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Chapter Three – Research methods and their use - Page 102
the next method), but here I am more interested in the abstraction of the theme (the
presence of powerlessness experienced with another).
Casement acknowledges the work of Matte-Blanco in his formulation, and as elaborated
in Chapter Two Part Two, Matte-Blanco’s work is central to group-analytic
ethnography. As a relatively simple example, I may find myself feeling ashamed whilst
consulting to a clinical team. If I can reflect on somebody feeling ashamed, then I can
identify that whilst that somebody may or perhaps should be me, instead shame is an
unacknowledged affect in the situation that the team (both as a collective and as
individual members) are trying to address in their work together with me.
Psychoanalytic free-association to elements of the data
(leading to metonymy and metaphor)
This is such a crucial part of my approach. Freud articulated his clinical approach to
dream material in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900/1953), 4 and this method has
similarities with that. Rather than treat the whole dream as a symbol, Freud broke the
dream into elements and explored the associations of the dreamer to these elements to
expand the imagery and symbolism of the dream. Only then did Freud pull the products
together and relate them to the dreamer’s life.
As with the elaboration of patterns, this method can be extended into a group-analytic
handling of data. In a clinical setting, interpretations are generally conveyed to the
patient around the time of the bringing of the dream, although the dream then forms a
significant item in the shared world of the therapy and may be returned to later and
4 Freud’s invitation to free associate is as follows: “So say whatever goes through your mind. Act as
though, for instance, you were a traveller sitting next to the window of a railway carriage and describing
to someone inside the carriage the changing views which you see outside. Finally, never forget that you
have promised to be absolutely honest, and never leave anything out because, for some reason or other, it
is unpleasant to tell it” (Freud, 1913/1958, p. 135).