ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author presents what is probably the most positive and optimistic view of group analytic psychotherapy. Falling in love remains one of the most enigmatic of all human experiences. It is one of the great universal themes in people's lives, across cultures and times, and is both celebrated and lamented in countless analytic psychotherapy, classical and popular, redolent with love found and love lost. The chapter emerges from one of the most rewarding experiences of my long career as a group analyst: the finding that group analytic psychotherapy can have a facilitating impact on group member's capacity to establish a meaningful relationship with a significant other. While romantic love is universal, its representation differs from person to person, with myriad variations on the theme. The author put 'pathologies' in inverted commas as the author would prefer to understand rather than pathologize the more serious difficulties people encounter in making relationships.
