Earl Hopper, in his important, profound and well reasoned book introduces a fourth Basic Assumption (Incohesion) to the three Basic assumptions (of Flight/ Fight, Pairing and Dependency) introduced by Bion. Hopper's theory of Incohesion provides us with a new way of thinking about annihilation anxiety, which he discusses in terms of the unconscious fears of annihilation connected to the fears of separation.' - System Centered News 'What we may learn most from reading Hopper's profound thinking presented in this surprisingly readable book is how he makes the bridge from his theory to the treatment of difficult patients. He identifies aggregation and Massification as a characteristic of regressed groups. In groups of the traumatized, however, where survivor guilt, and perhaps more important, survivor shame underlies the suffering, Aggregation and Massification are likely to be chronic.' - Yvonne Agazarian Working within the traditions of Bion, Turquet, Foulkes and Pines, and drawing on concepts and data from psychoanalysis, group analysis and sociology, this volume develops Earl Hopper's theory of the fourth basic assumption in the unconscious life of groups and group-like social systems within a social, cultural and political transgenerational context. He argues that Incohesion: Aggregation/Massification or (ba) I:A/M (an acronym for 'I AM' - an assertion of personal identity when identity is under threat) is based on the fear of annihilation stemming from traumatic experience. With full respect for the constraints of the social unconscious, the personification of aggregation and massification by patients with crustacean, contact-shunning and amoeboid, merger-hungry characteristics, respectively, is illustrated with detailed clinical vignettes involving drug addicts, victims of incest and sexual abuse, and child survivors of the Shoah. Concluding with critical commentaries by senior British and American group analysts and psychoanalysts, this volume is essential reading for both analysts and their students.

Working within the traditions of Bion, Turquet, Foulkes and Pines, and drawing on concepts and data from psychoanalysis, group analysis and sociology, this volume develops Earl Hopper's theory of the fourth basic assumption in the unconscious life of groups and group-like social systems within a social, cultural and political context.

The social unconscious and its manifestations in group analysis are the focus of this important new book of Earl Hopper's selected papers. Drawing on sociology, psychoanalysis and group analysis, he argues that groups and their participants are constrained unconsciously by social, cultural and political facts and forces.

This book is concerned with the study of organizations of various kinds. It examines the patterns of conscious and unconscious life of those organizations in which traumatic experience is ubiquitous and understanding the variations in individual, group, and organizations.

The social unconscious is vital for understanding persons and their groupings, ranging from families to societies, committees to organisations, and from small to median to large therapeutic groups, and essential for comprehensive clinical work. This series of volumes of contributions from an international network of psychoanalysts, analytical psychologists, group analysts and psychodramatists draw on the classical ideas of Freud, Klein and Jung, Bion, Foulkes and Moreno, and on contemporary relational perspectives, self-psychology and neuroscience. Volume 1 is concerned mainly with the theory of the social unconscious. It is focused on topics such as location, sociality, the social brain, identity, ideology, the foundation matrix, social psychological retreats, false collective self-objects, the collective unconscious and its archetypes and social dreaming.

In this critique and extension of the work of S.H.Foulkes, Farhad Dalal presents a thorough contemporary appraisal of the theory of group analysis and its relevance to psychoanalysis as a whole. The author argues that Foulkes failed to develop a specific set of group concepts, relying instead on the traditional individualistic framework of Freud. The book explores why Foulkes failed to escape from the orthodox mother-infant paradigm and offers a new post-Foulkesian interpretation of group analytic theory. Taking the Group Seriously is divided into six parts which trace the history of ideas behind group work, and draws on a wide range of subjects to support its thesis: not only psychoanalysis and group analysis, but also sociology, biology, chaos theory, genetics, economics, game theory and discourse theory. Using the author's practical group experience and including the latest ideas on the subject, this volume will be of interest to all those working in the field of psychoanalysis.

From Crowd Psychology to the Dynamics of Large Groups offers transdisciplinary research on the history of the study of social formations, ranging from nineteenth-century crowd psychology in France and twentieth-century Freudian mass psychology, including the developments in critical theory, to the study of the psychodynamics of contemporary large groups. Carla Penna presents a unique combination of sociology, psychoanalysis, and group analysis in the study of social formations. This book revisits the epistemological basis of group analysis by introducing and discussing its historical path, especially in connection with the study of large groups and investigations of the social unconscious in persons, groups, and societies. It also explores early work on group relations and contemporary research on the basic-assumption group in England, particularly Hopper’s theory of Incohesion as a fourth basic assumption. From Crowd Psychology to the Dynamics of Large Groups enables the reader to map out the field of the unconscious life of crowds illuminating the darkness of twenty-first century collective movements. The reflections in this book present new perspectives for psychologists, psychoanalysts, group analysts, sociologists, and historians to investigate the psychodynamics of contemporary crowds, masses, and social systems.

The Art and Science of Working Together: Practising Group Analysis in Teams and Organizations is a primary resource for anyone wishing to learn more about the complex unconscious dynamics of organizations, providing a practical guide for organizational work, a guide to how to improve things, and a strong theoretical foundation in the group analytic concept of the ‘tripartite matrix’. Group analysis is a highly developed science of group relationships, which allows complexity and systems perspectives to be held in mind alongside organizational psychology, strategic development and business wisdom. Organized into eight sections, the book describes the essence of organizational group analysis, including the art of conversation, leadership, ethical issues in team working, and working with whole organizations. It addresses issues such as ‘us-and-them’ dynamics, the nature of systems boundaries, and the relationship between an organization and its context. Leaders and leading consultants give case studies, describing their thinking as they work, to illustrate the theory in action. This essential new resource will allow clinically trained practitioners to extend their scope into organizational work, and all coaches and leaders to benefit from knowledge of the group analytic discipline. It is essential reading for consultants and coaches working with teams and organizations, and for leaders within organizations.

In Group Music Therapy Alison Davies, Eleanor Richards and Nick Barwick bring together developments in theory and clinical practice in music therapy group work, celebrating the richness of what group analytic thinking and music therapy can offer one another. The book explores the dynamic elements of the processes that take place in both group analytic therapy and group music therapy, exploring both the commonalities and the distinctive characteristics of the two modalities. To music therapists, psychotherapists and other arts therapists Group Music Therapy offers a body of knowledge and enquiry through which to understand the music therapy group process through some of the central proposals of group analysis; to group analysts it offers insight into the possibilities of non-verbal communication through improvised music and, more widely, invites thought in musical terms about the nature of events and exchanges in a therapy group. Links are made with group analytic theory as well as with other associated theoretical traditions, such as attachment theory and theories of early infant development. The book explores the history of group music therapy and the history of group analysis, looking both at core concepts and at more recent developments. Attention is also given to developmental issues, drawing upon theories of infant development and attachment theory and clinical vignettes drawn from music therapy practice with a wide range of patient groups illustrates these ideas. The book concludes with a discussion of the possibilities of co-therapy and other collaborative working and of the value of experiential groups in training. Group Music Therapy will be a key text for clinicians and students seeking to expand their theoretical thinking and enrich their practice, and offers a grounding in group analytic ideas to professionals in other disciplines considering referrals to group work.

This collection of papers by distinguished international contributors explores formative influences affecting Bion's emotional and intellectual development. The authors revisit in depth the origins of Bion's ideas, his contact with Trotter, and his later work with the Tavistock Clinic and psychoanalysis.