Group Analytic Contexts, Issue 77, September 2017

Newsletter – Autumn 2017 107
schizoid phase prepare for the depressive position, pseudo sociality
becomes real. Triangle and circle touch at the point of highest
containment for both, i.e. when the depressive position is reached.
This means that access to and resolution of the Oedipus Complex
afford the transcendence of the maternal circle (or absorption of the
triangle by the circle). It is proposed that the triangle (psychoanalysis,
father) and circle (GA, mother) co-exist in “benign symbiosis”.
Koukis aims to introduce a new epistemological model of the
symbolic roles of father and mother in the group. His ‘kaleidoscopic’
model depicts their paternal and maternal functions within GA. It
gives primacy to horizontal, interpersonal and transpersonal
relationships, instead of focusing on vertical transferences. These
interesting conceptualisations are the product of numerous articles and
presentations he delivered over the years, as well as his creative
interweaving of orthodox psychoanalysis and GA. Whilst his
theoretical models are based on similar ontological and
epistemological principles, he avoids psychoanalytic primacy - at least
that is his aim.
Throughout this “predetermined” book, Koukis discusses
difficult and often neglected topics – money, envy, scapegoating,
eating disorders, dreaming in psychosis, borderline presentations,
depression in schizophrenia. Numerous helpful vignettes make his
conceptualisations accessible. Using money (its role in payment for
treatment) as an example, he describes 3 developmental phases of
patients’ journey in group analytic therapy: their fusion with and
separation from the group, and their individuation. He shows that envy
can manifest as mild, intermediate and extreme in the group. Koukis
then guides the reader through envy and its vicissitudes. He shows that
the group always remains an object of envy due to introjection of dead
mothering objects. Tracing the origins of envy back to the ‘alteration
of the ego’, which is linked to the incorporation of the mothering and
group analytic group as ‘dead’ objects, he holds that for patients with
‘severe psychopathology’, dead objects can become even deader.
Koukis demonstrates how envy can be transformed into jealousy in
the group. In extreme cases of envy, group treatment might be counterindicated,
because it can either result in premature termination of
treatment or a severe attack on the group. A ‘good enough’ farewell
can help, he assures the reader. Since early termination or drop out is
concerning, group therapists may find his scenarios and explanations
of how to avoid these (or if unavoidable, how to best address them)
helpful.
His chapter on scapegoating is equally informative.