Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book. The book addresses the skepticism and even outright opposition often encountered in the fields of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis toward group treatment. It is their belief that many group psychotherapists will gain much insight from the contemporary relational world and likewise that many psychoanalysts of all persuasions will be pleased to find that current thinking in the group psychotherapy field has much to offer them. The book begins with an essay by Fred Wright that outlines the clinical ideas of Hugh Mullan and illustrates the growth of ideas in the group therapy field that have great resonance with the developments that were to characterize the relational movement in psychoanalysis. Weinberg's work focuses on building mutual acknowledgment of the subjective experiences of those involved in the conflict, including him, despite overwhelming emotional intensity, and illustrates axiom that interpretation follows change rather than precedes it.