Individual vs Group Therapy: What’s the Difference & Why It Matters

There are many types of therapy that exist, and I don’t just mean the modalities you may have heard before such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and more. I am talking about the different forms of therapy we can engage in like Individual, Couples/Marital, Family, or Group Therapy. 

Each of these forms of therapy have their own benefits and downsides that you may not be aware of. It seems the most popular form of therapy is Individual Therapy, which is needed when life is becoming too much and we need additional support navigating towards change. Other forms of therapy like Couples or Family Therapy are often–but not always– associated with “damage control” of some sort. However, with Group Therapy, this one is often overlooked as an option or very rarely offered at the outpatient level of care it seems.

In this blog, I wanted to explore the differences between Individual and Group Therapy for those struggling to find the “right” individual therapist, maybe even keeping an open mind to starting your journey with a group setting. Typically, therapy in the group setting is for a specific issue that a variety of people can benefit from. So you are automatically going to gain some sort of connection within that first meeting.

What is Individual Therapy?

When we start searching for a therapist, we are wanting a professional who can help us learn tools and strategies to begin healing internally. Whether you are struggling with social anxiety, panic disorders, trauma, depression, or severe mental illness, you are wanting someone who knows what they are doing in that specific area. 

We tend to hit an emotional wall when we find a “generalist” who treats all mental health disorders because they’ve helped stabilize the immediate crisis, but additional skills aren’t being added. Within individual therapy, addressing our attachment styles and interpersonal relationships can be a key component for our therapeutic healing process. As a therapist, I’ve worked individually with folks who have gained a greater sense of emotional awareness in this regard just undergoing their own internal processing of those dynamics.

Regardless of what you’re seeking individual therapy for, being able to recognize your role in your own suffering is what helps you maintain real change. Even if you have difficult family dynamics or a lack of peer support, you can still sustain healthy change by engaging in individual therapy.

Individual therapy is a place for one-on-one processing of the most vulnerable parts of yourself. You are receiving direct support on a regular basis and working on yourself outside of sessions too–ideally. Within the space of individual therapy, you are healing wounds that were caused by earlier life experiences that carry a weight of responsibility. This can be the most empowering part of therapy.

I’d argue that there are very few downsides to individual therapy, but still relevant to make them known in this general comparison between Individual and Group Therapy so that you as the reader have a well-rounded view of both. One of the biggest drawbacks for individual therapy is that you are only processing through your perspective of situations, or that of your therapist.

Buddha once was quoted, “What we think, we become.” If we do not have a healthy relationship built on trust with our therapist, or even feel challenged by our therapist, then we will struggle to grow emotionally and mentally. It is your therapist’s job to push your limits–appropriately– so that you see a genuine shift in your life outside of sessions. They must encourage you to see other pathways of thinking and explore interpersonal relationships, not just validating your experience.

What is Group Therapy?

Group Therapy is most commonly offered as a higher level of care option, such as Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) or in Residential settings. These facilities are known for primarily treating folks within the group setting, with little emphasis on the one-on-one approach. However, there are still a multitude of outpatient therapeutic offices that also offer group therapy with both the option of meeting in-person or virtually once a week.

Some of the benefits of Group Therapy include building a sense of community, learning from multiple perspectives in addition to the licensed therapist facilitating the group, and gaining a genuine sense of support from people who can relate to you. Within group therapy, there are also sub-groups that focus on building skills, providing folks with psychoeducation about an issue, or simply acting as a support system for people to explore their problems openly.

Any topic that is explored in individual therapy can typically be expanded on in the context of a group setting as well, for example if someone is struggling with social anxiety and feeling stuck with progress individually. Then it may be helpful to find a local or virtual skills-based group that explores more on the basis of understanding social anxiety. This allows for folks to feel less isolated in their issues and add to the progress already beginning while working on their own.

Joining a therapy group can be extremely beneficial in maintaining the change you are working towards. When we have accountability from others, or the responsibility to show up each week and share about our experiences, it helps us to feel more connected with our peers. This extends to how we interact with other people in our daily lives, thus fostering changed behavior.

For a group focused on building skills for a specific issue, you are learning alongside others also in the same boat as you. Not everyone will have the same experiences, but we all share a common thread that brought us together in that setting. We can grow amongst others, but we tend to grow even more independently. We learn how to feel more confident when we have a community supporting us.

As I mentioned with individual therapy, there will often be downsides to anything we do. However, I think in terms of this discussion it truly is dependent on the person or the issues someone is facing. Within a group setting, your time is shared amongst your peers. You are not forced to talk in a group setting, but the more you open up then the more you will gain from the group. 

Group therapy demands a level of respect and understanding as everyone forms a cohesive unit where everyone finds benefit. Trusting the leader of the group to navigate conversations or disagreements is key to feeling safe within the group setting. It’s important that you also feel supported by your peers, and remain receptive to feedback that may help you grow beyond your limits.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this breakdown of individual versus group therapy helped provide you with some perspective on what options are out there. Some folks find more comfort in starting with a group setting then branching into individual therapy, or vice versa. While others only see the benefit of individual therapy. It truly is a personal preference and weighs on what is available for the support you are needing.

There are benefits to both forms of therapy discussed, but I’d encourage you to expand your search and push your limits of comfort. That’s where real growth happens. 

You don’t have to feel stuck with one therapist for years, or just solely trusting they know everything. Because as a therapist myself, I can humbly say I do not know everything about mental and emotional health, but I am an expert within my specialty.

Explore other options, find someone who connects with you, and maybe seek out a group setting to feel more connected to others on your healing journey.

Reach out today for a FREE consultation if interested in working with me for individual OR group therapy!

Let’s see what works best for you.