Comparing Individual vs Group Therapy
Which One Is Right for You?
When deciding to begin therapy, one of the first questions you might ask is: should I start with individual sessions or try a group setting? Both formats offer meaningful support, but the experience, and benefits, can differ significantly. At 3Elements Counseling, we help you explore what works best for your needs, preferences, and goals.
What Is Individual Therapy for adults?
Individual therapy is a one-on-one session between a therapist and client, designed to support the exploration of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in a safe and private setting. It is especially beneficial for individuals with a high need for emotional processing or who become easily dysregulated. This format provides a confidential space to work through issues that may feel too personal or overwhelming to share in group settings. For many, starting with individual therapy can help build insight and emotional stability, offering valuable perspective before engaging in other forms of treatment or support.
Benefits of Individual Therapy:
Personalized attention: Sessions are customized to your unique needs, history, and goals.
Emotional processing and integration: Individual therapy offers the space to work through emotional experiences that require time, reflection, and integration. With the support of a therapist, you can gradually make sense of complex feelings and gain clarity.
Emotional attunement and regulation: A consistent therapeutic relationship provides a foundation for emotional attunement, helping you recognize, understand, and regulate your emotions more effectively in a supportive, non-judgmental environment.
Privacy and confidentiality: A safe space to share openly without judgment.
Flexible scheduling: Appointments are typically easier to coordinate around your routine.
Potential Challenges:
Higher cost: One-on-one therapy is usually more expensive than group therapy.
Limited perspectives: You work with a single therapist versus hearing multiple viewpoints.
What Is Group Therapy?
Group Therapy at 3Elements Counseling involves 2-hour sessions led by one or two trained group therapists and attended by 4 to 8 participants. Our groups follow a psychodrama format, offering powerful opportunities for experiential healing. This approach supports the integration of deep emotional wounds related to trauma, relational patterns, grief and loss, substance use, co-dependency, and interpersonal challenges.
Through action-based exploration, psychodrama provides felt experiences that allow participants to access, express, and process emotions in a way that leads to meaningful insight, emotional relief, and lasting change.
Benefits of Group Therapy:
Shared experience: Realize you're not alone in your struggles.
Peer learning: Gain insights and strategies from others with similar concerns.
Affordability: Group sessions often cost less than individual ones.
Skill-building: Practice social and communication skills in a supportive environment.
Deep exploration and repair: The extended session format and use of auxiliaries (group members taking on roles) in psychodrama allow for profound exploration and healing of complex issues, including relational wounds and trauma.
Potential Challenges:
Reduced privacy: Since sessions are shared with others, personal information is disclosed in a group setting. However, confidentiality is thoroughly emphasized and expected from all participants to create a safe and respectful space.
Divided attention: The therapist’s focus is shared among group members. At 3Elements Counseling, our use of Psychodrama allows for individualized support within the group context, with expert facilitation that brings personal work to the forefront when needed.
Group dynamics: Differences in personalities and group chemistry can sometimes pose challenges. Our therapists are specially trained in Group Therapy and skilled in managing interpersonal dynamics to foster a cohesive, respectful, and productive group environment.
Emotional Focus in Both Settings
At 3Elements Counseling, we use emotionally focused and relational approaches in both individual and group therapy. Whether you're meeting one-on-one or participating in a group, you’ll have the opportunity to:
Identify and process core emotions
Strengthen self-awareness
Build more compassionate relationships with yourself and others
Which Therapy Format should you choose?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer—the right format depends on your current needs, goals, and where you are in your healing process:
Individual therapy may be the better fit if you're confronting an issue for the first time, need significant space for emotional processing, or tend to feel easily dysregulated. The one-on-one setting offers a grounded, focused environment to build stability and insight at your own pace.
Group therapy can be especially powerful if you've been working on an issue for years without significant change. The immersive nature of group work—particularly in a psychodrama format—offers new perspectives, emotional breakthroughs, and the healing power of connection.
Talk it Through with Us
Not sure where to start? At 3Elements Counseling, we offer a free 30-minute consultation to help you explore the best fit. Our bilingual team (English & Spanish) offers therapy in person in Maryland and online for clients across Latin America and Europe.
Take the first step: https://www.3elementscounseling.com
Group Therapy at 3Elements Counseling involves 2-hour sessions led by one or two trained group therapists and attended by 4 to 8 participants. Our groups follow a psychodrama format, offering powerful opportunities for experiential healing. This approach supports the integration of deep emotional wounds related to trauma, relational patterns, grief and loss, substance use, co-dependency, and interpersonal challenges.
Through action-based exploration, psychodrama provides felt experiences that allow participants to access, express, and process emotions in a way that leads to meaningful insight, emotional relief, and lasting change.
