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Group therapy has made enormous strides in recent years and it is incumbent on every psychotherapist to become familiar with its growing importance and progress. This book shows how far group therapy has progressed and how valuable theoretical concepts are gradually being formulated.
The author draws from his wide background especially in the field of group psychodynamics. He is well informed about the work of others and tries to integrate what is known about individual psychology and group psychodynamics. The book is enriched with clinical material from his personal experiences. His work is most valuable for us since he deals with the individuals who come for help voluntarily and does not discuss therapy with groups in a hospital setting or group therapy with children.
Many concepts of group life are reviewed for their applicability to group therapy. LeBons’ and Freud's concepts of group life are justifiably found wanting in their one-sided tendency to consider only the “mob mind,” where individuals through group participation seek release of “primitive impulses.” We can agree with Bach when he says, “Group participation encourages the expression of deep needs. Such expressions are not restricted to infantile dependency, rivalry and other negative emotions, they include other positive emotions, such as mutual help, affection, and peer love.” The very life of society is due to the creative capacity of individuals to work together in all kinds of groups.
Bach is aware that many group psychoanalysts regard the group as a symbolic family and that this approach is too narrow and tends to neglect all the influences on personality that develop from “peer groups.” He prefers to look upon the therapy group as a “peer group.” Since the original traumata were experienced in a family setting it is not unlikely that the therapy group may be experienced symbolically as a family. However, it is a peer group, which means that a new kind of relatedness is called for on a higher plane.