ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a link between the emerging insights of interpersonal neurobiology and the systems-centred group method of functional subgrouping as a tool for developing the “group mind”. It proposes a definition of group mind that differs from the one formulated by G. Le Bon, who emphasized crowd psychology, W. McDougall, who focused on individuals thinking together, and E. Durkheim, who emphasized the collective of the society as an organism. The chapter also proposes a definition of “group mind” that builds on interpersonal neurobiology and systems-centred theory and practice. The idea of a “group mind” comes from thinking about a group as a living human system. Living human systems always exist in context, never in isolation. The chapter discusses how functional subgrouping can lead to “feeling felt” as members resonate with experiences shared by other members. It offers hypotheses that link functional subgrouping to neurobiological research.
