You facilitate group work in social services settings. As a Group Worker, you're leading therapeutic groups, coordinating activities, and helping clients develop social skills through structured group interactions.
Group Worker pay typically runs $47K–$74K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to grow 3% through 2034.
Group workers facilitate therapeutic or educational groups in social service settings—substance use recovery groups, anger management programs, life skills training, support groups for specific populations. The work requires both group facilitation skills and understanding of group dynamics as a therapeutic medium.
Group work is a distinct clinical modality that requires different skills than individual counseling. Managing group dynamics, creating psychological safety for all members, navigating conflict between group members, and using the group process therapeutically are specific competencies that take time to develop.
People who tend to do well are comfortable with group energy and find the relational complexity of multiple simultaneous interactions engaging rather than overwhelming. If you genuinely enjoy facilitation and believe in the therapeutic power of people learning from and supporting each other—as opposed to the expert-client model of individual counseling—group work tends to be an effective and efficient way to deliver meaningful service. Strong co-facilitation relationships tend to enhance both quality and sustainability of the work.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Social Services roles →You facilitate group work in social services settings. As a Group Worker, you're leading therapeutic groups, coordinating activities, and helping clients develop social skills through structured group interactions.
Median pay for a Group Worker is about $59K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $41K to $94K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Active Listening, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 3.4% through 2034, with roughly 382,960 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Program Manager, Offender Workforce Development Program Manager (OWDPM), and Group Home Manager.
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