ABSTRACT

From the point of view of method it is at this stage important for us to note that authors do not construct or anticipate such a complexus of people and call them together for treatment. The basis of the method is very much like that employed in group-analytic family therapy, the members of the plexus are seen in various constellations as the psychodynamic progress of the treatment commands. As to the family treatment of neuroses, perhaps the works of J. Ehrenwald, Nathan Ackerman and Martin Grotjahn are the most noteworthy. An exploration often reveals that the patient who is supposed to be the main object of treatment has only a very limited chance and scope for change. In the language of inner object theory, which has its own though limited validity, the original family has become internalised and is brought into the new life situation and, in particular, into the transference situation during analytic treatment.