When patients fall in love in a group—A challenge to group analysis

Abstract

Nitsun pioneered the positive consideration of desire and intimacy in the group and Moeller discussed the conductor falling in love himself, but apart from those authors, the group-analytic literature rarely discusses the subject of romance in groups. This article explores the positive value of the elaboration of falling in love between group members, both to the ‘couple’ and to the group as a whole. Furthermore, I argue the group’s contribution as a post-Oedipal object to its participants, which can strengthen their experience as subjects worthy of mature love and desire. I describe a vignette in which I granted the ‘couple’ the opportunity to meet once outside the group, on the condition they later reintroduce material to the group. This decision will be discussed regarding the conductor’s role in situations of romantic coupling. In addition to the view of keeping firm boundaries of the group and encouraging open discussion regarding love and desire as part of the development of the erotic self, I analyse the importance of enactments to the emergence of dissociated experiences. In this case I see my enactment as an expression of my ‘emotional participation’. In contrast to Grossmark, I claim that enactments cannot always be contained by the conductor and therefore might impact his behaviour as well as the setting.