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Bill
Two people, Ursula and David.
Judi
Ah.
Paula
Did the year and then didn’t come back.
Bill
Ursula came back and said, didn’t she?
Paula
Yes, but David didn’t.
Frances
No, Ursula didn’t come back, she sent a
letter, which I read (murmurs of
agreement).
Tom
To me it says something about the group,
that it’s shaken to the core by two people
not coming back after Christmas,
suggesting that we hadn’t got basis to
stand up to that, because that wasn’t
exactly a mortal blow.
Bill
It sounds like Paula’s describing this kind
of ricocheting ambivalence …
Frances, Paula, Kelly, Tom
Hmmm. Yes.
Bill
Someone bumps in to you and it knocks
your own off, so you act your own out,
and that hits somebody else.
Paula
Chapter Five - A Beginning – Page 158
Denial and minimisation. Deflection into
an attack on the group. (Here I am
responding to what I believe to be
expression of an underlying emotional
experience, rather than the overt
communication).
At last, an interpretation of a kind.
Relief