Group psychotherapy is a special form of therapy in which a small number of people meet together under the guidance of a professionally trained therapist to help themselves and one another. Group therapy helps people learn about themselves and improve their interpersonal relationships. It addresses feelings of isolation, depression or anxiety. Group therapy is different from individual therapy in a number of ways, with the most obvious difference being the number of people in the room with the clinician.

In group therapy, you learn that you are not alone in experiencing psychological adjustment problems, and you can experiment with trying to relate to people differently in a safe environment, with a clinician present to assist as needed. Additionally, group therapy allows you to learn from the experiences of others with similar problems, and also allows you to better understand how people very different from yourself view the world and interact with people. Group members learn not only to understand themselves and their own issues but also become therapeutic helpers" for other members.

Of course, there are many other differences between group therapy and individual psychotherapy. Many people are anxious about participating in group therapy, because they don't want other people (in addition to the clinician) to know about their problems. Group members are told not to discuss information shared in the group with others, and usually the need for mutual confidentiality preserves the privacy of the information.