ABSTRACT
Self-disclosure is inevitable and continuous in any human interaction. Group members see a therapist-in-action, responding to intense group, subgroup, and dyadic situations. The perspectives are multiple, and members may not be in agreement with each other, and much less with the therapist. Still, the therapist learns about “Me” by attending to these various perspectives: listening to the members’ expressions in feelings, fantasies, symbols, thoughts, behavioral reactions, and reflecting on how he or she impacts the group culture. In the development of human attachment, a prolonged period of mutual “eye love” between mother and infant occurs, involving not only the visual sense but also touch, sound, and movement. To drive change and stimulate creative growth, the therapist needs to provide an ongoing sense of security, but also must encourage a breaking down of pre-established and safe emotional attitudes. Leadership entails aiding the group and its members to tolerate, communicate, and eventually integrate a wide range of emerging, contradictory, and intense feelings.
