Group analysis

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Group analysis is a special method of psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy . Founding fathers were Joseph H. Pratt , Trigant Burrow and Paul Schilder . The psychoanalysts Samuel Slavson in New York, S. H. Foulkes and Wilfred Bion , both in London, established this form of therapy institutionally and theoretically founded it.

Foulkes was influenced by both psychoanalysis and gestalt psychology - especially through contact with Kurt Goldstein  - and sociology. One of his closest friends was the sociologist Norbert Elias . Other important influences came from the psychoanalysts E. J. Anthony, Lazell, Marsh, John Rickman and Louis Wender.

Foulkes concept

Foulkes preferred to speak of group analytical psychotherapy ; nevertheless, the term group analysis has largely prevailed to this day. The corresponding training within the framework of the Psychotherapy Act in Austria leads to the additional designation "group psychoanalysis" and is more explicitly oriented towards classical psychoanalysis and the technique of free association. Foulkes developed his concept of group treatment in the 1940s at Northfield Military Hospital , which John Rickman and Wilfred Bion had also worked on. He saw group analysis as a method for researching group processes . He understood the group primarily as a reflection of society, its peculiarities, its contradictions and its conflicts. He understood the mental disorders of the individual as the result of failed social and interpersonal exchange processes. In other words, mental disorders of the individual can only be understood in the context of their social development and environment; according to Foulkes, healing processes can only unfold if these social conditions are integrated. This can be done most effectively in the psychotherapeutic group. He saw the group as a process of constantly changing interactions between each group participant and each other, including the group leader. In this context, Foulkes spoke of a group matrix .

In his standard work group analytical psychotherapy , Foulkes writes:

“Roughly speaking, in the group-analytical group the relationship between the manifest content of the communication and the latent meaning is similar to that between the manifest dream and the latent dream thoughts . This matter is so important and so closely related to our concept of the group matrix that I want to take the opportunity again to point out the importance of the group matrix as the operational basis of all relationships and communications. In this network, the individual is seen as a node. In other words, the individual is not seen as a closed, but as an open system. An analogy can be seen in the neuron of anatomy and physiology. Together with the neuron, the node in the entire network of nerves, the entire nervous system always reacts and responds (Goldstein) "

Each individual inevitably brings his / her formative social experience with him to the group, where these can unfold again and thus be made recognizable, understandable and, if necessary, corrected. Foulkes spoke of the fact that the group develops a beneficial influence by intuitively establishing the norms from which the individual deviates. To date, group (psycho) analysis has been most widespread in the German-speaking countries and in Great Britain (group analysis).

Group analytical treatment principles

In contrast to other psychoanalytically oriented group procedures, Foulkes sees the analytical function not primarily in the hands of the group leader, but in those of the group. The main psychoanalytic work is therefore done by the group. The task of the leader is to provide the framework for the group work and to ensure that it is maintained. It's about the

  • external framework - place, time, group composition, financial management, external security, etc. - like that
  • inner frame, d. H. Compliance with various group rules - such as confidentiality -, prevention of severely destructive group processes, promotion of the group-analytical working atmosphere, etc.

Put simply, Foulkes sees the improvement of communication as a second central task of the group analyst . Communication problems caused by disruptions impede the productive course of the group session. By addressing these as they occur, the group analyst improves the therapeutic function of the group. The better the group works, the less important the group leader is. Foulkes resolutely defends himself against the group leader's (self) overestimation.

Group psychoanalysis in the German-speaking area

As early as 1957, Raoul Schindler's work on group dynamics appeared, which was the first model to significantly influence analytical group analysis as well as other group psychotherapies .

Horst-Eberhard Richter carried out basic preparatory work for group analysis, based on psychoanalytic family research and family therapy. Essential findings can be found in his book Die Gruppe , which was first published in 1972. Like Richter, other researchers have above all established a connection between an analysis of groups that included unconscious processes and the psychoanalytic peace research that began in Germany after the Second World War .

Franz Heigl and Annelise Heigl-Evers developed the three-stage Göttingen model from 1967 onwards , which is particularly popular in clinical use. It assumes that group phenomena and group performance have a significant influence on the therapist's activity. It is particularly suitable for patients with ego-structural disorders. The Göttingen model led to the spread of the use of group analysis also in the inpatient setting.

In the meantime, there are other concepts for specific fields of application such as for large groups, with psychotic patients or with older people who are also received in the German-speaking area.

In 1976 in Altaussee (Salzkammergut) - by Alice Ricciardi , Josef Shaked , Michael Hayne and Dieter Ohlmeier - self-experience and advanced training groups in the analytical process were established. The International Working Group for Group Analysis , based in Bonn, organizes two workshops a year. In addition to Shaked and Hayne, Jutta Menschik-Bendele , Mohammad Ebrahim Ardjomandi , Felix de Mendelssohn , Paul L. Janssen , Elizabeth Foulkes , Margarethe Seidl , Ursula Volz and others also teach and lead groups there today .

In 1982 the Seminar for Group Analysis Zurich (SGAZ) was founded. Further training in group analysis is offered in three annual block seminars. The offer is extended by workshops for the introduction to group analysis and the postgraduate seminar.

Other group analytical institutes in German-speaking countries are the group psychoanalysis section in the ÖAGG in Vienna for Austria, the Institute for Group Analysis Heidelberg, the Institute for Therapeutic and Applied Group Analysis in Münster, the Berlin Institute for Group Analysis and the group analysis seminars GRAS for Germany.

The German Society for Group Analysis and Group Psychotherapy (D3G) was founded in 2011.

See also

literature

  • EJ Anthony: The Group-Analytic Circle and Its Ambient Network . In: M. Pines (Ed.): The Evolution of Group Analysis . Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983, pp. 29-53 .
  • H. Behr, L. Hearst: Group analytical psychotherapy: people meet . Klotz Verlag, Magdeburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-88074-529-2 .
  • WR Bion: Experiences in Groups and Other Writings . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1990.
  • SH Foulkes: Selected Papers . Karnac Books, London 1990.
  • SH Foulkes: Group analytical psychotherapy . Pfeiffer, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7904-0589-2 .
  • GR Gfäller, G. Leutz: Group analysis, group dynamics, psychodrama, sources and traditions . 2nd Edition. Mattes, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-930978-87-3 .
  • GR Gfäller: The effect of the hidden . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-608-89098-3 .
  • R. Haubl, F. Lamott (Hrsg.): Handbuch Gruppenanalyse . Quintessenz, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-86128-227-5 .
  • M. Hayne, D. Kunzke (Ed.): Modern group analysis : theory, practice and special fields of application . Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2004, ISBN 3-89806-312-7 .
  • M. Hayne, D. Kunzke: Modern group analysis - what distinguishes it? In: M. Hayne, D. Kunzke (Ed.): Modern group analysis : theory, practice and special fields of application . Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2004, ISBN 3-89806-312-7 , p. 9-28 .
  • P. de Maré: Michael Foulkes and the Northfield Experiment . In: M. Pines (Ed.): The Evolution of Group Analysis . Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983, pp. 218-231 .
  • A. Pritz, E. Vykoukal (Ed.): Group psychoanalysis. Theory - technology - application . Facultas, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85076-496-6 .
  • Horst-Eberhard Richter: The group. Hope for a new way to free yourself and others; Psychoanalysis in cooperation with group initiatives . New edition. Psychosozial-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-930096-37-4 .

Web links

  • d3g.org - German Society for Group Analysis and Group Psychotherapy
  • ÖAGG.at - Austrian working group for group therapy and group dynamics
  • groupanalyticsociety.co.uk - Group Analytic Society International

Individual evidence

  1. Foulkes: Group analytical psychotherapy . 1992, p. 174
  2. Raoul Schindler: Basic principles of psychodynamics in the group. In: Psyche . Volume 11, No. 5, 1957, pp. 308-314.
  3. Christina Spaller et al .: The living structure of the group: Selected writings. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2016. ISBN 978-3-8379-2514-2
  4. Horst-Eberhard Richter - a life as a psychoanalytic enlightener. Obituary by Hans-Jürgen Wirth (PDF) published by the German Society for Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Depth Psychology (DGPT) e. V.
  5. Horst Eberhard Richter: The group. Hope for a new way to free yourself and others; Psychoanalysis in cooperation with group initiatives. 1972. New edition Psychosozial-Verlag 1995, ISBN 3-930096-37-4 .
  6. Dieter Sandner : Psychodynamics in small groups. 1983. ISBN 3-497-00873-7
  7. Dieter Sandner: The group and the unconscious. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 2013. ISBN 978-3-642-34818-1 .
  8. Annelise Heigl-Evers & Jürgen Ott (eds.): The psychoanalytical-interactional method: theory and practice. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002. ISBN 978-3-525-45782-5 .
  9. Hermann Staats, Andreas Dally & Thomas Bolm (eds.): Group psychotherapy and group analysis: A text and learning book for clinics and practice. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2014 ISBN 978-3-525-40230-6
  10. Michael Hayne & Dieter Kunzke (eds.): Modern group analysis . Theory, practice and special application area. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2004. ISBN 3-89806-312-7