ABSTRACT
The nuclear idea of the leader, revealed and developed, served as a bridge to the psychology of others, to building intrapsychic and interpersonal meaning. The group progressed in an orderly, understandable fashion, even before many of its determining influences were revealed. Certainly, the leader or therapist's expanded consciousness of his or her personal/professional self and its influence—the "me"—is a driving force in the group. The group beholds its leader: a looming figure of fantasy, an emerging figure of reality. Psychic patterns that play out in group cohesion, culture, conflict, and process are rooted in interaction with this combined object, the "me" that enters into the mentality of all the members. This chapter presents an example in which the very impact of the leader—the collective mass of projective and incorporative forces—might disrupt and distort the truth-seeking process.
