Can You Do Group Therapy Online? What to Know Before You Join

When people imagine group therapy, they picture a circle of chairs in a quiet room. The idea of doing it through a screen can feel wrong — like something essential would be lost.

It's a reasonable concern. Group therapy is built on connection, and connection feels like something that requires physical presence. But the reality is more interesting than the assumption.

What the Research Says

The evidence on online group therapy has grown significantly in recent years, and the findings are consistent: online process groups produce outcomes comparable to in-person groups across multiple measures — including group cohesion, therapeutic alliance, and symptom reduction.

This makes sense when you think about what actually creates change in a process group. It's not proximity. It's not sharing physical space. It's the quality of attention, the willingness to be honest, and the experience of being seen and responded to by other people. These things translate through a screen more effectively than most people expect.

What It Actually Feels Like

The first online session usually involves a brief adjustment period. You notice the slight awkwardness of video — the lag, the eye-contact challenge, the awareness of your own face in the corner of the screen. Most people stop noticing these things within fifteen or twenty minutes.

What replaces the awkwardness is the same thing that happens in an in-person group: something real starts to emerge. Someone shares something honest. Someone has a reaction. The room — even the virtual room — begins to feel like a specific place with specific people.

Members of online groups consistently report that after the first few sessions, the screen fades into the background. What stays in the foreground is the work — the feelings, the patterns, the relationships that are developing between members.

What Works the Same

Nearly everything that makes process groups powerful works in an online format:

• Here-and-now focus. The group still pays attention to what's happening between members in real time — reactions, feelings, patterns of interaction.
• Interpersonal feedback. Members still give and receive honest responses to each other. "When you said that, I felt..." works the same way through a screen.
• Pattern recognition. The person who deflects with humor, the person who caretakes instead of sharing their own needs, the person who withdraws when things get intense — these patterns show up just as clearly online.
• Emotional intensity. Tears happen. Anger happens. Tenderness happens. The screen doesn't mute these experiences. If anything, the close-up nature of video — seeing someone's face fill your screen — can make emotional moments feel more intimate, not less.
• The group agreement. Confidentiality, putting feelings into words, respect for all identities — the commitments that make the group safe apply equally online.

What's Different

There are some real differences, though:

You miss some body language. You can see faces and upper bodies, but you can't see someone's foot tapping nervously or their posture shifting. Skilled group therapists compensate by paying closer attention to facial expressions, tone of voice, and verbal cues.

The energy is slightly different. In-person groups have a physical dimension — the felt sense of being in a room with other people — that video can't fully replicate. Some members experience this as a loss. Others find that the slight distance of the screen actually helps them be more open, not less.

Technology can intrude. A poor internet connection, a notification sound, a family member walking into the room — these disruptions are part of the online landscape. The group agreement includes practical commitments: private space, camera on, minimizing distractions.

Silence feels different. In person, silence is shared — you can feel the room holding it together. Online, silence can feel more ambiguous. A skilled group therapist works a little harder here, helping the group study what the silence is saying — bringing it into the space as a non-verbal communication rather than letting it become disconnecting. When this is done well, it compensates for what the online format may take away.

Who Online Group Therapy Is Right For

Online group therapy is a particularly good fit for people who:

• Live outside major urban areas. If there's no process group within reasonable driving distance, online removes the geography problem entirely.
• Have scheduling constraints. Eliminating commute time can make the difference between group being possible and group being impractical.
• Travel frequently. An online group means you don't miss sessions when you're on the road.
• Feel more comfortable starting from home. For some people, the fear of group therapy is compounded by the fear of walking into an unfamiliar physical space. Starting from your own environment can lower the barrier.
• Want access to a specific kind of group. Process groups — especially mixed-gender process groups — aren't available everywhere. Online groups expand the options significantly.

Who Might Prefer In-Person

Some people genuinely benefit from the physical presence of an in-person group. If you're someone who:

• Finds it harder to stay emotionally engaged through a screen
• Has difficulty maintaining privacy at home
• Strongly prefers the energy of a shared physical space

...then an in-person group might be the better fit. The good news is that you don't have to guess. A screening call can help you figure out which format makes more sense for your situation.

Trying It

If you've been interested in group therapy but geography, schedule, or the sheer logistics of getting to an office have been barriers, online group therapy might be the answer. And if you're skeptical — if you're not sure a screen can hold the kind of connection you're hungry for — the best way to find out is to try it.

If you're group curious, we would be glad to hear from you.

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Paul Callister, PhD, CMHC, CGP is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and certified group psychotherapist. He founded the Utah Group Therapy Center to offer interpersonal process groups in Utah.