About the Book
Group Analysis in the Land of Milk and Honey is a collection of beautifully written clinical essays by group analysts in Israel - a society which suffers from chronic war and violence. Israeli group conductors share their experience and their special skills concerning the reflection of terror and existential anxiety in their group-analytic therapy groups. The topics range from the influence of society on the individual, the nature of the "group", combined individual and group therapy, groups with mentally ill and elderly patients, and coping with aggressive patients and the self-destructive processes that are ubiquitous in a society threatened with extinction. These group analysts discuss breaking of boundaries, "democracy in action", leadership, paternalism and fanatic identifications. The special place of Shoah survivors and of Arab and Jewish conflict make this book unique. The book conveys both the trauma and the creativity of Israeli society. The editors, Dr Robi Friedman and Yael Doron, represent different generations within the IIGA - the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis. They have edited a mesmerizing testimony to a vibrant society whose citizens are often in pain.
Table of Contents:
Series Editor's Foreword , Introduction , Theory , The ethical envelope of the analytic group: some thoughts about democratic values implicit in group analysis , What is the group entity 1 in group analysis? , Leader, society, sacrifice , Beyond Oedipus in group analysis: the sacrifice of boys in the social unconscious of the Israeli people , The group analysis of the Akeda: the worst and the best feelings in the matrix , The black hole in the social unconscious: a collective defence against shared fears of annihilation , The immune system and group analysis: communication between self and non-self , The group not-me , Practice , On arrivals and departures in slow-open group analytic groups , The group, the boundaries, and between , Combined therapy as a clinical tool: special focus on difficult patients , Is there hope for change at my age? , I still want to be relevant: on placing an older person in an analytic therapy group with younger people , The patient, the group, and the conductor coping with subtle aggression in an analytic group , Foreigner in your motherland, foreigner in your chosen homeland: Jewish cultural identity , Applications of Group Analysis , Group analysis goes to academia: therapeutic approach and professional identity in graduate studies of psychology , Working with a multi-cultural group in times of war: three metaphors of motion and mobility , Co-constructing a common language: aspects of group supervision for the multi-disciplinary staff of a psychiatric ward , Analytic group for the children of the Holocaust and the second generation: a construction of belonging to the injured self through mutual recognition processes , The personal, group, and social aspects of dreaming , The co-creation of the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis: notes from the archives
About the Author :
Yael Doron, MA, is a rehabilitation psychologist and group analyst. She is a staff member and teacher at the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis, a teacher and supervisor at Haifa University, and a teacher and supervisor at the Central School for Social Workers, Tel Aviv. Robi Friedman, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and group analyst, and co-founder and former Chair of the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis. He is also President of the Group Analytic Society International and a former Chair of the Israeli Association for Group Psychotherapy. He currently teaches at Haifa University and at the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis.
Review :
'Within a few short years of the founding of the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis (IIGA), its members have taken leading roles in the profession of group analysis. We have all benefited from their efforts, as will the many readers of this book.'--Earl Hopper, editor of the New International Library of Group Analysis Series'This is a marvellous book. From its very inception, the IIGA has been forged in the struggle to coexist with hostile neighbours, and to maintain the civilising process.'-Malcolm Pines, founder member of the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA)'In addition to in-depth information about many theoretical and therapeutic topics, this book sheds a light on the history of Israel and its current issues, and is a very important contribution to group analysis.'-Vamik D. Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry'The tears, triumphs and extraordinary resilience of Israeli society are represented in the work of the IIGA and deserve the highest regard.'- John Schlapobersky, training analyst, supervisor and teacher at the IGA, London'This wonderful volume captures the vibrant creativity, multiplicity and clinical acumen of the IIGA. Locating group analysis in the socio-political-historical context of Israel, it will enrich group analysis and psychoanalysis.'- Robert Grossmark, supervisor at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis'This is a cogent and creative extension of group analysis according to Foulkes, in which relatedness exists within an all-embracing group matrix.'- Dieter Nitzgen, training group analyst at the IGA, Heidelberg, and editor of Group Analysis
