The Body of Shame in the Circle of the Group

Abstract

This paper suggests an integration of two therapeutic domains in which the author was trained and certified: group analysis and bioenergetic analysis. Bioenergetic analysis is a psychodynamic psychotherapy, which sees the individual as a psychosomatic unity and combines work with the body and the mind. The author considers the pioneering book The Group as an Object of Desire by Morris Nitsun as a facilitating environment for the ideas of this paper to be accepted. Nitsun opens up the importance, on one hand, and the neglect, on the other hand, of sexuality and the body in the discourse of group analysis. The paper brings the body to the front of group analysis. It illuminates the body as the stage on which the drama of shame occurs. The paper discusses five dimensions of shame, categorized into five degrees of pathology, having to do with the developmental stages in which it occurred. The most archaic one (degree 1) is the most malignant and inhibits the social life of the individual. The fifth degree, social shame, is necessary in order to be part of society. A bridge of understanding between group analysis and bioenergetic analysis is suggested in which social shame, the more superficial one, serves as a defence against or displacement of the bodily shame. The ultimate space for working, therapeutically, on shame is the group, provided the body is not dissociated from the arena. A clinical example of working with a group in the integrated model is described, followed by a discussion. It is suggested to consider the matrix as the group body-mind instead of only the group mind.