Metatheory and Practice Regarding Acting Out in Group Analytical Therapy

Abstract

This article addresses a split that has occurred in group analytical metatheory. It also addresses diversity and its resulting consequences on the practical level, in relation to the psychoanalytical concept of acting out. Differences in metatheory can be resolved pragmatically by examining different levels and figure ground perspectives within a group. This article then makes a theoretical suggestion, based on the metatheoretical framework model developed by Preben Bertelsen. In that model, the different ontological and epistemological levels among different theories can be seen as parts of a coherent narrative.