1. Group Process psychotherapy:
Theory, Technique, and intervention
Theory, Technique, and intervention
David A. Songco, M.A., Psy.D.
New Insights, LLC
Milwaukee, WI
(c) 2014 New Insights, LLC
8. Gustave Le Bon
1841 -1931
1841 -1931
• “The Crowd: A Study of the popular
mind”
• law of mental unity
“It is only in this advanced phase of organisation that
certain new and special characteristics are superposed
on the unvarying and dominant character of the race;
then takes place that turning already alluded to of all
the feelings and thoughts of the collectivity in an
identical direction.”
9. Sigmund freud
• Totem and taboo (1912-13)
• Group Psychology and the Analysis of
the ego (1921)
• Libido Accounts for group
morphodynamics
• Group Cohesion
• lack of libidinal bonds
• love
10. Wilfred Bion
1897-1979
1897-1979
• Experiences in Groups
• Work Group & Basic Assumption Group
• Primary task | underlying assumptions where behaviors are
based
• Basic Assumptions
• Dependency
• Fight-Flight
• Pairing
11. Bion and tavistock approach
• Tavistock Approach
• Group as Whole
• Less focus on individual process
• Process interpretations reflect on
group as whole dynamic, to basic
assumptions
12. irvin D. yalom
• Therapeutic Factors
• Instillation of hope
• Universality
• Imparting information
• Altruism
• Corrective recapitulation of primary family
• Development of socializing technique
• Imitative behavior
• Interpersonal learning
15. Group Cohesiveness
1. Try harder to influence other group
members
2. Be more open to influence by the other
members
3. Be more willing to listen to others and
more accepting of others
4. Experience greater security and relief from
tension in the group
5. Participate more readily in meetings
16. Group Cohesiveness (cont)
6. Self-disclose more
7. Protect the group norms and exert more
pressure on individuals deviating from the
norms
8. Be less susceptible to disruption as a group
when a member terminates membership
9. Experience greater ownership of the group
therapy enterprise
17. Here and Now
• Here and Now Focus
• Two symbiotic tiers - neither of which
has therapeutic power without the
other
• Experiencing
• Illumination of the Process
18. Process Focus
• Definition of Process
• the nature of the relationship between
interacting individuals - members
and therapists
• Process versus Content
• Individual Process and Complex
Process
19. (Here and Now)
(Here and Now)
• Here and Now Focus - 2 Phases
• Activating phase - move group into
the here and now
• Process illumination - identify and
share process as it’s unfolding
20. here and now activation
• Think in the here and now
• “How can I relate this to the groups’
primary task? How can I make it come to
life in the here and now?”
• Therapist moves focus
• from outside to inside
• abstract to specific
• generic to personal
• personal to interpersonal
21. (Process Illumination)
(Process Illumination)
• Therapist must first understand and
recognize process
• “Why is this unfolding in this group
in this particular way and at this
particular time?”
• Beginning Therapists Recognition of
Process
22. process commentary
• Can it be taught?
• Gained through experience, practice,
and error.
• Progression
• Example
23. process commentary
• Therapeutic Insight and Change with process
commentary
• Here is what your behavior is like
• Here is how your behavior makes others feel
• Here is how your behavior influences the
opinions others have of you
• Here is how your behavior influences your
opinion of yourself
27. Monopolist
• Who
• Effects on the group
• Frustration and Anger
• Deal with anxiety
• Detrimental to Group cohesiveness
• Therapeutic considerations
29. The Silent Client
• Why So Silent?
• Dread self disclosure
• Waiting to be activated
• Threatened by other group member
• Silence is never Silent
• Silence is behavior
35. References
Freud, S. (2010). Totem and taboo:
resemblances between the psychic lives of savages and
neurotics. Charleston, SC: Nabu Press.
Le Bon, G. (2008). The crowd. Boomer Books.
Schneider, M, Corey, G, & Corey, C. (2008). Groups:
process and practice. BrooksCole Pub Co.
Yalom, I.D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice
of group psychotherapy.
Notes de l'éditeur
Video
Whoever be the individuals that compose it, however like or unlike be their mode of life, their occupations, their character, or their intelligence, the fact that they have been transformed into a crowd puts them in possession of a sort of collective mind which makes them feel, think, and act in a manner quite different from that in which each individual of them would feel, think, and act were he in a state of isolation. There are certain ideas and feelings which do not come into being, or do not transform themselves into acts except in the case of individuals forming a crowd. The psychological crowd is a provisional being formed of heterogeneous elements, which for a moment are combined, exactly as the cells which constitute a living body form by their reunion a new being which displays characteristics very different from those possessed by each of the cells singly.
Totem and Taboo- Collective psychology; Psychoanalytic views
-loss of libidinal bonds to the leader or among members, and how, in keeping with psychoanalytic dynamics, only the power of love is capable of overcoming the narcissism and hatred that distance us from one another.
In dependency, the essential aim of the group is to attain security through and have its members protected by one individual. The group members behave passively, and act as though the leader, by contrast, is omnipotent and omniscient. For example, the leader may pose a question only to be greeted with docile silence, as though he or she had not spoken at all.
In the basic assumption of fight-flight, the group behaves as though it has met to preserve itself at all costs, and that this can only be done by running away from someone or fighting someone or something. In fight, the group may be characterized by aggressiveness and hostility; in flight, the group may chit-chat, tell stories, arrive late or any other activities that serve to avoid addressing the task at hand. The leader for this sort of group is one who can mobilize the group for attack, or lead it in flight.
The final basic assumption group, pairing, exists on the assumption that the group has met for the purpose of reproduction. Two people, regardless the sex of either, carry out the work of the group through their continued interaction. The remaining group members listen eagerly and attentively with a sense of relief and hopeful anticipation.
problems with group cohesion - group think
Experiencing: the immediate events of the meeting take precedence over events both in the current outside life and in the distant past of the members
Process- group members must examine process itself: must study its own transactions; it must transcend pure experience and apply itself to the integration of that experience
Focus on understanding the process, identify the connection between the communication’s actual impact and the communicator's intent; example: When did Freud die? 1938/ 1939 response
Nonverbal sense data: who sits where, who sits together, who chooses to sit close to the therapist, faraway? who is late, who is on time, who looks at whom when speaking, do they look at each other or at the therapist, who looks at their watch, who slouches in their seat, who yawns
You are interrupting me.
Your voice is tight and your fists are clenched
Whenever you talk to me, you take issues with me
When you do that, I feel threatened and sometimes frightened
I’ve noticed you’ve done that with the men in the group
When there were not women in the group you seemed more approachable
As client notices group discomfort, anxiety rises
“Why does the group permit and encourage one member to carry the burden of the entire meeting?”
Use of compulsive speech for self concealment
behavior has meaning
Repeated process checks
Implicitly or explicitly request help from the group by presenting problems or complaints then reject help offered
Faith in group process suffers
=don’t invest in a sympathetic, nurturing relationship with the client; agree with the content of the client’s pessimism while maintaining attached affect
Problems with intimacy; hard balance in group
Possibly create a holding environment with group
Great access to affect, unconscious needs, and fears - loosen group and facilitate therapeutic work
High Functioning v. Low Functioning = Still Functioning
