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It was such a pleasant experience reading the article “Group relations conferences in China 2014 to 2019: theory and dynamics”. I particularly appreciated the accomplishment of the whole team and the article itself as it shed light on the cross-cultural application of psychoanalytic ideas through observations and reflections regarding the group dynamics in China's group relations conference (GRC). I recalled what I enjoyed and struggled with within several group relations conferences in China and in the States, joining both as a group member and as conference staff. Thus, I am delighted to reflect on my personal GRC experiences also from a cross-cultural perspective and explore GRCs further through the lens of trauma.
Group relations conferences take into account cultural influences when examining group dynamics. A group relations conference is seen as an open system that receives group members' inputs, including their own culture and expectations (Rice, 1965). Freud believed that internal drives and defence mechanisms were universal regardless of individuals' cultural identities (Freud & Strachey, 1964). However, in contemporary counselling psychology, culture is widely accepted as a potent force that affects how people think, feel, and act (Pedersen, 1990). Besides, as this article addresses, the conference is seen as a microcosm that reflects the macrosystem, and this is the perspective offered by the Tavistock method. According to the ecological systems theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, the term “macrosystem” addresses the cultural context in which a person lives (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Even defence mechanisms and Bion's basic assumption group theory are therefore objects for observation and interpretation in a conference. When exploring specific contexts in GRC work, there is no way to skip the cultural influences on the individuals and the group-as-a-whole.
The Western cultural backgrounds of GRC and of the consultants causes tremendous challenges for GRC