Commentary: Groups

These three final papers describe the work of groups of different kinds – an infant observation seminar group in Greece; a group for parents of children with disabilities in Italy; and a peer support group for child psychotherapists in Canada. Each group has a different function, but during the pandemic they all became extremely important for their participants as a container for all that the pandemic stirred.

The parents attending the clinical group in Italy found themselves, during Covid-19, at home, without support, caring full-time for children with complex care needs. The Greek observation seminar suffered an abrupt halt to their meetings with families, but soon the members realised that by meeting remotely as a seminar group they could think together of alternative ways to keep the connection with the infants and families. The Canadian peer supervision group, evocatively named the ‘Town Hall Group’, consists of a number of child therapists, working across different settings, who had a central point where they could meet and share their experiences. The Town Hall Group’s shared history and geography felt important, as the group now had to come together remotely and set to work on building a collective understanding of how to navigate remote therapy. Robin Holloway and his colleagues present a collection of clinical material discussed in this group during the pandemic.

Supervision, and writing about our work, have always served to develop and refine theory and technique; but under the pressures of the pandemic, the Town Hall Group became particularly energised and creative in their coming together. They note themselves that:

Although psychotherapy may be considered an individual/solitary activity, a two-person endeavour at its best, its development has always been a collective enterprise and the Town Hall has facilitated a potential space where creativity and hope can re-emerge.

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