ABSTRACT
For group analysts and many other professionals, the work of Murray Cox is an abiding influence and inspiration. This chapter aims to clarify the reasons for such extreme emotional responses in group analysts during supervision and surveys conceptualizations of the counter-transference at increasingly serious levels of mental pain and illness. Clinical work with forensic patients involves not simply a summation of these levels, but a condensation and exponential escalation of transference pressure and counter-transference resonance. The atmosphere of extreme threat and incipient violence was marked in this group from the beginning. Countertransference pressures on the group analyst were increased because of the inconsistent presence of the co-therapist, who was, however, very helpful at the start of the group. The theme of hand-over prompts the Occupational Therapist (OT) to talk about the community meeting that morning, which of those present only she, one other nurse and the group analyst had attended.
