Starting Group Therapy

I'm excited and nervous. There is finally room in my therapist depression group for me to join. It is a 12 week program, we meet twice a week, and afterwards the group meets once a week. The once a week is only the people who have gone through the group and it is free. I've been looking for a group since I moved here a year ago. I want to be able to meet people who will understand what I'm going through, and not look at me like they are expecting me to go berserk at any moment (if they know I have bipolar, not many people do).

I had talked to my pastor about starting a group at church, but have not heard anything back from him, so I'm assuming the chruch council voted it down. Ah-well.

Has anybody else been in group therapy, and did you enjoy it? I have a really hard time now opening up to people, and have become so shy that I forget what I'm talking about after I start talking. Occasionally I have an anxiety attack just from talking to a small group of people. I really like my therapist, he is the first male therapist I've ever had, and the first therapist I've ever been able to open up to completly. I'm positive that the group will be good for me, but I'm all in knots thinking about what it will be like.