Group Analysis as I do It: How I Work with the Social Unconscious

Abstract

This article starts with a response to the second article by Taha et al., published here, which further defines the Egyptian Minia model of group psychotherapy. The debate continues as to whether group analysis has as part of the model an inactive conductor and whether this is linked to the social unconscious of the modern West and whether that indeed is a fatherless society. There is a discussion on which different components of therapy are more effective. Methods of group analytic psychotherapy are clarified and the therapist’s role linked to the goal of the therapy. The group analytic therapist keeps in mind, both the personal transference and social unconscious levels and develops the group by facilitating communication at both these levels. Examples from individual and group analytic psychotherapy illustrate work at the level of the social unconscious.

Trouble at t(he) Mill — Thinking about the Social Unconscious in Therapy and Training

“…On the other hand, it must be helpful in other situations to have this term in order to delineate alternative approaches and help clinicians to consider alternatives. I found Jale Punter's clinical examples really enlightening (Punter, 2010). She describes psychotherapy of a black African woman, which she supervised: She is well informed about the issues of stigma of mental illness, high rates of diagnosis of psychosis in her population and high rates of use of compulsory detentions for treatment.…”

Charismatic leadership: a group-analytic perspective

“…Taha et al, for example, writing from an Egyptian perspective, argue that to openly dispense love together with moral and spiritual guidance is an essential component of therapy while western group analytic therapists who withhold themselves from the group's natural curiosity, ostensibly in the interests of the transference, neglect to engage with the patient (Taha et al, 2010). A contrasting model, restoring insight and experiential learning as the main instruments of change, is offered by Jale Punter, a Turkish born group analyst who has worked extensively with patients from both eastern and western backgrounds and finds merit in the therapist retaining the concept of the social unconscious as a guiding principle, putting reflective methods to the fore of the group analyst's technique (Punter, 2010).…”

The Social Unconscious in Action: Linking Theory to Group Work with Young Adults

“…While Dalal (2001;2010) takes an explicitly 'post-Foulksian' perspective, other contemporary group analysts appear to work within an extension of what Dalal calls 'Orthodox Foulkes'.…”

“…Indeed, it is a recent development that clinical articles have applied the concept to clinical work (e.g. Parker, 2014; Punter, 2010). This process has perhaps been enabled by further theory development since Foulkes.…”