The Subjective Experience of the Self in the Large Group: Two Models for Study

Abstract

More and more opportunities now exist for group therapists to engage in the study of the self in the large group at local, national, and international conferences as well as in clinical and other organizational settings. This may be particularly important for the group therapist in the next century with potential benefit not only for individuals but also for groups and social systems of all kinds. In this article, I review my own subjective experiences in the large group context and in large study group experiences. Then, I contrast the group analytic and the group relations approaches to the large group with particular reference to Winnicott’s theory about maturational processes in a facilitating environment.