Group Therapy is as Effective as Individual Therapy

The American Psychological Society, which has more than 133,000 professional members, reports “Decades of research, including more than 50 clinical trials, have shown that group therapy is as effective as individual therapy for many conditions”. Yet when I suggest group therapy to clients, people often say to me:

• My problem is bad enough I need the entire hour focused on me.
• Why do I want to hear about other people’s problems?
• If group therapy is as good as individual therapy, why is it cheaper?

While having a therapist focused exclusively on one person sounds like an overwhelming advantage, this ignores some little-known truths. Rarely is the entire individual session used to actively work on the presenting problem. Clients often use a good portion of individual sessions talking about outside topics, because therapy is intense and people need a break to recharge.

Unlike in individual sessions, people do not operate exclusively one-on-one outside of the therapy room. People interact all day long with family members, co-workers, and anyone else they run into in the world. Often what people can do with a therapy professional goes out the window when they’re with everyday people.

To get better, people need to practice the skills they are learning in therapy. Group sessions gives people a safer place to practice those skills.

Therapy groups create a smaller version of the outside world. Peoples’ behaviors happen inside as well as outside the treatment room. The difference is the presence of therapists pointing out old habits and giving people the chance to try again, using the techniques they’re been working on.

Many people fear “messing up” like that in front of people, and the best way to conquer that fear is to mess up in front of people who, like yourself, are making a good-faith effort to do better. When you get through the situation intact, you start building confidence and eventually become willing to try some of what you’re learning outside of the session. That is a valuable dynamic a one-on-one session cannot create.

And why would you want to hear about other people’s problems? Because people learn not only from their own experience, but by observation. People may not have an awareness of what they themselves are doing but notice others doing it. When they see these people resolve the issue, they think, “If they can do it, maybe I can too.” This is another dynamic a therapist cannot create in an individual session.

Group therapy also gives people a sense of community. Seeing you’re not the only one with this problem can help reduce the isolation and despair people feel when they’re in crisis. Observing other people not just surviving but growing stronger and thriving may give you a boost in a way individual sessions can’t.

Group therapy is not a poor man’s substitute for individual therapy. It is an effective mental health tool which has benefits individual therapy does not.

I hope you’ll explore with me or your therapist whether group therapy might be the best method of treatment for you.