ABSTRACT
Group and organizational dynamics form the basic science of group psychotherapy. These dynamics describe both the dysfunction of the addicted family as well as the foundation for a successful psychotherapy group. Wilfred Bion describes three basic assumptions of group life: dependence, fight–flight and pairing, which coexist with the manifest task of a healthy work group or family. Bion also describes destructive “attacks on linking,” where the person attacks anything that is felt to have the function of linking one object with another. Such attacks interfere with the work-related and survival tasks of the group. The family disease of addiction has this destructive impact on the four critical elements of group functioning: boundaries, authority, role and task. Boundaries include time, task and territory. The primary task of the functional family is to support the growth and development of its members. The primary task of the addicted family is to maintain intoxication by attempting to control it. Roles and authority in the addicted family may be rigid or chaotic. Such dysfunctional roles include family hero, scapegoat, lost child and mascot or clown. The examination of dysfunctional roles in the psychotherapy group potentiates awareness, acceptance and opportunities for growth.
The group psychotherapist supports recovery by creating stable boundaries, attending to the primary task of working with the group-as-a-whole in the here and now with awareness of how group members experience the therapist’s exercise of authority.
