ABSTRACT
The prime reason for the conductor to intervene is to facilitate 'working towards an ever more articulate form of communication is identical to the therapeutic process itself'. Group communications may focus on the 'here-and-now', the 'here-and then', the 'there-and-now' and the 'there-and-then'. A group capable of attending to its own life in this reflective way is one that is moving beyond cohesiveness to coherence. Collective resistance to joining the matrix can be particularly destructive and is likely to indicate anti-group forces at work. The conductor's primary task in such instances is to address group safety – a sense that though feelings of helplessness may be experienced, a reliable, helpful object is at hand. The feelings of helplessness and the fear of communication that opaque silence indicates is likely to be experienced strongly in the conductor's countertransference. The conductor builds, develops and maintains the group as both therapeutic medium and agent of change.
