ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines therapists’ adaptation and W. G. Bennis and H. A. Shepard's phases of group development. These should enable the group therapist to recognize the phases that group must enter and master if they are to reach the maturity of the consensual validation phase. The chapter emphasizes the importance of the group therapist being primarily concerned with guiding group development because each particular phase of group development provides specific and discrete opportunities for the insight and growth of each individual member. The dynamics of group growth can be outlined with the same requirements for descriptive rigor and psychodynamic and empirical explanation with which the dynamics of an individual's growth can be described. The phases in a psychotherapy group are precipitated by the individual members' reactions to the ambiguity of the situation. The fight phase in group develops when the mechanisms of avoidance that characterize the flight phase fail to create a safe status quo.
