Wellness Hills provides clinician-led group therapy in Chester, NJ as part of treatment plans designed to improve coping skills, emotional regulation, and daily functioning.
Group therapy is a clinician-led treatment that utilizes social dynamics to catalyze individual psychological change. It is not merely a support group, but a structured environment in which licensed professionals deliver evidence-based interventions such as CBT and DBT. At Wellness Hills in Chester, New Jersey, we provide group therapy for mental health as a core component of our continuum of care, integrating it into our Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), and Outpatient (OP) services, and is commonly used to support symptoms related to anxiety, depression, trauma, and mood disorders.
If you are ready to begin, call 855-560-5523 for a confidential assessment. We’ll verify benefits and help you understand the next clinical step.
Think of mental health group therapy as a kind of social laboratory. It provides a supportive setting in which the way people interact with each other helps people heal faster than they might in one-on-one sessions alone.
With a licensed therapist, such as an LCSW, LPC, or LAC, leading the way, participants can see their own patterns of relating to others play out right there in the group. This immediate feedback can be really helpful for treating conditions in which feeling isolated or pulling away from social situations perpetuates the problem.
Most mental health group therapy sessions follow a predictable structure:
Having this consistent pattern helps the therapist track how everyone is doing and tweak the treatment plan as needed.
We utilize four primary formats, selected based on the patient’s current stabilization needs:
A group therapist must follow the same privacy rules, such as HIPAA, that keep individual therapy information confidential. They’re not allowed to talk about what happens in group sessions with anyone else unless they have written permission from the group members.
The only exceptions are when there are specific legal requirements or safety concerns, for example, therapists must report threats of self-harm or harm to others. They also report abuse of children or vulnerable adults. These limits protect everyone in the group.
It is standard practice for every member to sign a Group Participation Agreement or contract. By signing, members promise not to share the names of other participants or the details of the discussions.
Not sure which approach fits you best? See all of our therapy approaches and how they’re used in treatment.
Group work often targets the universality of suffering. Group therapy can be a good fit when someone’s main challenges to feeling well are related to their relationships and interactions with others. For instance, if they struggle with deep-seated loneliness, ongoing conflicts in their relationships, or find it tough to actually use the insights gained from individual therapy in their everyday life, group therapy may be helpful.
A group therapy setting can be a safe space to practice how someone communicates and handle tough emotions. Common goals include:
A clinician determines appropriateness based on individual presentation and current stability.
It’s quite common for people to experience co-occurring disorders (a mental health condition occurring alongside another issue). This other issue could be anything from substance use problems, ongoing sleep troubles, or even unresolved grief. We conduct a thorough assessment to help identify all the concerns someone is dealing with. Then we design a treatment plan to address these issues together and improve overall stability.
Group therapy requires a baseline of cognitive and emotional bandwidth. It is an additive treatment, not a crisis intervention.
Someone might be ready for a more intensive program, like our PHP group therapy NJ, when their symptoms make regular outpatient or IOP participation either unsafe or not helpful enough. We look for signs such as:
Thinking about safety and ensuring someone is stable is important in any therapeutic setting. Group therapy usually isn’t the right fit when someone is going through a tough time where they’re actively struggling, especially if it would take up too much of the group’s attention or potentially put others at risk.
Our team checks for situations like this and might suggest focusing on getting more stable first. This could be the case for someone in situations such as:
In these situations, the main priority is to ensure a client is medically and mentally stable before they join a group therapy setting.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For 24/7 crisis support in New Jersey, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
Find out your personal coverage & options for treatment with a free verification of benefits from our admissions team. Whether you come to our programs or not we will ensure that you receive personalized recommendations for treatment based on your needs.
We do not use talk therapy in a vacuum. Every group at Wellness Hills is anchored in a validated modality.
In a CBT group therapy session, we focus on the link between thoughts and actions. You learn to identify cognitive distortions that worsen your symptoms. Members help each other find more balanced ways of thinking about their lives.
Our Dialectical Behavior Therapy groups are divided into four modules: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. DBT skills training is well-supported for helping people build distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, especially when emotional dysregulation is a core challenge.
These groups do not re-process trauma in a group setting (which can be re-traumatizing). Instead, they focus on Nervous System Regulation. We teach grounding techniques to manage the physiological spikes associated with PTSD.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps patients stop fighting their thoughts and start moving toward their values. Combined with interpersonal skills training, this helps mend relationships strained by mental illness.
Psychotherapy often requires a biological floor. Paula Weisman, PMHNP-BC, provides psychiatric evaluations. If medication is prescribed, it is done to reduce the symptom noise enough for group therapy to be effective.
Average 5.0 Rating
"I felt supported, understood, and never judged. The therapists here actually listen, and the groups helped me build confidence and skills I didn’t even know I needed. I’m healthier, calmer, and finally hopeful about my future. I’m so grateful for the care I received.”
Client Satisfaction
Our placement is determined by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) score, functional assessment, and complexity of co-occurring conditions. The level of care is a clinical decision based on symptom severity and functional impairment.
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): PHPs often provide 20+ hours of clinical treatment per week in a structured day program. It can be a good fit for individuals transitioning from inpatient care or experiencing symptoms that prevent them from working, attending school, or engaging in basic self-care. Programming at Wellness Hills is evidence-based, whole-person care. In practice, whole-person means your plan may include skills-based groups (CBT/DBT/ACT), coordinated medication support when appropriate, and support for stress and daily functioning, based on clinical need and delivered in a 15–20 client capacity setting.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): An IOP generally offers 9–15 hours per week. Our program features day and evening programs, supporting functional re-entry while maintaining frequent clinical contact. Care remains evidence-based and holistic, with a capacity of 15–20 clients.
Outpatient Program (OP): Most OPs involve 1–3 hours per week. Our general outpatient care focuses on maintenance, resilience, and relapse prevention within a structured day program.
Levels of care are reviewed continuously and adjusted based on safety, symptom severity, and functional progress.
The two are complementary, not mutually exclusive.
In individual therapy (with a therapist such as Abby Goodrich, LAC), you identify the “why” behind your behavior. In group therapy, you practice the “how.” The individual session provides the narrative; the group session provides the evidence of change.
While they sound the same, there is a big difference in how they work:
We prioritize clinical necessity over administrative hurdles.
Many New Jersey health plans may cover group therapy when it’s part of a licensed treatment program and meets medical necessity criteria. Coverage and authorization requirements vary by plan (and sometimes by employer).
Insurance companies are not allowed to treat mental health differently from physical health. If your plan covers a doctor’s visit for a broken bone or an illness, it must also provide fair coverage for mental health support.
This means your assessment must document a diagnosable mental health condition (per DSM-5-TR). It must also demonstrate that the intensity and structure of a group-based PHP, IOP, or OP program are required for treatment.
Wellness Hills works with Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (Optum), Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ, AmeriHealth, and many other providers. We handle the pre-authorization to ensure your focus remains on healing.
The Wellness Hills treatment team tracks your progress with real results (not just whether you feel better). We measure group participants’ progress using clear methods. We regularly ask you to complete questionnaires like the PHQ-9 for depression, the GAD-7 for anxiety, and the PCL-5 for trauma. Scores are looked at closely during our team meetings.
If scores plateau or worsen, the treatment team, including our primary therapists and Paula Weisman, PMHNP-BC, immediately adjusts the plan. This measurement-based approach helps us make timely, clinically grounded adjustments instead of guessing. We typically measure at intake and at regular intervals during treatment (for example, every 2–4 weeks), and again at discharge, depending on level of care and clinical need.
Our differentiation is not in the services we list but in the rigor of our clinical governance, the specificity of our protocols, and the integration of care within our state-licensed facility. Every group is overseen by Leigh Rasmussen, LPC, LCADC, ensuring that the group dynamic remains therapeutic and safe.
Wellness Hills maintains quality and safety standards consistent with our licensure requirements and accreditation expectations, including Joint Commission standards. Our approach to trauma-informed care isn’t just a trendy phrase for us; it’s a core part of how we run things.
Every member of our team is trained to spot signs of trauma, make sure everyone feels safe emotionally and physically, and steer clear of anything that could make things worse for our clients. Group sessions take place in private clinical spaces designed to support confidentiality and respectful participation.
What Your Progress May Look Like:
These FAQs cover the most common group therapy questions we hear during pre-admission calls and the intake assessment.
Yes, group therapy can be highly effective for many people with anxiety and depression, especially when it’s structured (like CBT/DBT skills groups) and matched to the right level of care. The best fit depends on symptom severity, safety considerations, and how you respond to treatment over time. Some people do best with a mix of group + individual sessions.
Participants sign an agreement not to share any information about the group to ensure a safe environment.
Yes, but we focus on stabilization and safety skills before processing deep trauma.
If a group setting causes too much distress, we will adjust your plan to include more individual support.
No. Participation (over time) is encouraged to gain the full benefit. Listening is a part of participation, but growth requires eventual engagement.
Contact us for current hybrid/telehealth availability.
Most New Jersey plans cover group therapy when it is part of a licensed treatment program.
We use objective data from your assessment to match your symptom intensity to the right level of care.
If you’re considering group therapy, the next step is a brief, confidential assessment to understand symptoms, safety, and the right level of care (PHP, IOP, or outpatient).
Call 855-560-5523 or use our contact form to get started. We’ll verify benefits and explain what your plan may cover before scheduling.
In a crisis: call 911 or text/call 988.
New Jersey DOH Facility License: 70290104.
Office of Legal and Regulatory Affairs | HIPAA (NJ Department of Human Services) – Official NJ DHS page linking HIPAA privacy documents (Authorization to Disclose Information + Notice of Privacy Practices), used to support confidentiality/privacy language on your page.
Group therapy for mood disorders: A meta-analysis (Janis et al., 2021) – PubMed – Meta-analysis of RCTs on group psychotherapy for mood disorders (depression/bipolar), useful for efficacy claims and to justify group as an evidence-based format.
