Critique of ?the dream in group therapy: A reappraisal of unconscious processes in groups? by Peter J. Schlachet, Ph.D.

Abstract

Peter Schlachet has presented us with an extremely ambitious effort to describe and explain nature of unitary functioning in groups. He believes that there is some kind of sharing or convergence of unconscious processes among group members, and he correctly states that there is an insufficient understanding or agreement on nature of shared and on explanation of how this process occurs. His effort was to shed further light on these questions, important both to theory of group functioning and to practicing group therapist. Schlachet begins his daunting task very properly with a series of nicely presented vignettes of dreams, all of which illustrate how dreamer in a group is spokesperson for anxieties and conflicts that group members share in common. Not only do these examples illustrate how members of a group collaborate with each other and contribute to an ever-resonating shared theme, but first three dreams, all from same group, reflect an ongoing conflict within group concerning a therapist whose active, possibly intrusive style was creating considerable anxiety lest he and group get out of control. The beauty of all clinical vignettes is that they offer prima facie evidence for operation of a commonly shared group conflict. With this auspicious beginning, reader looks forward to a significant advance toward understanding nature and causes of these unitary responses. His effort to explain the apparent convergence of this unconscious material leads Schlachet to a scholarly discussion of communication processes, including studies of innate capacities of human beings to understand and empathize with each other. He refers to a variety of studies of nonverbal communication, to theories of how dreams may be understood as a means of integrating previous day's experience with an individual's past history, and crucial importance to humans of social awareness. He emphasizes that commonly shared metaphors and symbols that exist in any given culture are basic to human communication. While all of these factors are undoubtedly significant in understanding how people communicate, both consciously and unconsciously, and are significant general considerations in how people understand each other, they are only