Dissertation Title:

A Phenomenological Investigation of Group Facilitators’ Experiences of Countertransference

Candidate:

David Krom

Date, Time & Place:

December 10, 2022 at 10:00 am
Classroom A-101 at the Ladera Campus


Abstract

In this phenomenological qualitative dissertation, the researcher investigated Tavistock-oriented group therapists and professional consultants’ experiences of countertransference activation in groups. The intent of the research was to identify the internal experiences of activation and the external expressions of specific verbal interventions used as strategic responses by group-oriented professionals. Eligibility criteria included individuals with psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, or object relations theoretical orientations. Seven facilitators were interviewed: four licensed clinical group-oriented psychotherapists and three group-oriented professional consultants. The decision to select and interview clinical and nonclinical individuals for interviews stemmed from a desire for research findings to describe the lived experience of those who use core theoretical notions from the Tavistock approach or group dynamics in distinct, situational contexts. The nomothetic analysis of data led to seven themes, defined as the research’s primary findings: (a) countertransference activation was found to represent facilitators’ experiences of internal emotional activation; (b) facilitators provided a containing function for groups; (c) facilitators prioritized ways of understanding phenomena, according to group-as-a-whole functioning and chose to use interventions in accordance with this perspective; (d) facilitators attributed comfortability in the role of facilitator to their knowledge of group relations and Tavistock Institute approaches; (e) facilitators regarded the group itself (and not themselves or their role) as responsible for collective actions/directions, (f) facilitators felt encounters with projective identification were destabilizing and significantly uncomfortable; and (g) lastly, facilitators used silence as a technique.

Details
  • Program/Track/Year: Clinical Psychology, OP, 2016
  • Chair: Dr. Allen Bishop
  • Reader: Dr. Paula Thomson
  • External Reader: Dr. Enika Cocoli Bowen
  • Keywords: Group Psychotherapy & Group Analysis, Countertransference And Projective Identification, Systems Psychodynamics, Psychoanalytic And Object Relations Theory And Practice, The Tavistock Institute™ Group Relations Consultancy, Dr. Wilfred Bion