Why Confidence Grows in Group Therapy

How Relational Healing Builds Self-Esteem

If you’ve spent years struggling with self-doubt, people-pleasing, or anxiety, you may have already tried a lot of things to try to boost your confidence. Maybe seeking insight through reading, self-help, or pushing yourself to achieve more and more.

But confidence doesn’t usually grow through pressure or perfection.

For many people, confidence grows through relationship — which is why group therapy can be so powerful!

Confidence is shaped in relationships

Self-esteem and confidence don’t develop in isolation.
They are shaped by how we are responded to, understood, and valued in relationships over time. So if you’re struggling with your own self-esteem and confidence, think back on big relationships in your life, especially ones you had in childhood. What messages did you receive — whether explicitly said aloud or just implied?

Many women who struggle with confidence learned early on that:

• being agreeable kept the peace

• meeting others’ needs earned approval

• taking up too much space felt risky

• expressing needs and big emotions led to guilt or rejection

Putting your current experience in this context helps you understand that your current feelings and behaviors make sense. But you don’t have to be constrained by them forever. New relationships can help you form new feelings, new beliefs, and new patterns.

That’s why working on confidence solely on your own can feel limited. The nervous system learns best through new relational experiences, not just insight.

Why group therapy supports confidence differently than individual therapy

Group therapy offers real-time relational feedback in a supportive, structured environment.

In group therapy, you can:

• notice how others actually experience you (often more warmly than expected)

• receive feedback that challenges harsh self-judgments

• practice speaking up, setting boundaries, or taking emotional space

• experience being accepted without performing or over-giving

• feel less alone in struggles you’ve carried privately

Confidence often grows when your internal story (“I’m too much,” “I’m not enough”) is gently contradicted by lived experience. Because in group therapy you take appropriate social risks and learn that those stories aren’t as set in stone as you thought.

How group therapy helps people-pleasers build self-trust

For people-pleasers, confidence isn’t about becoming louder or more assertive overnight; it’s about learning that you can stay connected while being honest.

In group therapy, people-pleasers can practice:

• expressing disagreement without catastrophic outcomes

• noticing and naming needs

• tolerating guilt or discomfort while staying grounded

• receiving care instead of always giving it

• letting others hold responsibility for their own feelings

Over time, this builds self-trust — a core foundation of confidence.

Confidence grows through being seen

Many women arrive in therapy believing confidence comes from:

• fixing perceived flaws

• becoming more productive

• being “better” or more put together

But confidence often grows through:

• being seen as you are

• feeling emotionally understood

• having your experience validated (and learning to validate yourself)

• belonging without “earning” it

Group therapy offers repeated opportunities for this kind of corrective emotional experience.

Is group therapy good for anxiety and self-esteem?

Yes — especially when anxiety is relational or tied to self-worth.

Group therapy can be helpful for women who:

• feel anxious in relationships

• overthink how they’re perceived

• struggle with self-doubt or comparison

• feel responsible for others’ emotions

• want to feel more secure and confident in connection

Because anxiety and confidence are often shaped in relationship, group therapy addresses them where they live.

A women’s group focused on confidence and connection in Georgia

Rosebud Psychotherapy offers a women’s process group for adult women in Georgia who want to reduce anxiety, build self-esteem, and develop more confidence in themselves and their relationships.

This group focuses on:

• anxiety and people-pleasing patterns

• self-esteem and self-trust

• emotional expression and boundaries

• connection, belonging, and relational growth

You can learn more about the group here:
Women’s Process Group for Anxiety, Self-Esteem, and Confidence

Who facilitates this group?

The group is facilitated by me, Maggie Malone, LCSW, a therapist based in Marietta, Georgia who specializes in anxiety, people-pleasing, trauma-informed care, and group therapy for adult women.

My approach is relational, compassionate, and grounded in client autonomy.

Is group therapy right for you?

Group therapy may be a good fit if you:

• want to feel more confident in relationships

• struggle with self-doubt or people-pleasing

• are tired of carrying everything alone

• want connection without pressure to perform

And don’t worry — you don’t need to feel confident before joining. Confidence often grows through the group process!

This article was written by Maggie Malone, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker in Georgia who specializes in anxiety, people-pleasing, and group therapy for adult women.