Access to Unconscious Processes in the Group-analytic Group by S.H. Foulkes
Rachel Abramowicz, who usually contributes to this section, has been unwell over past few weeks. We wish her a speedy and full recovery.
This year we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Group Analytic Society and instead of publishing a new entry of the Group Analytic Dictionary in the GA Concepts and Methods section of Contexts, we have decided to call your attention to the paper “Access to Unconscious Processes in the Group-Analytic Group” delivered by Foulkes on his 72nd birthday as the opening contribution to the First European Symposium of Group Analysis held in Portugal in 1970. The paper was published in 1971 in Group Analysis, 4: 1 pages 4-14, and it is available to all GASI members and also as Foulkes, S.H. (1971). Access to unconscious processes in the group-analytic group (pp.209-222). In: E. Foulkes (1990). S.H. Foulkes Selected Papers: Psychoanalysis and Group Analysis. London: Karnac.
This paper is a fine resume of many of the points that Foulkes wrote about in his books. By revisiting it we are inviting Contexts readers to ask themselves the question: ‘How would Foulkes write this paper at this present moment in time?’
We could consider that, after the many changes and developments of the theory and practice of GA since he wrote it and particularly with the recently introduced changes of conducting ‘small clinical groups’ and ‘large groups’ on line, GA’s is not practiced how it used to be when he was a clinician. We could also reflect on the ongoing discussions in GASI regarding whether the groups currently conducted ‘on line’ are analytic groups or something else. It also merits to focus on the changed role of the conductor and the dynamic administration when conducting groups on line.
Reflections
‘Access to Unconscious Processes in the Group-analytic group’ is one of Foulkes articles that even fifty years after his presentation/publishing has stood well the test of time. He wrote it in a spirit of enquire, inviting reflection on core topics of group analysis, enhancing the importance of unconscious processes in the group analytic group, introducing the concepts of foundation matrix and dynamic matrix, discussing as well the role of the conductor while addressing unconscious processes and his analytic attitude in the group matrix. It is a paper that asks the reader to consider a myriad of issues brought by Foulkes’s thinking that require examination and contemporary exploration.
Indeed, over the years much has been written about psychoanalytic and group analytic principles as well as the relevance of the group matrix and its re-examination and extension in terms of tripartite matrices (Hopper & Weinberg, 2017). The role of the conductor in small and large groups in group analysis has been and continues to be extensively explored and debated in group analytic circles.,
The access to unconscious processes in the group analytic group has been enriched by research on social unconscious processes by Hopper and Weinberg (2011, 2016, 2017, and 2022). Although, Foulkes does not mention in this paper the concept of the social unconscious, the importance of the unconscious – and certainly socially unconscious processes – is implicit in the whole discussion. Foulkes is clear when he states that it is not a group analytic aim to ‘hunt unconscious meanings’, however ‘whereas unconscious processes naturally take place in all of these other groups, it is our special prerogative to elucidate them’ (Foulkes, 1971:210). In this sense, Foulkes naturally highlights the presence of unconscious processes in the group analytic group in connection to the ‘the attitudes and actions of the conductor’ (Foulkes, 1971: 211) as well as the group as a whole.
Group analysts are used to the idea that the group analytic matrix interweaves intrapersonal, interpersonal and transpersonal communications by the group, of the group, including its conductor’ (Foulkes, 1975a: 3). In Group Analytic Psychotherapy Methods and Principles (1975), Foulkes calls attention to this sentence, highlighting the conductor’s role as ‘the guardian and guide, of the group-analytic group’ responsible for the dynamic administration of the group in a ‘flexible, dynamic and creative way’ (Foulkes, 1975a: 3). In the therapeutic group, ‘the conductor is perhaps the most important variable determining the prevailing culture and tradition of the group’ (Foulkes, 1975a: 5). However, how should we consider this assertion today?
It has been suggested that the importance of the group conductor is undervalued, especially when it is associated with ambivalence and fear regarding the idea of leader. Indeed, Foulkes (1975b, p. 54) warns about the conductor’s awareness of the power of his/her suggestive and hypnotic influence, reminding the conductor to resist the illusion of becoming the leader of the group instead of just leading it (Penna, 2022:160).
Reading Foulkes’s 1971 article we are introduced to the importance that Foulkes attributed to the conductor’s analytic attitude, which influences not only ‘the culture and the tradition of the group’ but also the directions in which the group analytic group evolves under the conductor’s facilitation. Foulkes reminds us about the power of suggestion, and the difficulties regarding positive and negative transference in groups. For instance, the connection between excessively positive transference of the group and conformity. Conformity is considered by Foulkes as an ‘astonishing phenomenon’ that takes place quite often in groups, so to speak, ‘conformity, of, in a sense, complete submission to the conductor’s conscious and unconscious opinions’ (Foulkes, 1971:211).
In this discussion, Foulkes offers an interesting sentence that interlaces the influence of unconscious processes with the total situation that takes place in the group matrix that includes the conductor’s personality and clinical attitude: ‘ if a conductor for argument’s sake, emphasizes very early inner object-relations, as do so many in Latin America, the group will speak in these terms; if the leader concentrates on transference (and some workers do this out of all proportion), the group will speak in transference terms’ (Foulkes, 1971: 212). In this sentence, Foulkes calls attention to unconscious communications, which as X-rays take place in the transpersonal interactions of the group matrix. These communications steam from ‘the group, the community,[which] is the ultimate primary unit of consideration, and the so-called inner processes in the individual are internalizations of the forces operating in the group to which he belongs’ (Foulkes 1917 p.212). In this sentence it can be perceived Foulkes awareness of the social unconscious that was to be explored extensively later on by Group Analysts. .
Foulkes’s affirmation is one of the benchmarks of the group analytic epistemology bringing the importance of the proces of internalization of social forces that pre-consciously, consciously and unconsciously permeate the group’s participants and the conductor interactions. They influence the mirroring and resonance processes of the group matrix as well as the transferences, defences and resistances. The group conductor’s attitude is guided by ‘the group-analytic situation with its specific conditions and its specific culture’. However, we wonder, as Foulkes himself emphasises about the influence of unconscious processes in the conductor’s activity in the group in terms of his attitude regarding interpretations and the attention to transference as resistance (p.216). The conductor’s ‘personal involvement’, his countertransference is also fundamental, especially when it is related to blind spots co-created by the group-analytic group culture, reminding us of what today is explored in terms of social unconscious influences in clinical group work (Hopper & Weinberg, 2022).
‘Access to Unconscious Processes in the Group Analytic Group’ seems to be an article that can trigger multiple layers of reflection.
By bringing this and other articles on group analytic concepts to Contexts we aim to celebrate not only the creation of the Group Analytic Society and its pioneers, it is also an invitation to the Group Analytic Society International membership to improve the debate by bringing ideas, contributions and reflections about the current practice of group analytic work today. It seems to us a potentially fruitful enterprise that could enhance and bridge the past to the contemporary group analytic theory and practice.
References:
Foulkes, S.H. (1971) Access to Unconscious Processes in the Group Analytic Group
In: Group Analysis, Vol 4, issue 1, pages: 4-14. April 1, 1971
Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/053331647100400102
Foulkes, S. H. (1975a). What is group-analytic psychotherapy? In: Group Analytic Psychotherapy: Methods and Principles. London: Karnac.
Foulkes, S. H. (1975b). Problems of the large groups. In: L. Kreeger (Ed.). The Large
Group: Dynamics and Therapy (pp. 33–56). London: Karnac.
Foulkes, S. H. (1971) Access to unconscious processes in the group-analytic group. In: E. Foulkes, (Ed.). (1990). S. H. Foulkes: Selected Papers: Psychoanalysis and Group Analysis.London: Karnac.
Hopper, E., & Weinberg, H. (2011). The Social Unconscious in Persons, Groups, and Societies, Vol. 1. Mainly Theory. London: Karnac.
Hopper, E., & Weinberg, H. (2016). The Social Unconscious in Persons, Groups, and
Societies, Vol. 2: Mainly Foundation Matrices. London: Karnac.
Hopper, E. & Weinberg, H. (2017). The Social Unconscious in Persons, Groups, and Societies, Vol. 3: The Foundation Matrix Extended and Re-configured. London: Karnac.
Hopper, E. & Weinberg, H. (2017). The Social Unconscious in Persons, Groups, and Societies, Vol. 4: Clinical Implications. London: Routledge.
Penna, C. (2022). From Crowd Psychology to the Dynamics of Large Groups: Historical, Theoretical and Practical Considerations. London: Routledge.