The destructive establishment in groups

In this article I apply the concept of the internal establishment proposed by Hoggett (1998) composed of the positive and destructive narcissistic elements to group therapy. Hoggett’s concept extends the notions of ‘Me-ness’ put forward by Lawrence (Lawrence et.al., 1996) into positive and negative component parts. Clinical examples illustrate the rapidity with which such destructive narcissistic elements appear. This structure likely exists in all groups and this is an initial attempt to distinguish the distinctive dynamics of creative and destructive groups.

The Talmudic way of thinking cannot suddenly have disappeared from us. Death instinct, anti-Semitism and Jewish traditions in the foundation matrix of group analysis

One hundred years after the publication of Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Freud, 1920), anti-Semitism is understood as the realization of the (self-)destructive force in its group form of the anti-group (Nitsun, 1996). Foulkes’ secrecy about the impacts of the German National Socialism(NS)-anti-group in his life (unlike Freud and Elias), as well as the libidinal idealization of the group, can be understood as a post-traumatic defence. But, as Nitsun (1996) has demonstrated, the creative potential of the anti-group can help to develop the group if it is analysed by the group, and can also be demonstrated by this example: the analysis of the traumatic effects of the NS-annihilation-anti-Semitism on the history of group analysis may reveal its hidden prophetic and rabbinical traditions in its foundation matrix. In this respect we can think of every group analytical session as a sign that Auschwitz did not win.

The ethics of supervision: Reciprocity, emergence and prefiguration

The paper asks: what makes for an ethical supervision? It begins by looking at the differing ethical requirements in situations of persons and things (science), and in situations of persons and persons. It is argued that if psychotherapy (and consequently supervision) is thought to be a scientific activity, then it will require the supervisor to subscribe to the ethics akin to those of the natural scientist. However, if psychotherapy and supervision are intersubjective relational activities, then the ethical requirements will be those of reciprocity and mutuality. Also necessary will be notions of prefiguration and emergence.