My response to a listserve query seeking a group treating only depression

I think so focused a group would be pretty unusual, and is best carefully limited in duration. In my experience as a supervisor & observer of many kinds of colleagues’ groups, when a group’s membership is limited to a single symptom set, like anorexia or depression, participants quickly feel saferand better understood by other members.
But the similar world views and coping mechanisms eventually slow &/or stop therapeutic progress, often coalescing into unified group resistance to further individual change. At that point, unless members graduate to groups with different-enough problems and resources for diverse approaches to life, the group loses therapeutic energy and dwindles to a disappointing end. bd