ABSTRACT
Gender dynamics are important for both group members and group leaders. Differences in the way boys and girls solve the universal problem of separating from the pre-Oedipal mother play themselves out in the way group members focus on or defend against empathy and autonomy. In a well-run group, men can help women get more comfortable with aggression, while women can challenge men to risk identification with others. Gender plays an important role with group leaders too because the group is experienced as a family, and groups led by a symbolic father will have different challenges from a mother-led group. Groups with a female leader more easily regress to pre-Oedipal functioning. Clinical material demonstrating this dynamic is presented.
