Groundhog day: The individual, the couple, the group and the space between

Abstract

The film Groundhog Day first came out in 1993. Five years later, it is still cited in a variety of contexts. The author proposes that this is because the film is a cultural artefact which both elucidates and frustrates the ideal of romantic love in the couple as the agent of internal change. The author also proposes a re-viewing of the meaning of the concept of couple. The convergence of object relations theories with group analysis suggests that the mind works by repeating and externalizing internal group structures in social relationships. The couple, then, becomes an intermediary structure between the individual and the group where intimacy facilitates a re-working of group internal structures. It is the collapsing and the opening of the ‘space between’ which is the agent of change. This process creates strength, power and a feeling of wholeness. But it also implies the expression of anger, pain and disappointment. The author illustrates these points with an interpretation of the Groundhog Day film and with a clinical case study of a couple in therapy.