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Group therapy is gradually expanding and being practiced on many different levels by therapists of varying degrees of competence, many of whom are ill-equipped to undertake such a formidable task. It becomes difficult to evaluate all of the contributions because there is simply not enough time even to scan them. Much is of poor quality and will bring discredit on group therapy and retard its progress. It is a satisfaction, then, to see a competent psychoanalyst work in this area and discuss his views in this book.
Because of the empirical nature of psychoanalytical psychotherapy answers to important questions vary widely from one analyst to another. How effective is psychoanalysis as a therapy? Which is more important, the personality of the therapist or the tools he uses? What exactly is effective and how? What are the indications and contraindications for its use? And there are a great many others. As if our troubles were not enough, here comes group psychoanalysis compounding all the previously unanswered questions. This does not mean that group psychoanalysis should be held in abeyance, but that the vastness and difficulties should be recognized and the empirical nature and the tentativeness of the formulations remembered. Furthermore, because of its different approach and perspective, group psychoanalysis allows an examination of the above questions against an entirely different background—with, so to speak, different test materials, so that perhaps a better understanding of the therapeutic process in both individual and group work might result. This is what Dr. Wassell has attempted to do in this book. He has given us valuable formulations and some tentative answers to our questions.
Dr. Wassell points out that the goals of therapy in group work do not differ from those in individual analysis, although the paths followed and the nature of emotional experiences are vastly different because of the group atmosphere and the great variety of interpersonal reactions.