Burnout & Group Therapy

They'll See Your Progress Before You Do

By Dr. Ting-Ting Shiue, PhD · Licensed Psychologist · October 2026

Therapy is pretty trendy nowadays but when people reference therapy, they're talking about individual therapy. Group therapy on the other hand, seems mostly intimidating for the majority of people. Sharing things with a therapist seems safe but sharing with a group of strangers seems crazy. As a therapist who has done a lot of groups across a lot of years, groups done right are some of the most powerful, fun and healing tools we can access.

I love watching how groups come together after about a month. They feel more comfortable with each other and don't worry about being judged. They say they really look forward to group and to seeing each other and hearing about each other's lives. They start to share things they've never shared with other people. They are quick to share encouragement and ask more questions.

They track each other's lives and progress. They notice when someone's mood seems brighter than a few weeks ago and understand how accomplishing a task that seems small is actually something big to celebrate because it's something that couldn't be done a few weeks ago. They're happy for each other. They're sad, frustrated and angry for each other. They tell each other when they think they have been treated unfairly by a boss, a coworker, a corporation or a family member. They are willing to listen and witness to an experience more than once.

Often I see smiles or tears across my screen. Sometimes the smiles are sad and sometimes the tears are happy. I see people who didn't take up space before taking up space. Wanting to take up space. Wanting to share, shedding the feeling and fear of burdening others with their problems. Learning that there are others who can understand them.

The person hearing it often didn't realize. That's one of the quiet gifts of group — other people are holding the evidence of your growth when you can't see it yourself. They're tracking it for you, celebrating it for you, reflecting it back before you've had a chance to register it.

But here's what I find just as moving: what happens to everyone else in the room when they witness that moment.

There's longing. The kind that gives people inspiration and direction. The feeling of "I want that." It gives back something that burnout has a way of stealing: hope. The sense that getting out of this isn't just a thing your therapist says is possible. It's a thing that can actually happen and you actually witnessed it so you know it's true.

Burnout has a way of making people feel like they're in an impossible space — that they're too far gone, too worn down, too damn tired to find a way out. When you watch someone else walk out of that space, something shifts. You start to be able to imagine it for yourself. That's not a small thing. Hope is motivating. Direction is motivating. Seeing the path because someone else is already on it — that's something individual therapy can't give you.

And the person who's further along? They get something too. They get to feel seen. Validated. Celebrated. Valued. They get to look back at where they started and realize, maybe for the first time, how far they've actually come.

There's a gain on both ends.