International Journal of Group Psychotherapy
ISSN: 0020-7284 (Print) 1943-2836 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujgp20
Commentary: The Group in Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy Saul Scheidlinger To cite this article: Saul Scheidlinger (1992) Commentary: The Group in Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy, International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 42:4, 557-558, DOI: 10.1080/00207284.1992.11490724 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.1992.11490724
Published online: 16 Oct 2015.
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INTERNATIONAL J O URNAL OF G RO U P PSYC HOTHERAPY, 42(4) I992
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Commentary: The Group 1n Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy SA U L
S C H E I D L I N G E R, Ph.D.
The following comments provided by Dr. Saul Scheidlinger are in response to the article Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy written by]. Scott Rutan, which appears in the January 1992 issue of the]ournal. Over two decades ago, Anthony ( 1971) asserted that a "scientific" system of group psychotherapy called for an "economic, elegant, and powerfully explanatory theoretical framework linking together group psychology and group psychotherapy in an indivisible whole" (p. 30). I was accordingly disappointed to note that Rutan in his state of the art article on "psychodynamic group psychotherapy" (ljGP, January 1992) failed even to mention group psychology (i.e. , "what makes groups tick"), as well as the need to differentiate it from group psychotherapy (i.e., a method of clinical intervention). Rutan's references to "the group as a healing force" and to the "group-as-a-whole" (pp. 23-24) are only a small part of the story. For as I have noted elsewhere (Scheidlinger, 1984), in any small group there is a continuous interplay between individual personality and group process manifestations on both conscious and unconscious levels. Furthermore, such basic group dynamic elements as leadership, cohesiveness, and group roles can have a major impact on the momentary therapeutic group process. Thus, Saul Scheidlinger is Professor of Psychia try (Psychology) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
557
558
READER'S FORUM
hypothetically speaking, one might first ask whether in Rutan's clinical example, the patient's rage at the "ineffectiveness of the group and the ineptitude of the leader" (p. 24) might perhaps be related to the group therapist's simple failure in his or her "group maintenance" function, to monitor the group's anxiety level in that particular session. In other words, with due recognition to the enormous difficulty of theory building in psychodynamic group psychotherapy noted by Dies (1992), clinical wisdom suggests that such a theory's minimum building blocks must include concepts of individual and of group psychology. With it should go an allowance for at least three concurrent levels of group interactions: (1) a reality-geared level (ego psychology) ; (2) a transference level (oedipal theory); and (3) a primitive "object relations" level ("British school") .
REFERENCES Anthony, E. J. (1971) . The history of group psychotherapy. In H . I. Kaplan & B. J. Sadock (Eds.), Comprehensive group psychotherapy (pp. 4-31 ). Baltimore, MD: Williams & Williams . Dies, R. R. (1992) . Editorial introduction. Models of group psychotherapy: Sifting through confusion. International journal of Group Psychotherapy, 42, 1-18. Scheidlinger, S. ( 1984). Psychoanalytic group psychotherapy today: An overview. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 12, 269-284.
Saul Scheidlinger, Ph.D. 715 Bleeker Avenue Mamaroneck, NY 10543
ISSN: 0020-7284 (Print) 1943-2836 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujgp20
Commentary: The Group in Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy Saul Scheidlinger To cite this article: Saul Scheidlinger (1992) Commentary: The Group in Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy, International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 42:4, 557-558, DOI: 10.1080/00207284.1992.11490724 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.1992.11490724
Published online: 16 Oct 2015.
Submit your article to this journal
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujgp20
INTERNATIONAL J O URNAL OF G RO U P PSYC HOTHERAPY, 42(4) I992
READERS' FORUM
Commentary: The Group 1n Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy SA U L
S C H E I D L I N G E R, Ph.D.
The following comments provided by Dr. Saul Scheidlinger are in response to the article Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy written by]. Scott Rutan, which appears in the January 1992 issue of the]ournal. Over two decades ago, Anthony ( 1971) asserted that a "scientific" system of group psychotherapy called for an "economic, elegant, and powerfully explanatory theoretical framework linking together group psychology and group psychotherapy in an indivisible whole" (p. 30). I was accordingly disappointed to note that Rutan in his state of the art article on "psychodynamic group psychotherapy" (ljGP, January 1992) failed even to mention group psychology (i.e. , "what makes groups tick"), as well as the need to differentiate it from group psychotherapy (i.e., a method of clinical intervention). Rutan's references to "the group as a healing force" and to the "group-as-a-whole" (pp. 23-24) are only a small part of the story. For as I have noted elsewhere (Scheidlinger, 1984), in any small group there is a continuous interplay between individual personality and group process manifestations on both conscious and unconscious levels. Furthermore, such basic group dynamic elements as leadership, cohesiveness, and group roles can have a major impact on the momentary therapeutic group process. Thus, Saul Scheidlinger is Professor of Psychia try (Psychology) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
557
558
READER'S FORUM
hypothetically speaking, one might first ask whether in Rutan's clinical example, the patient's rage at the "ineffectiveness of the group and the ineptitude of the leader" (p. 24) might perhaps be related to the group therapist's simple failure in his or her "group maintenance" function, to monitor the group's anxiety level in that particular session. In other words, with due recognition to the enormous difficulty of theory building in psychodynamic group psychotherapy noted by Dies (1992), clinical wisdom suggests that such a theory's minimum building blocks must include concepts of individual and of group psychology. With it should go an allowance for at least three concurrent levels of group interactions: (1) a reality-geared level (ego psychology) ; (2) a transference level (oedipal theory); and (3) a primitive "object relations" level ("British school") .
REFERENCES Anthony, E. J. (1971) . The history of group psychotherapy. In H . I. Kaplan & B. J. Sadock (Eds.), Comprehensive group psychotherapy (pp. 4-31 ). Baltimore, MD: Williams & Williams . Dies, R. R. (1992) . Editorial introduction. Models of group psychotherapy: Sifting through confusion. International journal of Group Psychotherapy, 42, 1-18. Scheidlinger, S. ( 1984). Psychoanalytic group psychotherapy today: An overview. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 12, 269-284.
Saul Scheidlinger, Ph.D. 715 Bleeker Avenue Mamaroneck, NY 10543
