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Chapter Two Part Two – Methodology - Page 78
nature of neuronal networks and enhanced by the etymological link to ‘mother’ and
‘womb’ as a model for the structure of the group.
Within the matrix of transference and countertransference, the perceptions of the self
and of various arrangements of others will have components from each of the strata.
There will be ‘real’ aspects to these perceptions, from the first stratum, and descending
from here there will be aspects coloured by emotion and varying degrees of unconscious
influence.
The Importance of Internal Good Objects in Stressful
Situations (Under Fire)
This is an idea with implications for the person holding the role of group conductor, and
comes from the work of both Bion and Winnicott in individual psychoanalysis. Bion’s
concepts (which were influenced by his World War One experience as a tank
commander) refers to the need for the analyst and in particular, his or her mind, to
survive attacks by an individual patient (or indeed by a group), which may be envious or
contain other primitive elements (1959, 1962). Winnicott’s ideas are expressed in his
paper on ‘The Use of An Object’ (1969), and include the notion that for psychological
development to occur, the infant needs to destroy his or her primary objects in phantasy
and yet have them survive. Foulkes wrote less about the negative and primitive aspects
of group life, and it has been left to Nitsun (1996) to evolve the notion of ‘the anti-
group’, a destructive constellation that can be assumed by the group and which can
threaten the integrity and effectiveness of the group process.