ABSTRACT
The term 'Group-Therapy' can have two meanings, and it is well to keep the distinction clearly in mind. It can refer to the treatment of a number of individuals assembled for therapeutic sessions, or it can refer to a planned endeavour to discover the forces which operate in the participating group. One of the characteristics of Individuals, as distinct from groups, is that individuals have an infancy characterized by a long development from immaturity during which they are physically and socially dependent. A feature of human infancy is that its most important behaviour and character-influencing qualities are repressed; there is an amnesic gap in the experience of the individual which has to be filled in before the patient can obtain his full maturity. The art of interpretation lies partly in conveying to the patient the present operation of concurrent but discrepant patterns of behaviour which belong to different periods or positions in the time scale of that patient's growth.
