There is ample theory and research about group therapy, dream work, and bereavement as separate subjects. However, there is little written specifically about utilizing dream work in bereavement therapy groups. Using the Foulksian group analytic model, dreams in one particular bereavement group (for parents of children killed in a terrorist action) were interpreted in such a way as to help members access deep unconscious feelings. This helped facilitate a fuller and more complete mourning process. The analytic, dream interpretive activity also helped overcome resistance in the group-as-a-whole and thereby facilitated movement through group development phases.
An analytic therapy group for family members of murdered victims of terrorist attacks offers particular benefits. This article discusses one such group, the members of whom were 12 surviving siblings of victims of terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv. Usually bereft of people with whom to share their darkest feelings, these siblings found among the group members people with whom they could do so. Their individual mourning processes were facilitated, and they were helped to move back into life. The firm analytic group boundaries and constancy were critical therapeutic elements, as were the conductors' attention to transferential and countertransferential processes. One peculiarity of the group was an uncanny sense of the ongoing presence of the murdered siblings.
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