ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the usefulness of group analysis theory in teaching group therapy, and its contribution to the formation of psychology students' professional identity. Group analysis puts a stress on the importance of the context in which a group exists. This context includes the organisation of the wider society inside which the group operates, which is termed the "foundation matrix", and which includes elements such as language, social status, and education. An expression of the foundation matrix may be seen in the use of the idiom "equal burden", in a session that dealt with the theme of parenthood. S. H. Foulkes' expression of "ego training in action" refers to the process in which each patient both experiences and observes the dynamic processes produced in the immediacy of the group, which are then analysed openly by the group members and the conductor. Exchange is one of Foulkes' unique group-specific therapeutic factors.
