The Unconscious from a Group-as-a-Whole Perspective: A Dream in the Context of a Training Group

Abstract

This paper presents a dream in a social context to illustrate the manifestations of unconscious processes in a group setting and to show how such material may be used to increase understanding of both the individual and the group. The discussion of the manifest dream material is placed in the context of a brief review of the group-as-a-whole approach based on W.R. Bion's seminal work in group psychology. Implications of this tradition for the practice of group psychotherapy are presented, drawing attention to the need for special group process training.