ABSTRACT
This chapter revisits the central concepts of the Tavistock model. Through a critical discussion of these ideas, it initiates a dialogue about intersubjectivity and its implications for understanding of group relations. The chapter proposes that an intersubjective approach requires us to look not at how reified mental contents are being moved around within a given group, but rather at how intersubjective experiences can be co-created by the group members and their conference consultants. Projective identification, by contrast, describes a process in which intrapsychic conflict does lead the individual to split off entire ego segments and project them into an object. Melanie Klein introduced the concept in discussion of the schizoid position. The chapter reflects the difficulty inherent in demonstrating theoretical concepts through material reported by a theorist/director of a more traditional Tavistock orientation. Additional case material is essential for the project of extending an intersubjective perspective to the study of group relations.
