ABSTRACT

Change and growth in a psychotherapy group depend on the willingness of its members and leader to display courage from time to time. The concept of bravery, which refers to actions that emanate from a courageous attitude, is, by contrast, easier to detect or observe. Seldom has an ingredient as crucial as courage is to psychotherapeutic work received so little attention in the group psychotherapy literature and in the indices of the major textbooks on group psychotherapy. The expressions of courage in the beginning stage of group development can be so subtle or basic that they can easily escape detection. Counter transference can serve as a clue to the presence of courage. Individuals differ in their ability to actualize courage and these differences may have their roots in character structure, ethnicity, group composition, trauma, family dynamics, identifications, and prior experiences in psychotherapy, as well as the role and belief system of the leader.