ABSTRACT
The founder of group analysis had the dream that after the end of World War II applied psychoanalysis would be as successful as clinical work and make a contribution to democratising society. The ultimate aim of applying group analytic knowledge in the wider society represented for the émigré generation an inoculation programme against the recurrence of fascism. Foulkes thought that group analysts could put people into a group to learn to trust in life, other people and themselves enough to relinquish defensive manoeuvres that cut them off from the social connections that they needed and depended on. Group analytic consultancy represents, within this tradition and at the simplest level, the effort to re-connect people in groups or organisations with the social nature of their being and the inter-dependence of all the groups within the foundation matrix of the whole organisation. The message is, nothing 80gets done alone, and all outcomes depend on inter-dependence. In contrast the prevailing myth of the age is: it’s all up to you alone and it all depends on the leader.
