Group Therapy: What Kind of Group Is Right For Me?
By Kelsey Schroeder and Hannah Lee
This article is a continuation of our previous article “What’s the deal with group therapy?”, which covered how group therapy can be helpful, and tips for approaching the group experience.
Group therapy offers many benefits to support people looking to build greater connections, enhance support, and gain insights into their mental health journey. Group therapy spaces create opportunities for group members to exercise self-reflection and self-compassion, as well as offer “in-vivo” (in real time) experiences of interpersonal relationships. Additionally, research demonstrates that group therapy is just as effective as individual therapy, and offers social learning, space for validation, and connection with others who may share similar experiences.
The structure and benefits of each type of group can differ depending on group members’ needs, clinical concerns, and treatment goals. The three primary types of groups are listed below.
Skills-Building Groups
Skills-building groups offer therapeutic space to identify, learn, and incorporate coping skills to manage symptoms. These kinds of groups can include an instructional element to build insight and deeper awareness. These groups often focused on a specific topic (e.g. substance use/misuse, anger management, chronic pain). There is a greater emphasis on education and learning new skills, which commonly incorporate cognitive and behavioral strategies, psychoeducation, stress reduction techniques, and/or mindfulness skills. Skills-building groups can include collaboration with other group members and opportunities for social learning, to see what others have tried or found successful. Research has found skills-building groups can improve: adaptive coping strategies, stress management, motivation toward treatment, enhancement of self-worth, problem-solving skills, and personal strengths/areas of growth.
Support Groups
Support groups often include structured exercises and encourage relationship building among members. These kinds of groups can support members to get in touch with difficult emotions and unknown parts of themselves, cope with emotions, and/or reconnect with their physical and creative selves. Some topics that support groups might focus on include: grief, caretaking, Trans support, or chronic illness. Support groups incorporate skill-building as well as an open dialogue for group members to collaborate, foster interpersonal relationships, share suggestions, and process similar experiences. Ultimately, support groups promote connection and community with others who have shared experiences or can relate to dynamics of identity. Research supported benefits of support groups include but are not limited to: a greater sense of connection and community, decreased isolation, skill-building, expansion of support network, self-efficacy, and a greater sense of empowerment.
Process-Oriented Groups
Process-oriented groups place a greater emphasis on building interpersonal connections to support members in understanding underlying relationship dynamics. Process-oriented groups contribute to members improving patterns of relating to others in their life. In process-oriented groups, the group is treated like a “microcosm” (i.e. a smaller representation of outside relationship patterns), where members are encouraged to explore their own dynamics in connecting, relating, and supporting other group members. One primary goal of these types of groups is to build deeper relationships and engage in presenting one’s authentic self. Within this, there is a focus on the “here-and-now,” meaning group members are encouraged to share insights in the moment and maintain focus on what is occurring in the group in real time. There is often less provided structure and more long-term opportunities in process-oriented groups. In this, the group as its own entity decides the topics of each meeting, agreed-upon goals, and plans for group meetings. Given that these types of groups tend to be long-standing, there are more opportunities for consistency and cohesion that lead to deeper connection and vulnerability. Research supported benefits of support groups include, but are not limited to: time to exercise self-reflection and self-compassion, opportunities to provide and gain feedback from other members and facilitators, in-vivo interpersonal experiences, enhanced supportive relationships, and greater connection and community.
We hope that this helps to demystify another mental health resource that you might take advantage of. Room To Breathe offers several groups - check them out here.
Hannah runs a support group for pregnant people & parents every other Tuesday and a support group for caregivers every other Monday. Find the therapy group that’s right for you here!
References
Burlingame, G. M., & Jensen, J. L. (2017). Small group process and outcome research highlights: A 25-year perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 67(Supp1), S194–S218. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.2016.1218287
Fawcett E, Neary M, Ginsburg R, Cornish P. Comparing the effectiveness of individual and group therapy for students with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A randomized pilot study. J Am Coll Health. 2020 May-Jun;68(4):430-437. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2019.1577862. Epub 2019 Mar 8. PMID: 30849287.
Leszcz, Molyn. (2020) Group Therapy for Patients with Medical Illness. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 73(4), 131-36. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20200005
Yalom, Irvin D., and Leszcz, Molyn (2020). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (6th edition). New York: Basic Books.