Beyond the Anti-Group: Survival and transformation builds on the success of Morris Nitsun’s influential concept of the anti-group, taking it into new domains of thought and practice in the current century. ‘A historical and ideological breakthrough’ (Tuttman 1991), the concept focuses on anxiety and hostility within, towards and between groups, as well as the destructive potential of groups. In Beyond the Anti-Group, Morris Nitsun continues his inquiry into the clinical implications of the anti-group but also explores the concept beyond the consulting room, in settings as wide-ranging as cultural and environmental stress in the twenty-first century, the fate of public health services and the themes of contemporary art. Groups are potentially destructive but also have the capacity for survival, creativity and transformation. Focusing on the interplay between the two, Morris Nitsun explores the struggle to overcome group impasse and dysfunction and to emerge stronger. Why does this happen in some groups and not others? What are the conditions for group transformation? How does this affect individuals, groups, organizations and societies? By tracking this process in a range of cultural settings, the author weaves a rich tapestry in which group psychotherapy, organizational process and the arts come together in unexpected and novel ways. The author draws on group analysis and the Foulkesian tradition as his overall discipline but within a critical frame that questions the relevance of the approach in a changing world, highlighting new directions and opportunities. Questions of group and organizational leadership and their contribution to anti-group processes are a further theme. Readers of Beyond the Anti-Group will be stimulated by the depth, breadth and creativity of the author’s analysis and by the excursion into new fields of inquiry. This book offers new scope, new ideas and new impetus for psychotherapists, group analysts and group practitioners in general, students of group and organizational processes and those working on the boundary between psychotherapy and the arts. Morris Nitsun is a consultant psychologist in Camden and Islington NHS Trust, psychotherapist at the Fitzrovia Group Analytic Practice, Training Analyst at the Institute of Group Analysis, and Convenor, Diploma in Innovative Group Interventions, Anna Freud Clinic. His books The Anti-group: Destructive Forces in the Group and their Creative Potential (Routledge, 1996) and The Group as an Object of Desire (Routledge, 2006) have been described as ‘classics in the field’. He has lectured and run workshops in countries across the world. He is also a practising artist who exhibits regularly in London.
Survival and transformation Morris Nitsun
by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Morris Nitsun The right of Morris Nitsun to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Nitsun, Morris. Beyond the anti-group : survival and transformation / Morris Nitsun. – First Edition. pages cm ISBN 978-0-415-68736-2 (hbk) – ISBN 978-0-415-68738-6 (pbk) – ISBN 978-1-315-73945-8 (ebk) 1. Social interaction–Technological innovation. 2. Great Britain. National Health Service. 3. Group psychotherapy. I. Title. HM1111.N58 2014 302–dc23 2014023386 ISBN: 978-0-415-68736-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-68738-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-73945-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
With love and deep thanks
Foreword, John Cape Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction ix xiii 1 PART I The wider context 1 2 13 The question of survival in the twenty-first century: challenges to group analysis 15 An anti-group perspective of organizational change: the case of the National Health Service (NHS) 36 PART II The clinical setting 57 3 Group analytic psychotherapy on the edge 59 4 Group analysis and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) 87 5 The group as refuge: group psychotherapy in inner London 110 PART III Developmental perspectives 135 6 Being a group therapist: a journey through life 137 7 Falling in love: a group analytic perspective 160
Contents PART IV Group analysis and the arts 183 8 Group analysis and performance art 185 9 Rebel without a cause: authority and revolt as themes in the cinema 211 Summary and conclusions Postscript Index 235 240 245
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