Group Therapy vs. Support Groups: What’s the Difference ?

What are therapeutic and support groups today?

This article is for anyone wondering if healing together in a group could help them—whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, seeking connection, or simply curious about how collective healing works in practice.

Understanding Spaces for Collective Healing

During my psychology training, I took courses in oral, written, and bodily expression. It was the first time I experienced a setting where people openly shared emotions and personal experiences in a group. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I discovered something powerful: the impact of speaking and being heard together. Since working for Healing Together, I’ve come to see just how diverse group-based healing approaches can be—and how meaningful they are. So let’s explore the question together: What are therapeutic and support groups, and how do they offer meaningful spaces for collective healing today?

Therapeutic Groups vs. Support Groups: What’s the Difference?

A therapeutic group is a structured space, led by a licensed mental health professional trained in group dynamics. These groups focus on specific issues (like trauma, anxiety, eating disorders) and follow a clinical framework: regular sessions, shared goals, confidentiality, and evidence-based methods like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or psychodynamic therapy.

A support group, in contrast, is often more informal. It may be peer-led or guided by a professional, and it brings together people with shared experiences (grief, addiction, chronic illness…). The aim is mutual support, emotional sharing, and breaking isolation, not therapy in the clinical sense.

While both foster empathy and connection, they differ in structure, facilitation, and goals:

• Therapeutic groups: always led by mental health professionals, structured, focused on psychological healing.
• Support groups: often peer-led, flexible attendance, centered on shared life experiences and mutual support.

Research confirms how effective these group approaches can be. A meta-analysis by Burlingame, Strauss, and Joyce (2011) in the United States reviewed over 50 studies and found that group therapy is just as effective as individual therapy for treating anxiety and depression.

Other Group-Based Healing Formats: What Sets Them Apart?

Beyond therapy and support groups, other group approaches offer complementary paths:

Each format differs in:

• Objective: From emotional healing (art therapy) to self-exploration (retreats) or knowledge-building (workshops).
• Leadership: Not all are led by mental health professionals—some rely on facilitators, coaches, or peers.
• Formality & Structure: Varying from highly structured therapeutic work to casual, open discussion spaces.

Understanding these differences helps people choose what fits their needs. Some may prefer the deep work of therapy, others the practical tools from workshops, or the creative flow of an expressive format.

A Range of Paths Toward Healing

There’s no one-size-fits-all path to feeling better. Some people need structured therapy; others need to talk, to create, or just to be heard.

Group spaces—whatever form they take—remind us that we are not too much, too broken, or too alone to be understood. And that is healing in itself.

If you feel a group could help you, we invite you to explore our Healing Together directory to find a support or therapy group near you.

References

• Burlingame, G. M., Strauss, B., & Joyce, A. S. (2011). Small-group treatment: Evidence for effectiveness and mechanisms of change. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed., pp. 301–326). Oxford University Press.