Depth of transference in groups.
An ongoing controversy in the field of group psychotherapy is whether transference regression is greater in groups than in individual treatment. There appears to be a general consensus that group behavior may be understood as operating on at least three levels--the conscious--rational, the oedipally determined transference, and the preoedipal maternal transference level. The more rational levels are associated with transference dilution, whereas the more primitive levels accompany transference intensification. Dilution occurs as a result of reality demands and inputs of the group situation and because of multiple targets of displacement. Transference intensification is a product of mutual stimulation, contagion effect, frustrating inputs, and support of the group theme. Certain patients benefit most from the dilution features of a group, and others profit most from intensification. The therapist's technique and the patient's pathology are the main determinants of which aspect gets emphasized and utilized.
Horwitz
L
L
Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas 66601.
D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D014167:Transference, Psychology