This book, originally published in 1972, aimed to provide a theoretical framework for group therapists to guide them through the mass of variables which beset them. Its scope therefore is extremely broad, for it also touches on philosophy, psychology, sociology, communication and general systems theory. In the last chapter certain conclusions are drawn concerning the relationship between group and psycho-dynamics. The book will be of interest to those who have already had some experience of small, medium or large groups, and who want to think about their work in more general terms: it was not at the time widely realised how radically different and how potentially powerful are the implications of group procedures, not only for therapy but in such fields as education, industry and politics. Freud recognised this when he pointed out the dilemma of having to procure for the group precisely those features which were characteristic of the individual, and which are extinguished in him by the formation of the group. Whilst the problem for the individual is the intrusion of unconscious factors, for the group it is the group’s equivalent of consciousness, namely communication and organization, which is in a quandary. The group model differs crucially from the psychological, but they may relate in the sense that, as Freud indicated, neurosis represents a recapitulation within the individual of mankind’s group history. The unconscious mind, then, is a group phenomenon. In other words, group theory turns psychoanalysis upside down and begins at the point where Freud left off, relating neurosis to its social sources. In the light of the group approach, therefore, neurosis and certain of the psychoses can be viewed as localized deposits of unresolved group experiences within the individual, whether they be past, current or an expectation of the future; a feature which makes traumatic neuroses more understandable since they cannot be explained in terms of infantile neurosis. The author suggested the possibility of a new development in group techniques, namely that of large group therapy freed of community ties or training considerations, in which attitudes and ideologies make themselves evident, not as cloudy idealistic non sequiturs but as crucial and clearly definable climates which either impede or promote communication and the flow of information.

Originally published in 1981, this is a carefully selected bibliography of group psychotherapy for both students and teachers. The book is divided into three useful parts containing relevant journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics. The first part includes topics that would be useful for a seminar in basic analytic group psychotherapy. Topics in the second part include group therapy with special patient populations, group therapy in special settings, special types of group therapy and research and outcome studies in group therapy. The third part covers group therapy with children. All the articles can be used to develop specialized and specific literature seminars or to elucidate issues that arise in the clinical supervision of group psychotherapy.

Originally published in 1974, the Southwest in the title refers to that region of the USA where a community of therapists grew out of the Southwestern Group Psychotherapy Society, founded in Texas 1956, a regional arm of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). The chapters cover a range of issues from therapists working in this region and were presented as a tribute to the memory of Dr William Sterling Bell, who took an active interest in group psychotherapy from its early beginnings.

Emotional crises and breakdowns are not things going wrong in individuals’ minds: they are disturbances in their relations with themselves and others. In psychotherapy an attempt is made to resolve such crises through a therapeutic relationship with an individual or in a group. First published in 1984, this book introduces the theory of individual and group therapy, and explains some of its principles in practice. Although there had been a rapid development of ideas in the area of psychotherapy at the time, it was only shortly before the original publication of this book that these had been related to theory. Keith Oatley assesses the influence of cognitive social psychology, psychoanalysis and the existential/phenomenological tradition, and considers the role of emotions, thinking and social interactions in therapeutic transformation. The theory, he argues, must also be related to the research findings on the outcomes of different therapies. This book is for those who study psychotherapy in psychology, psychiatry, counselling and social work – and for anyone who wants to know what psychotherapy was about in the 1980s.

Originally published in 1984, this is the first published account in English of the development of group psychotherapy in France. Under the leadership of Professor Didier Anzieu, psychoanalysts actively and ingeniously brought psychoanalytical insights to bear upon group process. These methods were widely applied in training groups for mental health professionals, as well as in many other organizations. Anzieu and his colleagues made many advances in understanding the psychology of large-group situations, and these advances contributed to the growing interest in the field. The main aim of the book is to examine the unconscious life of the human group. Professor Anzieu describes the processes of fantasy and imagination that are common to social organizations, training groups and psychotherapeutic groups, and extends the psychoanalytical theory about dreams to the group. He gives an account of the various kinds of group fantasies, such as the group illusion, the group as a mouth, breaking apart fantasies, the group-machine, and the self-destructive group. The book is illustrated by ten clinical case studies, which are vividly described by Professor Anzieu. The interaction of the imaginary processes and the social ideas of the group are also studied, and the theoretical discussion in general reflects the interest of French psychoanalysts in the earliest structures of the mind and of the psychotic level of the personality as it becomes manifest in the group process.

Though the impetus for psychoanalytic and group-analytic inpatient psychotherapy largely came from Britain, it was in Germany that this work was supported, developed and researched to a greater extent than elsewhere. Originally published in English for the first time in 1994, Paul Janssen describes the different models which had been tried and evaluated and explains his own integrative model in detail, illustrating it with vivid clinical vignettes. The author also shows that inpatient groups are particularly effective in the treatment of severe personality disorders, borderline conditions and psychosomatic illness. This book will still be valuable reading for psychiatrists, psychotherapists, nurses, social workers and anyone working in healthcare today.

Building and expanding on concepts presented in his previous volumes (Relational Group Psychotherapy: From Basic Assumptions to Passion, and Resistance, Rebellion and Refusal in Groups: The 3Rs), Richard M. Billow presents a coherent and innovative model of group psychotherapy. Developing Nuclear Ideas: Relational Group Psychotherapy offers, in experiential terms and with vivid examples, a theoretical and technical approach to understand and organise dynamic group process and drive it towards satisfying the goal of all therapy, the hunger for emotional truth. By developing nuclear ideas, the therapist and the group itself go about the task of containing and making sense of the perceptions, conceptions, affects, and enactments present in all groups. The volume also addresses the impact of thought-limiting, action-orientated polemic ideas. Integrating contemporary theory with cutting edge technique, the author focuses on the personal nature of the intersubjective process, locating the therapist's experience in the centre of the transformational intensity of group life.

This book explores and clarifies all the major issues and developments within ‘family theorising’. It covers the extraordinary growth and variety of approaches to the family over the last decade, the most significant being the impact of feminism and the professional and state intervention into the family through marital and family therapy. The author focuses on the growth of family counselling, giving a detailed analysis of the Home Office publication, Marriage Matters. He looks at the rapid growth of historical studies of the family, European theoretical developments, the work of the Rapoports, the role of systems theorising, and phenomenological and critical approaches to the family. He shows the relevance of family theorising for contemporary debates about the state of marriage and the family, and argues for the centrality of ‘family themes’ within wider sociological debates.

Originally published in 1974, the Southwest in the title refers to that region of the USA where a community of therapists grew out of the Southwestern Group Psychotherapy Society, founded in Texas 1956, a regional arm of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). The chapters cover a range of issues from therapists working in this region and were presented as a tribute to the memory of Dr William Sterling Bell, who took an active interest in group psychotherapy from its early beginnings.