Group Therapy
Group Therapy
Group therapy is an evidence-based form of counseling that enhances the work of therapy through a supportive community of peers. Therapy groups are usually comprised of six to 10 students and two to three professional therapists that meet once a week for 60–90 minutes.
Group therapy is helpful for a variety of concerns, including loneliness, making friends, depression, anxiety, difficulties with relationships, identity concerns and trauma. Although clients often start group feeling anxious, the vast majority report enjoying group significantly by the end of the semester.
Group Therapy FAQs
Relationships are an immense part of what makes therapy work. Group therapy takes advantage of this by creating opportunities for several impactful connections at once. Group is a bit like building a house; it’s more efficient to work with a crew of builders and two house-building experts than just you by yourself!
Group therapy can help students build deeper and more satisfying relationships, develop skills to better cope with emotions, increase their sense of belonging and decrease feelings of isolation and loneliness, and increase students' assertiveness skills and independence.
Students participating in our groups report these benefits:
- Getting multiple perspectives and support of others who can relate and empathize with them
- Connecting with others that understand them
- Not feeling as alone in the world or at UD
- Getting to practice their goals with others and getting honest and supportive feedback
- Feeling more motivated to work on and accomplish their therapy goals, as group meetings help keep them accountable
- Getting a lot of skills in a short amount of time to help them better cope
- Feeling more prepared for and getting more from individual therapy
Most of what brings students into therapy can be addressed in group therapy. For some concerns, such as social anxiety, loneliness, relationship difficulties and communication skills, group is one of the best treatments available. Group provides a unique opportunity to practice new skills and techniques with your peers that individual therapy is not well-suited to provide.
Not at all! Like any relationship, it is important to build trust before feeling comfortable enough to share vulnerably. We recommend starting small and then stretching yourself to share more deeply as time goes on. Group therapy is like a gym; starting with smaller weights builds the muscles to lift the heaviest ones. Practice your therapeutic goals over time, and you’ll see results!
A typical group session starts with a check-in where the group leaders ask who would like to share today. Group members can share how they’re feeling or if there’s something they’d like to talk about with the group. Some groups will have more structure to help guide the discussion. Group members give and receive feedback to each other while the facilitators help to keep the group on track.
Absolutely! Scientists researching effective therapy practices have shown group therapy works just as well as individual therapy. For some concerns, group therapy can be more effective than individual therapy. Talk to a counselor to learn more!