Fleshing Out the Omnipotent Child in Group Psychotherapy

This article gives clinical examples of the fleshing out and working through of the omnipotent child (OC), as manifested in an open-ended twice-weekly group over a span of five years. Emphasis is placed on the role of the leader during the course of the group work. The fantasy of the therapist's lap is explored in detail as the core for the development of the analytic culture which exposes the OC along with its attendant resistances and narcissistic investments. This article highlights the necessity to explore the OC in all the developmental phases the members go though leading to maturation.     

Group Psychotherapy in France

This article discusses group therapy as part of a multidisciplinary approach to the management of the various psychological and physical rehabilitation concerns posed by kidney and liver transplant candidates and recipients at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. The group's history, format, intervention foci, and roles of clinicians and patients attending the group are described and evaluated. Given the relative paucity of research literature in this area, the authors offer recommendations for empirical evaluation of the benefits of multidisciplinary group psychotherapy in ameliorating physical and emotional suffering and prolonging life among transplant patients.     

AIDS Group Psychotherapy

Abstract

Clinical data are presented from a day spent at a New Jersey high school severely impacted by the World Trade Center disaster. Dissociation, a sense of numbness, anger, and guilt about feelings induced by the tragedy are all common dynamics in adolescents responding to trauma. The developmental issues that adolescents are confronting are described and discussed in terms of the challenges they present to the healing process. An argument is made that using groups to aid in the long recovery process with our young people should be a top public health priority.     

Taking the Sting Out: Manifesting Aggression and Containing Difficult States in a Relational Group Psychotherapy

This paper describes ways of handling aggression and difficulty in containing intense emotional experiences in group psychotherapy. The clinical vignette illustrates how, in cases of overprotectiveness, an external trigger may sometime serve as a vehicle of liberation and ventilation. The therapist’s enactment in response to the sudden penetration of a wasp into the room is discussed by relating to the functions it serves in the process of encountering aggression, as well as the group and therapist’s capacity to move from “twoness” to a “co-created third.” Whereas aggression, in general, is difficult to deal with, in a group it might prove to be extremely threatening, posing dangers unique to groups. Moreover, openly discussing the group conductor’s aggressiveness is especially challenging in a group. The paper illustrates the fruitful intersection of group analytic thinking and relational psychoanalytic conceptualization.     

Acting Up and Acting Out: Conduct Disorder and Competing Media Frames

This article compares diverse symbolic frames for the childhood psychiatric diagnosis “Conduct Disorder” (CD) found in the popular media with the dominant medicalized frame in the professional literature. Although vestiges of earlier frameworks remain, almost all professional accounts frame the disorder as a way of “acting out” the sick role. In contrast, the popular media use various culturally consistent frames, including delinquently “acting up.” However, unlike other instances in which the public and professionals lack a common understanding about a health condition, there has been no overt contestation about the definition of CD. Social, policy, and theoretical implications are explored.     

Group Psychotherapy in General Hospitals

This article is an Editor's Introduction to this Special Issue of the Journal on the integration of research and practice in the field of group psychotherapy. The emphasis in this issue is on the clinical application of research instruments to evaluate and to facilitate group experiences. Illustrations are drawn from each of the following six articles to highlight the practical utility of research measures. Moreover, recommendations are offered for how clinicians can incorporate these instruments into their group treatments to structure the therapeutic process.     

Acting Out In Children Of Divorce:

No abstract available for this article.     

Recurrent Phenomena in Group Psychotherapy

The Clown Club is a short term therapeutic group that makes use of structured fantasy and creative drama as the vehicle for the expression and resolution of conflict. In this group, children are invited to create a pretend identity, a clown character which can become a metaphorical expression of themselves. Each child creates a life story, and the group as a whole constructs a tale of how they came together and how they get along interpersonally. This story encompasses all group stages, from its beginning, through the central task of planning and performing a circus show, to its termination.

In this paper we describe the background that led to the development of the Clown Club. Details of how the group is designed and carried out are presented, along with clinical examples and an appraisal of the model at this stage.