Unwanted little pony: Ann Alvarez’ concept of ‘live company’ reflected in a mixed group of autistic and non-autistic children

Abstract

In recent years, group psychotherapy with children has become increasingly common. Patients referred to such groups often include children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders, thereby confronting therapists with the question of whether to create integrated groups, including children with a broad range of difficulties, or exclusive groups for autistic patients. While it is commonly held that autistic patients need structured groups and find it difficult to benefit from an analytic group (Behr and Hearst, 2008), the author wishes to demonstrate the value of establishing mixed, analytically-oriented groups, with autistic and non-autistic members, through the presentation of a year in the life of such a group, comprised of children aged 11 to 13. Alongside group-analytic conceptualizations, the group and its processes are discussed through Alvarez’s concepts of live company and reclamation. In addition, the role of shared free play is addressed as the counterpart of free-floating discussion in an analytic group for adults and its contribution to gaining insight into the group’s dynamics and unconscious processes is explored. Alongside their clinical benefits, the establishment of integrated groups, which include both autistic and non-autistic children, is congruent with the spirit of group analysis, which views the deficiencies and disorders of individuals as essentially embedded in social and cultural contexts, as collective disorders that belong to society at large and should be addressed at that level (Foulkes, 1971).