ABSTRACT
The group therapist Tuttman's role, is to facilitate an atmosphere that encourages increased openness to exploring feelings and fantasies. Primarily, she provides a holding container by using empathy, mirroring, and interpretation. She is ever watchful for what appears to be projective processes among members. The therapist values whatever is expressed. She conveys an appreciation of the patient's experiences and feelings while allowing archaic fantasies, internalized object representations, and projections to emerge. For the therapist, the depth of this kind of work in group therapy is both challenging and gratifying. Managing countertransference reactions requires ongoing supervision and psychotherapy. The group therapy modality offers benefits and support to help see participants through times of suffering and despair. The process of free association leads them to recognize their shared experience of introjections of the bad object and join with each other and the group leader in battling the Alien.
