I read somewhere that almost every disagreement or upsetting thing between people is usually due to a difference in expectations. If you are expecting to fully express feelings as part of the meeting, but they are only looking for an overall “I’m doing terribly” and the person leading the group really only wants to give advise on something else part of the meeting, it would cause this misalignment of expectations. I wonder what would happen if you openly asked “I’m looking for a group that I can do X, is this a place for that or what are the expectations of this group?” Then at least you can save yourself some grief of opening up and having little response.

That being said, some groups/people say they want something, but their actions don’t seem to promote that, so you just have to draw that conclusion yourself and look elsewhere. But I’ve found clarifying expectations early helps prevent some disappointment.

Who is asking you for a mental health check-in? Are they asking you specifically or the group?