ABSTRACT
Much of the substance of what happens in group lives in the subtle, non-verbal interactions between people the micro-expressions that are all too easy to miss. Paying close attention yields important clues to material that exists only in the unthought known that powerfully influences our lives. Working from a relational and attachment-based framework, the author finds that focusing on micro-expressions and the reenactments they uncover can provide life-changing opportunities for growth. The author have found a focus on micro-expressions in group to be a powerful intervention that helps the group explore new territory and moves it deeper into the here-and-now and away from an intellectualized talking heads therapy. She focuses on attachment behaviors including proximity-seeking, avoiding, and self-regulating ones. Caution must be used to avoid eliciting humiliation and the feeling of being scrutinized by the therapist. Group members with a strong sense of shame or paranoia will need to be approached particularly delicately.
