THE USE OF THE SELF IN GROUP-PSYCHOTHERAPY

This article began with an attempt to sketch the ingredients of the self of the therapist as an orchestration of psyche, affect, knowledge, training, and experience. The first group vignette demonstrates the importance of containing one's own feelings for the benefit of the members. I have used the Truman image: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!" The restraint in behavior is accompanied by a great deal of mental action by the therapist. The second vignette demonstrates judicious disclosure of the therapist's feelings, guided by thinking. The psychological state of these patients demanded affirmation of their perception. To deny their perceptions would have been to ask them to feel crazy. Too many of them have had that experience before. Feelings and knowledge blended together to form a useful intervention. You can gather from my presentation that I do not endorse "being myself" in therapy, since my full self has needs. It is held by most of us that we do not serve our patients by burdening them with our needs. © 1990 Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society.