Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/05333164241260419
Jane Dudley, Mike Caton
The authors use the theoretical framework of group analysis to facilitate experiential small and median groups for students on trainings in individual psychodynamic psychotherapy. Even though in our many years of clinical and educative group practice it would usually be a definite no, the authors found themselves debating whether members who revealed they were a couple in the past could in fact be together in a group. This discussion prompted the authors to reflect closely on their co-facilitator relationship, causing them to consider what they understood by ‘couple’. It offered an opportunity (previously unconscious) to explore what they had experienced in group trainings and within their own group practice—that of the frequent binary fixing of conductors as male/female and heterosexual, and whether such fixing may be a defence by the group, including the group conductors, against allowing and exploring a more fluid, nuanced exploration of gender and sexuality. The authors propose that instead of small experiential groups, median groups may offer a richer opportunity for such exploration.
{"title":"Looking beyond ‘couple’: Exploring the relationship between co-conductors facilitating experiential groups for psychodynamic psychotherapy students","authors":"Jane Dudley, Mike Caton","doi":"10.1177/05333164241260419","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164241260419","url":null,"abstract":"The authors use the theoretical framework of group analysis to facilitate experiential small and median groups for students on trainings in individual psychodynamic psychotherapy. Even though in our many years of clinical and educative group practice it would usually be a definite no, the authors found themselves debating whether members who revealed they were a couple in the past could in fact be together in a group. This discussion prompted the authors to reflect closely on their co-facilitator relationship, causing them to consider what they understood by ‘couple’. It offered an opportunity (previously unconscious) to explore what they had experienced in group trainings and within their own group practice—that of the frequent binary fixing of conductors as male/female and heterosexual, and whether such fixing may be a defence by the group, including the group conductors, against allowing and exploring a more fluid, nuanced exploration of gender and sexuality. The authors propose that instead of small experiential groups, median groups may offer a richer opportunity for such exploration.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"11 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141797435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-21DOI: 10.1177/05333164241247813
Danilo Pešić
This article addresses the imbalance in research focus, highlighting a pronounced emphasis on research in the American context compared to the field of group analysis, which is underscored by the identification of two literature reviews. The discussion delves into Lorentzen’s research contributions and the introduction of Focus Group Analytic Psychotherapy. Diverse perspectives on research are presented, with Nitsun and Lorentzen advocating for its importance, while Dalal takes a critical stance. The text investigates discrepancies within key concepts of group analysis, specifically the social unconscious, with Nitsun critiquing an undue emphasis on its significance and questioning its practical relevance in group settings. The relationship between group analysis and neuroscience is explored, shedding light on the reinterpretation of certain concepts through a neuroscientific lens, notably examining the framework of the neurobiology of intergroup relations. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the necessity of believing in and validating the advantages of collective thinking.
{"title":"Working on the future of group analysis – scientific exploration of efficacy, concepts, and neurobiological connections","authors":"Danilo Pešić","doi":"10.1177/05333164241247813","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164241247813","url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses the imbalance in research focus, highlighting a pronounced emphasis on research in the American context compared to the field of group analysis, which is underscored by the identification of two literature reviews. The discussion delves into Lorentzen’s research contributions and the introduction of Focus Group Analytic Psychotherapy. Diverse perspectives on research are presented, with Nitsun and Lorentzen advocating for its importance, while Dalal takes a critical stance. The text investigates discrepancies within key concepts of group analysis, specifically the social unconscious, with Nitsun critiquing an undue emphasis on its significance and questioning its practical relevance in group settings. The relationship between group analysis and neuroscience is explored, shedding light on the reinterpretation of certain concepts through a neuroscientific lens, notably examining the framework of the neurobiology of intergroup relations. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the necessity of believing in and validating the advantages of collective thinking.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"74 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141114162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-21DOI: 10.1177/05333164241246950
Snežana Kecojević Miljević
If we observe group analysis as a figure in the social field, many changes in society undoubtedly shape it both as a theory, a therapeutic method and a form of training. That is how it was and will be. This shaping is slow, discreet but an active process of constant acculturation of both group analysis and group analysts. Wars, migrations, emigrations, cultural diversities create a need for a more flexible and culturally attuned profile of group analysts, who are not only capable of working with diversity, but also within diversity—actively reflecting on their own identity and experience even under the pressure and tormented by problems of preserving their own tent canvas. This is one possible future for group analysis, in the ever-increasing intertwining and cross-fertilization between human sciences such as sociology, history, anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, communicology, art, with no fear of diversity that threatens identity, with openness of new generation of group analysts to heteroglossia.
{"title":"Working on the future of group analysis — the future of the past","authors":"Snežana Kecojević Miljević","doi":"10.1177/05333164241246950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164241246950","url":null,"abstract":"If we observe group analysis as a figure in the social field, many changes in society undoubtedly shape it both as a theory, a therapeutic method and a form of training. That is how it was and will be. This shaping is slow, discreet but an active process of constant acculturation of both group analysis and group analysts. Wars, migrations, emigrations, cultural diversities create a need for a more flexible and culturally attuned profile of group analysts, who are not only capable of working with diversity, but also within diversity—actively reflecting on their own identity and experience even under the pressure and tormented by problems of preserving their own tent canvas. This is one possible future for group analysis, in the ever-increasing intertwining and cross-fertilization between human sciences such as sociology, history, anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, communicology, art, with no fear of diversity that threatens identity, with openness of new generation of group analysts to heteroglossia.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141113976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-11DOI: 10.1177/05333164241230035
Daniel Anderson
This article explores the intersection between group analysis, feminism, and queer understandings of sexuality, aiming to initiate a dialogue and generate new insights in these fields. I examine key concepts from group analysis, such as the ‘group matrix’ and the ‘social unconscious’, to explore how therapeutic groups can generate openness to others and differences. The article presents group analysis as a historically grounded psychosocial theory capable of bridging gaps between discourses to generate new ways of understanding social identities. The term ‘figuration’ borrowed from feminist and group analytic theory serves as a framework to synthesise conflicting perspectives, with the analytic group serving as a dynamic space of creative tension. By exploring this shared term, previously unconnected subjects can find potential common ground. Elizabeth Freeman’s exploration of queer temporalities and spaces is then considered, followed by an examination of symmetric and asymmetric logic by psychoanalyst Ignatio Matte Blanco. These concepts shed light on conscious and unconscious modes of thought. By juxtaposing the histories of figuration alongside symmetric and asymmetric logic, the article elucidates the consequences for group analysis in understanding sexuality and gender. The group analytic concept of the location of disturbance and the processes involving logic and counter-logic within the analytic group matrix are instrumental in delineating these consequences. By bridging the gaps between fields and encouraging creative engagement, the article contributes to expanding the understanding of sexuality and gender within the context of group analytic theory.
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Pub Date : 2024-02-11DOI: 10.1177/05333164241230035
Daniel Anderson
This article explores the intersection between group analysis, feminism, and queer understandings of sexuality, aiming to initiate a dialogue and generate new insights in these fields. I examine key concepts from group analysis, such as the ‘group matrix’ and the ‘social unconscious’, to explore how therapeutic groups can generate openness to others and differences. The article presents group analysis as a historically grounded psychosocial theory capable of bridging gaps between discourses to generate new ways of understanding social identities. The term ‘figuration’ borrowed from feminist and group analytic theory serves as a framework to synthesise conflicting perspectives, with the analytic group serving as a dynamic space of creative tension. By exploring this shared term, previously unconnected subjects can find potential common ground. Elizabeth Freeman’s exploration of queer temporalities and spaces is then considered, followed by an examination of symmetric and asymmetric logic by psychoanalyst Ignatio Matte Blanco. These concepts shed light on conscious and unconscious modes of thought. By juxtaposing the histories of figuration alongside symmetric and asymmetric logic, the article elucidates the consequences for group analysis in understanding sexuality and gender. The group analytic concept of the location of disturbance and the processes involving logic and counter-logic within the analytic group matrix are instrumental in delineating these consequences. By bridging the gaps between fields and encouraging creative engagement, the article contributes to expanding the understanding of sexuality and gender within the context of group analytic theory.
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Pub Date : 2024-02-06DOI: 10.1177/05333164231218235
Roberto Schöllberger
After a short review of the development of the concept of inter-subjectivity in psychoanalysis, drive theory, infant research and phenomenology, I discuss the primary function of dialogue as it expresses the functioning of the ‘Mind’ itself while it works towards disentangling dualities amongst pluralities. The human mind is defined and its existence firmly asserted. Finally, I suggest introducing dialogic communication in every encounter, especially in a therapeutic one, with some guidelines from the psychotherapy of psychosis. I describe the Median Group as Patrick de Maré (1990) developed in its clinical application as socio-therapy. It is a suitable setting where inter-subjectivity is fostered through dialogue by meeting minds at a level that promotes lateralization (both brain hemispheres simultaneously) in the here and now. I explain that using the mind to synthesize dualities makes it possible to transform the counter-reaction of the hatred of being together into koinonia or non-personal fellowship. Reference is made to the Theory of Mind in Part I (de Maré and Schöllberger 2002–08) and clinical experiences in Part II (Schöllberger, 2023).
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Pub Date : 2024-02-06DOI: 10.1177/05333164231218235
Roberto Schöllberger
After a short review of the development of the concept of inter-subjectivity in psychoanalysis, drive theory, infant research and phenomenology, I discuss the primary function of dialogue as it expresses the functioning of the ‘Mind’ itself while it works towards disentangling dualities amongst pluralities. The human mind is defined and its existence firmly asserted. Finally, I suggest introducing dialogic communication in every encounter, especially in a therapeutic one, with some guidelines from the psychotherapy of psychosis. I describe the Median Group as Patrick de Maré (1990) developed in its clinical application as socio-therapy. It is a suitable setting where inter-subjectivity is fostered through dialogue by meeting minds at a level that promotes lateralization (both brain hemispheres simultaneously) in the here and now. I explain that using the mind to synthesize dualities makes it possible to transform the counter-reaction of the hatred of being together into koinonia or non-personal fellowship. Reference is made to the Theory of Mind in Part I (de Maré and Schöllberger 2002–08) and clinical experiences in Part II (Schöllberger, 2023).
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Pub Date : 2024-01-06DOI: 10.1177/05333164231218694
S. Karterud, Gordon Gunnarsen, M. Kongerslev, Lenka Staun, Ulrich Schultz-Venrath
In this article we describe and reflect upon the roots of mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) and its relationship to group analysis. The original setting for MBT was psychotherapeutic day hospitals that were strongly influenced by group analytic thinking. The challenges from an increasing number of borderline patients initiated theoretical and therapeutic innovations that separated MBT-G from traditional group analysis who responded differently, e.g. by strengthening its ties to object-relational theories that emphasized innate destructive drives. Since then, the dialogue between the two approaches have been meagre in the UK, but more constructive in e.g. Norway and Germany. We argue that MBT-G needs group analytic competence with respect to basic group dynamics, and that group analysis needs revitalization by the theory of mentalizing. We call for dialogues between the two approaches. The authors belong to both camps and speak with reference to experiences in Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany.
{"title":"On the relationship between group analysis and mentalization-based group therapy","authors":"S. Karterud, Gordon Gunnarsen, M. Kongerslev, Lenka Staun, Ulrich Schultz-Venrath","doi":"10.1177/05333164231218694","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164231218694","url":null,"abstract":"In this article we describe and reflect upon the roots of mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) and its relationship to group analysis. The original setting for MBT was psychotherapeutic day hospitals that were strongly influenced by group analytic thinking. The challenges from an increasing number of borderline patients initiated theoretical and therapeutic innovations that separated MBT-G from traditional group analysis who responded differently, e.g. by strengthening its ties to object-relational theories that emphasized innate destructive drives. Since then, the dialogue between the two approaches have been meagre in the UK, but more constructive in e.g. Norway and Germany. We argue that MBT-G needs group analytic competence with respect to basic group dynamics, and that group analysis needs revitalization by the theory of mentalizing. We call for dialogues between the two approaches. The authors belong to both camps and speak with reference to experiences in Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"2 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139380516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-05DOI: 10.1177/05333164231218877
Grégoire Thibouville
This article reports findings from four group experiments in New Caledonia. They have as a common denominator: the ‘Intermediate Transcultural Space’ as inspired by Winnicott (1971) that all feature the themes of violence, the influence of culture and support group therapy. They all take place over a period of 10 years of practice. I continued to develop each of these group formats until I eventually arrived at an intergenerational, multicultural group for adolescents with a record of violence and criminal offences who fell within the remit of the French Child and Youth Judicial Protection Service along with the Kanak Custody Senate. The group offers an accessible landing stage that allows the young people to move forward along the long road of restoring self-esteem, and transforming their trauma and violent behaviour.
{"title":"Intermediate Transcultural Space (ITCS) An intergenerational and multicultural approach to violence and trauma in New Caledonia","authors":"Grégoire Thibouville","doi":"10.1177/05333164231218877","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164231218877","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports findings from four group experiments in New Caledonia. They have as a common denominator: the ‘Intermediate Transcultural Space’ as inspired by Winnicott (1971) that all feature the themes of violence, the influence of culture and support group therapy. They all take place over a period of 10 years of practice. I continued to develop each of these group formats until I eventually arrived at an intergenerational, multicultural group for adolescents with a record of violence and criminal offences who fell within the remit of the French Child and Youth Judicial Protection Service along with the Kanak Custody Senate. The group offers an accessible landing stage that allows the young people to move forward along the long road of restoring self-esteem, and transforming their trauma and violent behaviour.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"88 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139381357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-05DOI: 10.1177/05333164231218920
Teresa von Sommaruga Howard
This paper describes the process of designing, setting up and conducting a pioneering series of workshops to introduce Patrick de Maré’s thinking and practice, often referred to as the ‘Large Group Course’. Although described in this way, the pattern of lectures, seminars and supervision alongside either therapy or experiential groups, in discrete sessions, usually associated with group analytic training is not followed. Instead, the workshops are conducted entirely as a Median Group in various forms including a seminar, two group consultations and several experiential sessions with the addition of two sessions of social dreaming each weekend. As the learning is intended to be experiential, apart from an extensive reading list, the curriculum is not specified in advance and there is a very limited didactic component. The ‘course’ was designed with the ‘Matching Principle’ in mind: an approach I encountered and worked with on the MA in Therapeutic Child Care at the University of Reading, (Ward, 1998:77). Elements of practice are imported by participants, to reduce the usual gap between training and practice so that the role of the unconscious is more directly brought to light. As the intention is to encourage ‘outsight’ into the socio-cultural forces that have invisibly shaped us, as opposed to insight (de Maré, 2012: 129), participants are given the opportunity to embody connections between their personal experience and the socio-political context as a step towards visualizing and working experientially with the social processes they encounter every day: the ‘Larger Group in the mind’. Always implicit in the work of the Larger Group is learning to notice and reveal hidden discourses, the voices of those with usually excluded histories: ‘subalterns’ or the indigenous and dispossessed in society, particularly people from or in colonized societies, who are excluded through hegemonic structures (Spivak, 1988). This is a key element of the work that needs to be experienced to be understood. As people join from across the world from many backgrounds and cultures, the inevitability of being faced with completely different perspectives and world views challenge those of us from the western world to question our privilege and thinking.
{"title":"Lighting fires: On creating large group dialogue in organizations and society [CLGD]","authors":"Teresa von Sommaruga Howard","doi":"10.1177/05333164231218920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164231218920","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the process of designing, setting up and conducting a pioneering series of workshops to introduce Patrick de Maré’s thinking and practice, often referred to as the ‘Large Group Course’. Although described in this way, the pattern of lectures, seminars and supervision alongside either therapy or experiential groups, in discrete sessions, usually associated with group analytic training is not followed. Instead, the workshops are conducted entirely as a Median Group in various forms including a seminar, two group consultations and several experiential sessions with the addition of two sessions of social dreaming each weekend. As the learning is intended to be experiential, apart from an extensive reading list, the curriculum is not specified in advance and there is a very limited didactic component. The ‘course’ was designed with the ‘Matching Principle’ in mind: an approach I encountered and worked with on the MA in Therapeutic Child Care at the University of Reading, (Ward, 1998:77). Elements of practice are imported by participants, to reduce the usual gap between training and practice so that the role of the unconscious is more directly brought to light. As the intention is to encourage ‘outsight’ into the socio-cultural forces that have invisibly shaped us, as opposed to insight (de Maré, 2012: 129), participants are given the opportunity to embody connections between their personal experience and the socio-political context as a step towards visualizing and working experientially with the social processes they encounter every day: the ‘Larger Group in the mind’. Always implicit in the work of the Larger Group is learning to notice and reveal hidden discourses, the voices of those with usually excluded histories: ‘subalterns’ or the indigenous and dispossessed in society, particularly people from or in colonized societies, who are excluded through hegemonic structures (Spivak, 1988). This is a key element of the work that needs to be experienced to be understood. As people join from across the world from many backgrounds and cultures, the inevitability of being faced with completely different perspectives and world views challenge those of us from the western world to question our privilege and thinking.","PeriodicalId":166668,"journal":{"name":"Group Analysis","volume":"58 21","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139381975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}