In the Company of Friends

In the past, I've written how little time I've had to join a writers' critique group. Recently I read an account in the North Carolina Writers' Network newsletter about another woman's experience with joining a writing group with two other women.
It seemed to confirm my hesitancy to join or develop a group. (Why else would I make excuses for having too little time to honor my writing?)
I had figured that I didn't need a group to support my writing, even though it's been a few years since I worked with a reader or anyone else willing to read or support my fiction writing. Putting your writing into the company of friends is wonderful; putting your writing in the hands of strangers is like jumping off a cliff with your eyes closed, hands tied and...well, I can think of several other uncomfortable comparisons.
In the newsletter story, the writer tells how she met two women at a writing conference. She was asked to join with the two others to create a writers group. However, the narrator explains how once the meetings started, neither woman in her group were supportive of her writing or as her situation as a mother. Instead of finding the positive in her writing, each lead with the dismissive comments and negatives.
Apparently, after that, they never moved into the positives.
After a particularly difficult meeting, happily, the narrator never met with the ladies again.
However, reading this account didn't make me less of a fan of writing groups. It made me more of a fan of the groups, selectively chosen.
Perhaps I wasn't convinced about the writing groups because I'd never found writers--at or above my own level--to join. The folks involved need to critique in a supportive, meaningful and positive way--my writer's ego is fragile enough as it is.
So, I've decided that I'm going to approach some of my writing friends to join me and build a group.
Do you belong to a writers group? If so, how did you find your friends? If not, why not?

A creativity coach, Elizabeth King Humphrey contributes to AOL's ParentDish and blogs at The Write Elizabeth, delving into creativity in everyday places.