Group Therapy to Promote Adolescents’ Mental Health: Clinical and Empirical Evidence

The contemporary world presents increasingly complex challenges for adolescents. In addition to normative developmental tasks, adolescents must now navigate epidemic health crises, armed conflicts, family dissolution, economic instability, and academic pressures. Consequently, adolescents experience diminished security and elevated levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression. While the need for emotional support has intensified across all demographics, adolescents’ psychological needs remain particularly underserved. The American Psychological Association has recently advocated for the expansion of group therapy services, a format that aligns particularly well with adolescents’ socioemotional needs, serving as a developmental bridge from childhood to adulthood. Research on adolescents’ group legs much behind the adult literature. The aim of the current paper is to show the potential power of group therapy with adolescents based on a selective review of our empirical studies examining the impact of therapy groups on adolescents’ well-being. The reviewed papers encompass randomized controlled trials and process research identifying critical therapeutic factors, collectively establishing the intervention’s validity. Results demonstrate the superiority of these groups compared to non-treatment controls and equivalence to individual therapy in reducing stress, anxiety, and aggression while enhancing self-perception, self-control, and academic functioning. These findings support the conclusion that group psychotherapy significantly contributes to adolescent well-being. Considering adolescents’ high yet unmet need for emotional support, group therapy appears to be a valid alternative.