ABSTRACT
Wilfred Bion's contributions to the understanding of and work with group processes developed out of his and his colleagues work with small, face-to-face groups and not with large groups. It is therefore interesting to note the way in which his observations and methodological stance have permeated the work with large groups. Bion's perspective of the group-as-a-whole, especially as it relates to the group's leaders or facilitators, that is, the group's transference to whoever is perceived to be in a leadership role, has been enormously seminal in working with the large group (LG). It is at times uncanny to observe the group, beyond individuals' inputs, as if it is some sort of huge, primeval, even prehistoric creature, moving about. Bion's insights into unconscious group processes, in terms of the basic assumptions he named and described, operate in the LG as well as in the small groups.
