Group therapy as psychic containing.
This article will examine how the psychoanalytic idea of containing can be used in group therapy to form a conceptual bridge such that the group dynamics are not simplistically reduced to individual dynamics, nor that the individual is lost in the "group-as-a-whole" concept. I take the concept of "containing" as versatile in the sense that Bion (1970) meant it to be-that is, the psychological phenomenon of containment is manifest at various system levels: intrapsychic, interpersonal, group, and societal. This article will explore how far this "bridging concept" can be pursued to understand groups theoretically. The article will review various forms of containing, following Bion's ideas, and in particular a therapeutic, or flexible, form in contrast to rigid and fragile forms.
Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, UK. rhinsh@essex.ac.uk
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Hinshelwood
D006801:Humans; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*