Interpersonal Process Group Therapy

Many of us carry questions about how we connect with other people or we are aware of patterns related to how we show up in our relationships that we would like to change. We are curious about how we are perceived by others. We want to understand how we relate with other people and learn how to feel more connected.

Some of us wonder why we tend to choose the same kind of partner over and over. Or we wonder why closeness feels easy with some individuals and impossible with others. We ask ourselves why certain people just irritate us so much.

Interpersonal process group therapy is one place those questions get explored, alongside other people who are exploring them too. In these groups, we can discover why it can feel so difficult to navigate conflict or trust ourselves and others enough to speak our truth in our closest relationships. We recognize how we hurt the people we love and how to manage our angry outbursts.

All the ways we can connect and disconnect with others happen in group. Who we are on the outside becomes who we are in the room.

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What is an interpersonal process group?

An interpersonal process group is a small therapy group, usually made up of six to nine people, that focuses on understanding how members relate to one another in real time. These groups can be in person or virtual. Groups at Nashville Psych meet weekly for 75 minutes, and members typically make an initial commitment of 6 months so the group has time to build trust.

Members talk about what is emotionally significant in their lives, but what makes this kind of group different is that attention is primarily focused on what is happening among the people in the room in real time. Everyone has different ways of relating to others and it shows up in the room.

Group members may notice how easy, or difficult, it feels to ask for what they need. They learn what happens in them when someone disagrees. Some notice themselves tending to everyone else before they say anything about what they are experiencing. Others observe themselves going quiet when the room gets tense.

These ways of relating tend to show up in the group on their own because they are the same ways of relating we carry into our most intimate relationships. The group becomes a place to notice them together, with curiosity rather than judgment, and to begin to experiment with new ways of relating.

What actually happens in an interpersonal process group session?

Some of the most powerful work at our practice happens in a room full of people who started out as strangers. There is no set agenda and no turn-taking. A session usually begins in silence or with whatever someone brings. People talk. Others listen. Someone notices that another member has been quiet for twenty minutes and expresses care and concern. Someone else expresses irritation that the group seems to be organized around fixing one member’s problem for the majority of the session. Someone risks saying they felt hurt by something another member said last week, and the group stays with that.

The therapists are not there to give advice or steer the conversation toward a lesson. Rather, their work is to help the group slow down, notice what is happening between people, and within the group as a whole, and stay with it long enough to learn something.

Over time, members start recognizing familiar patterns as they are happening, in the company of people who are also learning to do that.

How is an interpersonal process group different from a support group?

People are often surprised to learn how many different kinds of therapy groups exist. Here are some of the most common types of therapy groups:

Support groups bring together people who share a specific experience, such as grief, a cancer diagnosis, divorce, or recovery. Members offer each other understanding and encouragement from the inside of that experience.
Psychoeducational groups teach. Members learn information and practical tools for a particular concern, often over a set number of sessions.
Skills groups, frequently built on DBT or CBT, teach specific techniques for managing emotions, communicating, or changing behavior. Practice and homework are usually part of the format.
Interpersonal process groups, including the groups we offer at Nashville Psych, work with what happens between members in real time. The relationships that form inside the group are the material the work is made of.

Why are relationships such a powerful setting for growth?

Much of who we are took shape in relationships. In relationship we first felt understood, misread, welcomed, criticized, needed, or overlooked. It was through our early relationships that we learned what was safe to say out loud and what was better kept quiet.

As so much of that learning happened between people, relationships turn out to be a natural setting for new learning to happen.

A process group offers something specific here. Several people provide their emotional reactions to what you are sharing or how you are sharing it in the moment. Those reactions often mirror the reactions of the people who are closest to you. You get to find out what it is like to be in relationship with you.

Similarly, you might get to be in relationship with those who might be similar to those you have some difficulty with in your life, and study your reaction. You also have the opportunity to try something different while it is happening. For example, you might try saying the thing you would normally carry silently or staying in the room during a disagreement. Perhaps you experiment with letting someone offer you something without deflecting it.

Group therapy and individual therapy do different work, and many people find great value in both, or in one on its own.

Are interpersonal process groups available online?

Yes. Nashville Psych offers virtual interpersonal process groups alongside our in-person groups in Nashville.

Online groups work well for this format. Members see each other’s faces the entire time, and much of what a group notices together travels across video without difficulty.

Two of our group therapists hold PSYPACT authorization, which allows them to work with residents of participating states beyond Tennessee. If you are outside Tennessee and interested in a virtual group, a brief call with our client care team is the fastest way to find out what is available to you.

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Who joins an interpersonal process group?

There is no one type of person who can benefit from group. People come to process groups for many reasons, and the group is usually stronger as a result of this variety.

Interpersonal process group therapy may resonate if you are curious about:

How to feel more connected to the people in your life
What your relationships look like from the outside
What it would be like to be honest with people in real time
How you affect others, and how others affect you
What happens when you say the difficult thing instead of holding it
Being known by people who are also willing to be known

Some members are newer to therapy. Others have been in therapy for years. Some join because a therapist suggested it, some because a friend described their own group, and some because they read something like this and wanted to find out.

What change can look like

Growth looks different for everyone. For one member, it looks like getting through a disagreement with a partner without going silent. For another, it may be noticing, in the moment, the urge to make a joke when something gets serious, and choosing not to. For someone else, it is being able to say “that landed badly for me” out loud, the first time, in a room where it is safe to practice.

Some people describe it more simply: they begin to feel more like themselves around other people.

Common Questions About Interpersonal Process Group Therapy

Will I have to talk right away?

No one is required to speak before they are ready. Most members participate at their own pace and find that it gets easier as the group becomes familiar.

What if I feel nervous about joining an interpersonal process group?

Almost everyone does. Nervousness before a first session is one of the most common experiences people bring, and it often becomes useful material once you are in the room. You are encouraged to say so out loud on your first day.

What if people judge me?

Judgments are thoughts, and the therapists help create a space where people can be honest with one another about their feelings, which is the most frequent and important kind of feedback offered in the group. Part of what a group learns together is how to say true things in a way the other person can actually take in.

Is what I say in my Interpersonal process group confidential?

Your therapists are bound by law and professional ethics to protect your privacy.

Group members are bound by a confidentiality agreement they make with each other, which is a serious commitment and also a different kind of protection than the legal one your therapist carries.

We talk about this openly before anyone joins, because understanding it is part of deciding whether group is right for you.

Can I be in individual therapy and Interpersonal Process Group Therapy at the same time?

Yes. Many members are, and the two often inform each other. Others attend group on its own.

What does it cost for weekly Interpersonal Process Group Therapy?

Group sessions are $65 per session. Nashville Psych is out-of-network with insurance companies. We can provide a superbill, which is the receipt your insurance company may require if you have out-of-network benefits for group therapy and would like to seek reimbursement.

How to find out whether a group is right for you

Schedule a free call. Tell us what is bringing you in, and we will share more about the groups that may be available.
Meet with the group leader. You will attend a one-hour consultation to talk more deeply about what you are looking for and whether the group feels like a good fit.
Decide on the next step together. You may be matched with a group or guided toward another kind of care if that seems like a better place to begin.

Interpersonal Process Group therapy is not about becoming a different person. It is a way of becoming more fully yourself with others. Whenever you’re ready, we’re here.

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