ABSTRACT
Six months after my mother’s death and two weeks before Christmas the group was preparing for the Christmas break and Carol was working on her suicidal feelings triggered by the pending holiday. My youngest brother, Obediah, became seriously ill and I had to go abroad immediately. I felt I was abandoning the group at a crucial time. Dr Shaw could only join them for half an hour but I knew the group was now mature enough to meet on its own. After some consultation with my supervisor and Dr Shaw, I wrote a letter to the group. Dr Shaw took it to them. I explained that due to unforeseen circumstances I had to go away. I asked them to decide on whether to meet on their own or not, explaining that should they agree to meet they needed to understand how important it was that they all turn up. I asked them to decide in the presence of Dr Shaw, as he would need to arrange for someone to prepare the room for them. I used the group’s language in my letter as a familiar transitional object to hold them together and contain them with familiarity during my absence, just as my siblings and I had used Otis Redding music to 171keep each other in mind when we were apart. Winnicott (1998, p. 197) states that:
