Death and the Dynamics of Group Life

Abstract

This article reports qualitative analysis of data collected during psychoanalytically orientated group sessions after the death of members. This group, based in group analytic and existentialist theoretical perspectives, is for women with advanced breast cancer. We ask: how and why does the group keep going, even as its members leave it through death? Our interest in understanding the therapeutic factors generated by the co-therapists, group members, and the group as a whole is assisted by Winnicott (1956, 1960) and Bion's (1959) concepts of holding and containment. These concepts are used to examine the therapists' role—containers for creating a thinking space where unknowable and unthinkable thoughts can be transformed into something bearable and creative.