You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Difficulties of scientific communication that are not encountered with individuals may be met in a group because of the facility with which hostile opposition and destruction, rather than tolerance and coöperation, are activated in a group. Except for religious groups, a group feels its strength in hating and fighting. There are some specific features in the emotional reaction to the discussions of questions in psychotherapeutic technique which are defensive in nature. Grotjahn attributes the difference between the more flexible individual opinion and the rigid collective attitude—both expressed in all honesty and scientific integrity—to the increasingly insecure feeling of the therapist of today in his humanistic traditions and ethics. In this insecurity he develops defensive rationalizations.
The therapist, who is impressed by what he does not know, who is aware and not ashamed of the empty spaces in his scientific technique, will be more modest, humble, and tolerant toward his patients and his fellow workers in the field of psychotherapy. He is aware of the limitations of his scientific technique which, as a tool, must be supplemented by his personality, his 'style'. The therapist must have the maturity and security to show these individual