The Difference Between Support Groups and Therapy Groups

You’ve been hurt before by another person. I’m not even going to say you’ve probably been hurt; you have been. There is just no way to be in relationships with other human beings and not get hurt from time to time. The existence of hurts doesn’t mean the relationship is doomed, far from it! Healthy relationships are ones where people know how to repair hurts and learn from them.

I’ll tell you a little secret about healing from those relationship hurts: healing happens in relationships!

A hurt that happened in a relationship can’t be healing in isolation. Connection with other humans, whether in your life or in a formal group setting, gives you the opportunity to heal old hurts. There’s something almost magical that happens when we get the chance to replay an old painful story with a new healthy ending. And THAT is the power of group therapy! 

In this article, I’ll walk you through the differences between group therapy and support groups so that you can decide which is right for you. 

Support groups are led by peers

Typically support groups are collections of people going through some similar life challenges: divorce, cancer, caretaking a parent with dementia, etc. People come together to talk, to offer one another support, and to know they are not alone with their challenge. Support groups are often led by one of the group members who volunteers for the job.

Therapy groups are led by trained mental health professionals

Therapy groups also bring together people who are facing similar challenges or have similar goals. At Inland Empire Couples Counseling our therapy groups focus specifically on relationship skills and getting more of what you want and need from your relationship. 

Therapy groups are led by trained mental health professionals. The therapist has received specific training in how to facilitate a group for the benefit of healing mental health or relationship concerns. Seriously, we all take classes in graduate school about how to run therapy groups!

Support groups may or may not have curriculum and structure

Some support groups are open format where people just talk. And some support groups will have a set of lessons or steps or topics to address. Each group develops a sort of personality of its own depending on who attends and who runs the group.

Therapy groups may or may not have curriculum and structure

Therapy groups will have some basic structure to help create safety and rules for the group. Read more about what to expect from our therapy groups here. Some therapy groups are open, allowing anyone to join at any time and some are closed, where a group starts and ends together.

At IECC our therapy groups have a combination of learning a topic and time to discuss. Our groups will start on a specific date and you will attend all sessions with your same group members and therapist. We believe this provides you the best opportunity to learn the skills in the order intended and to develop and practice your relationship skills with your peers. This helps promote safety and reduce anxiety for group members.

Men’s group vs men’s group therapy

Churches often host men's groups for study on a particular topic or theme. Men’s group therapy is different in that our therapy groups do not require similarity in belief and our topics are not religious in nature. 

We are trained marriage and family therapists and our goal is to support you in having healthy, satisfying relationships.

Learn more about our men’s group therapy here.

Women’s group vs women’s group therapy

Gender based groups can provide a lot of benefit. They allow you to see patterns, to talk freely, to feel more comfortable talking about your concerns. Gender based groups might also allow certain people more opportunity to talk, if they would normally stay quiet in a mixed gender space.

Learn more about our women’s group therapy here.

We are enrolling now for online therapy groups starting September 2023. 

At Inland Empire Couples Counseling we offer the best marriage counseling we can! Our couples therapists are trained in helping couples heal from infidelity, substance use in relationships, childhood trauma, communication skills, as well as providing the LGBTQIA+ community with pride counseling. We have online couples counseling in California. We have couples therapy in Riverside, CA. We also have marriage counseling in Murrieta CA or the Temecula Valley. Please reach out for help by clicking the button below to schedule a free 15 minute consultation with our Intake Coordinator.

Have questions about couples counseling? Visit our FAQs page to find out more.