ABSTRACT
In psychodynamic studies of group process, the behaviour of women in groups, and women's relations to those in authority and leadership roles, has usually been studied in mixed-sex settings. This chapter describes the conference and the dominant psychodynamic themes which emerged when women came together to study the functioning of all-women's groups. The six women and three men of this original staff group shared complex, long-term sentient ties as classmates, collaborators in a number of settings friends, and former members of a semester-long self-study group which had existed two years earlier. A small group-large group design was adopted, with four consultants in the small group team, and a team of two consulting with the large group. Judging from their career achievements, there was no demonstrable lack of leadership ability, ambition, or competence among them. In the group's fantasy, one woman's envy of another would lead to unmanageable aggression in which both individuals would be consumed.
