Online Group Therapy in Utah for Trauma, Anxiety, and Relational Growth
Professional group therapy in Utah
The group therapy experiences we offer at Healing Phoenix Psychology provide individuals with an engaging environment for building self-awareness and integrating therapeutic concepts in real-time. In these sessions, typically co-facilitated by Dr. Adam McDonald, PhD, and another skilled clinician, participants are encouraged and supported as they practice authentic ways of connecting and communicating.
What is group therapy?
Group therapy is a guided, relational experience where a small group of adults (typically 5-7 people) meet consistently each week to explore response patterns, process complex emotions, and navigate authentic connections together. Through interactive dialogue, participants practice new ways of relating and receive honest, supportive feedback in a safe environment that functions as a kind of ‘social laboratory.’
Group therapy isn’t a class, a lecture, or a surface-level conversation. It is a structured, professionally supported space where real human dynamics unfold and where meaningful change can occur at any moment.
How is group therapy different from individual therapy?
Group therapy vs individual therapy
Individual therapy focuses on your internal world in a tailored, one-on-one setting and is intended for deep personal exploration. Group therapy provides a shared, highly supportive, cost-effective space for building community while practicing and integrating relational skills.
Whereas individual therapy is ideal for individuals navigating sensitive personal issues (such as certain forms of trauma), group therapy provides a unique and powerful learning environment for practicing interpersonal skills and getting real-time feedback.
Research has shown that group therapy can be just as effective and beneficial as individual therapy for a wide range of mental health concerns. While both modalities offer distinct therapeutic benefits, group therapy can be especially impactful, because the ‘community’ aspect introduces a profound level of interpersonal engagement. Through live, relational interactions, underlying patterns can be more readily seen, understood, and shifted in real time.
This experiential environment provides a completely different vantage point. In individual therapy, we explore your outside relationships based on how you remember and describe them. But in a group setting, we get to actively observe your internal and relational patterns as they naturally unfold with others. This allows us to provide direct, real-time feedback on dynamics that are simply impossible to replicate within a one-on-one setting.
Because these approaches complement each other so well, many people choose to participate in both individual and group therapy at the same time. This combined approach is highly effective for concerns like relational trauma or anxiety—allowing you to process deep internal wounds one-on-one, while safely practicing new ways of connecting within the group.
Who is group therapy for?
Group therapy is a highly effective learning environment and may be an excellent fit for you if you…
- Feel stuck in repeating relational patterns
- Tend to feel disconnected from others
- Struggle with social anxiety, setting boundaries, people-pleasing, or codependency
- Notice a gap between how you want to show up and how you actually do
- Want to build confidence and cultivate authentic relationships
How to know if group therapy is a good fit for you
Group therapy is designed for anyone who is ready to explore themselves not just internally, but in connection with others. If you want to practice integrating therapeutic insights, explore relational dynamics, and get real-time, real-world feedback, then group therapy may be a good fit for you.
When individual therapy is a better starting point
If you are in a state of acute crisis or need some emotional stabilization support, then now may not be a good time to engage in group therapy. It is important to have a secure foundation in place before engaging in group therapy. Depending on what you are currently experiencing, Individual Therapy may be a more aligned next step.
If group therapy is not the best fit right now, we can help you find a path that is.
How does group therapy work?
Structure, format, and approach
Our groups meet online and are intentionally kept small to ensure a quality experience for all involved. Most groups include 5-7 participants and meet weekly for 60 minutes.
Our clinical approach
- Interpersonal Process Therapy
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Mindful-Somatic and Experiential Therapy
- Attachment-Based and Relational Frameworks
- Parts Work
- Cognitive and Behavioral Awareness
While the group therapy process is trauma-informed and rooted in evidence-based psychotherapy techniques, we don’t follow rigid scripts, perform catharsis, or force artificial exercises. Our time together is real, raw, authentic, experiential, and vibrant. Sometimes we lean in and collectively process information or practice integration. Other times, we are sharing a laugh and connecting meaningfully in a healthy and healing way.
Through it all, we are always respectful, intentional, and focused on what is happening in the moment. We maintain a posture of mindfulness as we explore thoughts, feelings, and relational responses in real time.
What is it like to be in a group therapy session?
Group therapy is often different from what people expect, but in a positive way. While it can often provide a supportive and empathetic environment, our groups are designed as processing groups, not support groups. This means we will encourage you to engage in interactive and authentic ways. However, the group facilitators can help you set boundaries to share things only when you are ready.
You will not stay invisible.
Group therapy facilitates safe opportunities for all participants to engage in a meaningful and comfortable way, exploring relational dynamics in a safe and structured environment.
Over time, patterns begin to show up naturally:
- How you enter conversations
- How you hold back (or overextend)
- How you respond to attention, conflict, or silence
These patterns will emerge authentically and in real time so that experiential work and healing can take place.
What are the benefits of group therapy?
The ‘social laboratory’ effect
One of the most powerful aspects of group therapy is that it functions as a kind of social laboratory. This means that instead of just talking about patterns, you can experience them – in real time. While navigating a certain dynamic within the group, you can actively try something different. You will be able to explore different ways of ‘showing up’ – all under the supportive care and guidance of a trained psychologist.
In this environment, you can:
- Practice setting boundaries and using your voice
- Deepen self-awareness through experiential self-discovery
- Learn how others actually experience you (in a constructive, respectful way)
- Experiment with new ways of relating without the usual real-world consequences
- Build tolerance for closeness, vulnerability, and authenticity
- Experience connection without needing to perform or self-edit
For many people, group therapy is the place where things finally ‘click,’ where therapeutic insights turn into integration, and where lived experience creates lasting change.
What makes your group therapy approach different?
We take the work very seriously—but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Group therapy isn’t meant to be reactivating and retraumatizing. We strive to cultivate a positive, uplifting, atmosphere. Our style is direct, relational, and grounded in real human interaction, making room for all human emotions—including joy, levity, playfulness, and respectful humor.
At times, we are precise and intentional. Other times, we’re more intuitive, fluid, and responsive. Many would describe the experience as structured but human–professional, but vibrant and organic.
What this looks like in practice:
- We use accessible language and not clinical jargon.
- We do not overly rely on scripts or techniques.
- We welcome the internal, intuitive, human wisdom that comes from lived experiences.
- We do real work, with real people, under the guidance of a clinical expert who maintains a grounded presence.
What to expect in group therapy?
If it’s your first group therapy session, you might feel cautious, observant, or unsure. That’s normal. But over time, as trust builds, most of our group therapy clients start to get curious. They begin to…
- Speak more openly and directly
- Identify patterns more clearly
- Feel less alone in their experiences
- Take relational risks they wouldn’t normally take
- Experience more confidence, clarity, and emotional range
Growth within a group therapy setting rarely happens all at once. Although growth spurts do occur naturally, most often, the moments of change are small but meaningful shifts that build into lasting transformation.
How do I get started with group therapy in Utah?
To begin, the first step is to book a complimentary 15-minute discovery consultation.
This gives us a chance to:
• Clarify what you’re looking for, needing, and wanting
• Get a general sense of your current situation
• Explore whether group therapy is a good fit right now
• Answer any questions you have about the process
If after the consultation you decide that group therapy feels like an aligned next step, we will help you find the right group and get started.
Welcome the strength of community into your healing journey
When we positively and authentically shift how we relate, connect, and show up for ourselves and with others, the ripple effect can be life-changing. If you have never tried group therapy before, we encourage you to explore its potential. Group therapy can be a powerful next step for integrating lasting change and embodying authentic growth.
About Adam McDonald, PhD
Dr. Adam McDonald is a Licensed Psychologist who utilizes an experiential, trauma-focused, highly integrative, mindful-somatic approach to help people move from managing symptoms to resolving what’s underneath them. He understands that true healing requires integrating the mind and body, allowing the nervous system to return to a state of safety and connection. Deeply attuned to the realities of suffering and healing, Adam views himself as a fellow traveler in the therapeutic process. Learn more about him and discover his approach here.
