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Group Therapy in Los Angeles with Saman Khazani, LMFT
There Is a Kind of Healing That Can Only Happen With Others
Individual therapy is powerful. But there are things it cannot replicate: the experience of being truly seen by a room of people who have no obligation to care about you, and choosing to care anyway. The moment someone says out loud the thing you’ve been carrying in silence, and the whole room breathes differently. The realization that you are not as alone in your struggles as you believed.
Group therapy can be a transformative experience. Not because someone gives you advice. Not because the therapist says the right thing at the right time. But because something happens between people, in the space between them, that cannot happen anywhere else. The constant contact, even in the silent moments of a group, is the magic taking place.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist facilitating group therapy in Los Angeles, I’ve watched people walk into a room full of strangers and leave, weeks or months later, having been changed by what they witnessed and shared. Groups can leave one feeling touched, held, cared for and challenged all at once. It’s one of the most meaningful forms of therapy I offer.
What Is Group Therapy?
Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a small group of people, typically 5 to 10, meet regularly with a licensed therapist to explore their emotional lives, relational patterns, and personal growth together. Unlike a support group, which is often peer-led and focused on a specific topic, group therapy is facilitated by a trained psychotherapist and works with whatever arises in the room.
In my Los Angeles practice, I lead process groups, which means the group itself becomes the material we work with. Rather than following a curriculum or discussing a predetermined topic each week, we pay attention to what’s happening between the members in real time: the connections, the tensions, the projections, the vulnerability, the avoidance, the honesty. The group becomes a living laboratory for understanding how you relate to others, and how others experience you.
This is different from psychoeducational groups or structured workshops. A process group is an ongoing, relational space where the depth of the work grows over time as trust builds between members.
What Group Therapy Offers
Group therapy offers something individual therapy simply cannot. In individual therapy, you have one relationship: you and your therapist. In group therapy, you have many. And those relationships become mirrors, reflecting back parts of yourself you may not see on your own.
Here’s what group offers:
- Be seen more fully by people who come to know you over time
- Practice being vulnerable around others in a space that holds you
- Take risks in front of others, knowing you can fall and still be accepted
- Feel a sense of community and belonging you may not find elsewhere
- Notice the aspects of yourself you are not conscious of, because others reflect them back
- Share parts of your story you’ve been holding onto, sometimes for years
- Hear others react to you in a more honest way than you typically experience
- Learn about your relationship patterns by watching them play out in real time
- Develop empathy for people you may usually be quick to judge
- Feel seen by people you think would usually judge you
These are not abstract benefits. They are lived experiences that happen session after session in a well-facilitated group.
Who Group Therapy Is For
Group therapy in Los Angeles is for anyone who wants to understand themselves more deeply through their relationships with others. You don’t need to be in crisis, and you don’t need a specific diagnosis. What you need is a willingness to show up honestly.
Group therapy may be especially meaningful if you:
- Feel isolated, lonely, or disconnected, even if you have people in your life
- Struggle with vulnerability or emotional intimacy
- Find yourself repeating the same relational patterns and don’t know why
- Want honest feedback about how others experience you
- Are working through social anxiety and want a safe place to practice connection
- Tend to people-please, withdraw, or become defensive in relationships
- Want to develop deeper empathy and communication skills
- Are in individual therapy and want to deepen your relational awareness
- Crave community and belonging but don’t know how to find it
- Are curious about yourself and willing to be surprised by what you discover
Group therapy is not only for people who are struggling. It’s also for people who are growing. Many of my group members are already in individual therapy and use the group as a space to practice what they’re learning about themselves in real relationships.
How My Groups Work
The Structure
My process groups meet weekly for 90-minute sessions. Groups are ongoing, meaning they don’t have a set end date. Members join when there’s an opening and stay as long as the work feels meaningful. This ongoing structure allows for the depth of relationship that makes group therapy so powerful.
Group size is typically between 5 and 8 members. Small enough for intimacy, large enough for diversity of perspective.
The Process
There is no agenda. No one assigns a topic. Each session begins with the group, and wherever the conversation goes is where we go. Sometimes someone arrives with something pressing. Sometimes the most important moment is the silence that opens the session. Sometimes conflict arises between members, and that conflict becomes the richest material of all.
As the facilitator, my role is not to lecture or direct. It’s to notice what’s happening beneath the surface: the dynamics, the patterns, the unspoken feelings, the ways people are connecting or withdrawing. I might point out something the group hasn’t noticed. I might invite someone to go deeper. I might hold space while the group does its own work.
Before You Join
Before entering a group, I meet with each prospective member individually. This consultation helps me understand what you’re looking for, assess whether the group is a good fit, and prepare you for the experience. Not everyone is right for every group, and that’s okay. Fit matters, and I take it seriously.
Confidentiality
Everything shared in group is confidential. Every member commits to this before joining. What’s said in the room stays in the room. This is the foundation that allows the vulnerability and honesty that makes group therapy work.
What Makes Group Therapy Different From Individual Therapy
Individual therapy gives you one relationship: you and your therapist. That relationship is invaluable. But it’s also contained. Your therapist sees you, but through a specific lens: the therapeutic relationship.
In group therapy, you’re in relationship with multiple people. You don’t get to control how they see you. You can’t curate your image the way you might in a one-on-one setting. People will react to you in unexpected ways, sometimes mirroring back things about yourself that no individual therapist could see.
This can be uncomfortable. It can also be profoundly liberating. Many clients find that group therapy accelerates their growth in ways that surprise them, precisely because the relational dynamics are richer, more complex, and more honest.
Group therapy is not a replacement for individual therapy. Many people do both simultaneously. The two forms of work complement each other beautifully. What you explore in individual sessions deepens your capacity for group work, and what happens in group enriches your individual therapy.
Common Concerns About Group Therapy
“I’m too anxious to be in a group.”
This is actually one of the best reasons to join one. If social situations make you anxious, group therapy offers a safe, structured environment to explore that anxiety rather than avoid it. You won’t be forced to share before you’re ready. Many members spend the first few sessions simply listening and observing. The group will meet you where you are.
“I don’t want to share my personal stuff with strangers.”
That instinct is understandable and respected. You are never required to share anything you’re not ready to share. What tends to happen, though, is that over time, as you witness others being vulnerable and being met with care rather than judgment, something in you softens. The group earns your trust gradually, at your pace.
“What if I don’t like someone in the group?”
Good. That’s material. In group therapy, your reactions to other members, including discomfort, irritation, and judgment, are not problems to be avoided. They are opportunities to understand your relational patterns. Often, the person who triggers you the most teaches you the most about yourself.
“I’m already in individual therapy. Do I need group too?”
Need is a strong word. But if you want to go deeper into understanding how you relate to others, group adds a dimension that individual therapy alone cannot provide. Many of my clients in individual therapy find that adding group work transforms their self-understanding.
About Your Facilitator Saman Khazani, LMFT
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #MFC 104017) trained at Antioch University Los Angeles. For more than a decade, I have helped individuals, couples, families, and groups throughout Los Angeles navigate relationship challenges, emotional difficulties, life transitions, and personal growth.
My approach is grounded in Jungian and psychodynamic psychotherapy, which means I am interested not only in the symptoms bringing you to therapy, but also in the deeper patterns that may be shaping your experiences. Together, we explore the unconscious dynamics, emotional themes, and relationship patterns that influence how you live, connect, and understand yourself.
step 01
Jungian & Depth Psychology Perspective
Drawing from Jungian and psychodynamic traditions, I help clients explore unconscious patterns, emotional conflicts, and hidden aspects of themselves that may be affecting their relationships, decisions, and overall well-being. By bringing greater awareness to these deeper layers, therapy can become a powerful process of healing and transformation.
step 02
Understanding Relationship Patterns
As a Marriage and Family Therapist, my training focuses on relational dynamics—how people connect, communicate, withdraw, and grow in relationship with others. Many struggles emerge through relationships, and understanding these patterns often creates opportunities for meaningful change and deeper connection.
step 03
Dreamwork & Exploring The Unconscious
Dreams can provide valuable insight into emotions, conflicts, and parts of ourselves that may not yet be fully understood. Through dream exploration, clients often discover new perspectives, greater self-awareness, and a deeper connection to their inner world. Dreamwork can serve as a meaningful complement to traditional psychotherapy and personal growth.
step 04
Honest, Compassionate & Authentic Therapy
I believe therapy is ultimately a meeting between two human beings. My goal is to create a warm, supportive, and non-judgmental environment where you feel genuinely seen and understood. Alongside empathy and compassion, I offer thoughtful challenges that help clients move beyond familiar patterns and develop a more authentic relationship with themselves and others.
Serving the Greater Los Angeles Area
In-Person: Group therapy sessions are held at my office at 11949 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230. I welcome group members from Culver City, Venice, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Beverly Hills, and the greater Los Angeles area.
Fees: Group therapy sessions are priced differently from individual sessions. Please contact me to discuss current group availability and rates. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. I’m an out-of-network provider and provide superbills for insurance reimbursement. Many California PPO plans reimburse 50 to 80% for out-of-network therapy.
Current Groups: Availability changes throughout the year. Please call or email to ask about current openings, group themes, and meeting times.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Group Therapy
Curious about dreamwork therapy? Explore answers to frequently asked questions about dream interpretation, Jungian psychology, recurring dreams, and how dreams can support personal growth and emotional healing.
Jungian dream analysis is a method of exploring dreams developed by Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology. Rather than using a fixed symbol dictionary, Jungian analysis treats each dream as a unique communication from the unconscious. We explore the dream's personal meaning to you, its emotional tone, its symbolic images, and its potential connection to universal archetypes. The goal is not to decode the dream but to develop a deeper relationship with your inner life.
Not perfectly, no. Even a fragment, a single image, a feeling upon waking, or a vague sense of what happened can be enough to work with. Over time, especially if you begin keeping a dream journal, your dream recall tends to improve. The unconscious responds to attention. When it knows you're listening, it gives you more.
Recurring dreams typically signal that something in your unconscious is seeking resolution. The repetition is the psyche's way of saying: I haven't been heard yet. In therapy, we explore what the recurring dream may be pointing to, whether an unresolved emotion, a life pattern, or a deeper need. Often, once the message is understood and integrated, the recurring dream changes or stops entirely.
Yes. In Jungian psychology, nightmares are not simply bad dreams to be avoided. They are often the psyche's most urgent communication. Working with nightmares in therapy allows you to face the images that frighten you in a safe, contained space, understand what they represent, and transform your relationship with them. Many clients find that nightmares decrease significantly once they begin engaging with their dream life therapeutically.
Online dream dictionaries offer generic, one-size-fits-all meanings for dream symbols. "Water means emotions. Snakes mean transformation." But your dream of water or snakes is unique to you, to your personal history, your emotional state, and your psyche's particular language. Therapeutic dreamwork honors that specificity. We don't apply a formula. We listen to what the dream means in the context of your life.
Dreamwork is a form of psychotherapy, or more precisely, a practice within psychotherapy. In my Los Angeles practice, dreamwork is integrated into depth-oriented individual therapy. You're not just analyzing dreams in isolation. You're using dreams as one powerful pathway into understanding yourself more deeply, alongside exploration of your relationships, your emotions, your history, and your body.
No. You don't need to hold any particular spiritual beliefs. Dreamwork is grounded in psychological tradition, specifically the Jungian understanding that the unconscious mind communicates through images and symbols. Whether you experience that as spiritual, psychological, or simply interesting is entirely up to you. The work is effective regardless of your framework.
Dreams often intensify during periods of anxiety or depression. Working with those dreams can reveal what the psyche is struggling with beneath the symptoms, sometimes more directly than talk therapy alone. Dreamwork doesn't replace other therapeutic approaches to anxiety and depression, but it can deepen them significantly. Many of my clients find that their dreams illuminate the root of their distress in ways that surprise them.
There is no fixed timeline. Some clients bring a specific dream or recurring pattern they want to explore over several sessions. Others engage in longer-term depth work where dreams are a regular part of the therapeutic conversation over months or years. We'll check in regularly about what feels right for you.
Call me at (818) 207-4443 or send a message through the contact page. We'll schedule a free 15-minute consultation to talk about what you're looking for and whether dreamwork feels like a good fit. You don't need to have a specific dream ready. You just need to be curious.