On the deepest level, group members see the group as a whole as a maternal image—either as a good image embodying the therapist's ideals, or as a bad persecuting agent from whom the group's ideals must be defended. The therapist may evoke a paternal transference, the fellow members being seen as siblings. The group, which is a totality of unknown power, can represent the harsh preoedipal mother of whom the individual has neurotic fears. The group becomes an instrument for need satisfaction, as well as a means of submerging personal identity.