help you understand those patterns.
But understanding isn't the same as changing them.
And you can't practice being in relationship by yourself.
Group Therapy Is a Laboratory
This is the part that surprises people most when I describe what actually happens in a process group.
Group therapy—real relational group therapy, not a psychoeducation class or a support group—is a place where you practice relationships. It’s like a relationship gym.
You say something that comes out wrong.
You notice you've gone quiet and wonder why.
You feel a flicker of irritation toward someone across the circle and instead of burying it, you get curious about it.
You try saying the hard thing out loud to a real human being before you have to say it to your mother.
You expose yourself to other dynamics, observe your internal state, and work on how you react externally in real time.
That is the therapy.
The most effective format for people who want to work on their relationship skills, their communication, and the ways they show up with other human beings is group therapy.
The room is set up for relationship practice, but over time, the relationships and feedback become real.
The results are visible.
And the learning happens in real time, in relationship—repairing the parts of you where the wound originated.
Group Therapy Yields Real Results—Both Internally and Externally
I once had a client return from travelling to a multi-day conference where they were constantly around the same group of people, and what they said about it has stayed with me.
They said being in group therapy helped them slow down and observe the group dynamics on the trip.
Slowing down allowed them to make choices.
They could see how others were showing up clearly for the first time.
They noticed how it made them feel, and whether or not individuals felt safe or manipulative.
And they realized that the work we'd been doing together in group therapy had been preparing them for exactly this: to feel more authentic, less anxious, more like themselves.
To be present without the weight of social anxiety, people pleasing, or the exhausting performance of playing the role the group seemed to need them to be.
They came back different.
Not because something had been fixed.
Because something had been practiced enough times that it had become easier to manage.
They had more control and autonomy over how their experience with the group went.
That's what group therapy can do.
My Honest Answer: Who Group Therapy Is Right For
Here's my honest answer: I believe there is a therapy group for everyone.
The question is just finding the right one for where you are at right now.
Keywords: right now.
There are some situations in which group therapy might not be right for you at this moment in time, depending on a number of factors.
Group therapy isn't always the magic solution to every mental health diagnosis, and any good group therapist will tell you that honestly.
People in active crisis, acute trauma, or with severe social anxiety may need the steadier container of individual therapy first.
Starting with individual therapy may help you build enough stability before the relational activation of a group feels survivable rather than overwhelming.
Group requires a willingness to show up not just for yourself but for the people in the room with you, and that readiness matters.
But here's what I'd gently push back on: if you've ever thought, "I'm just not a group person," then you actually might be the person who most benefits from group therapy.
The avoidance, the fear of being seen, the conviction that your particular struggles are too much or too strange for others to hold—those aren't reasons to skip group.
For many people, they're the whole reason to try it.
My groups are relational process groups.
We're not learning skills for specific symptom management for specific diagnoses. There are excellent groups for that, and I'll always point you toward them if that's what you need.
What we're doing in my groups is working on relationships.
And relationships impact everyone.
Is This You?
You might be ready for group therapy if:
You've been in individual therapy and feel like you've hit a wall.
You know yourself well but struggle to translate that self-knowledge into your relationships.
You find yourself repeating the same patterns with different people.
You want real, honest, feedback, not just self-reflection or validation.
You're tired of understanding your patterns without being able to change them.
Ready to Explore Group Therapy?
If any of that resonates, I'd love to talk.
My relational process groups are open to new members, and a brief consultation is always the first step so we can figure out together whether this is the right fit for you right now.
You've done enough work alone. Maybe it’s time to try a new approach.
Ready to explore group therapy?
Schedule a free 20-minute consultation with Emily today to discuss whether a group therapy program is the right fit for you.
Contact Emily Hope Counseling to get started on your path toward deeper, more authentic relationships.
Emily is a licensed therapist and the founder of Emily Hope Counseling in Windham, Maine. She specializes in relational therapy, group work, and helping people build the kind of relationships—with others and with themselves—that feel safe.
