Concerning Yalom

Concerning Irvin Yalom

The current generation is the first in the history of the world which has nothing to learn from grandparents;

Patricide and Incest:

"Freud noted that … patricide and incest … are part of man’s deepest nature." Irvin D. Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy.

family structures … rigid, impenetrable system. Without exception, patients enter group therapy with the history of a highly unsatisfactory experience in their first and most important group—their primary family.

Belongingness to a group:

"The individual accepts the new system of values and beliefs by accepting belongingness to a group." Kurt Lewin in Human Relations in Curriculum Change

Family group unsatisfactory experience:

"Without exception, patients enter group therapy with the history of a highly unsatisfactory experience in their first and most important group--their primary family." Irwin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, p. 14

Refuse to till traditional authority role:

"What better way to help the patient recapture the past than to allow him to reexperience and reenact ancient feelings toward parents in his current relationship to the therapist? The therapist is the living personification of all parental images. Group therapists refuse to fill the traditional authority role: they do not lead in the ordinary manner, they do not provide answers and solutions, they urge the group to explore and to employ its own resources. The group [must] feel free to confront the therapist, who must not only permit, but encourage, such confrontation. He [the patient] reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. … the patient changes the past by reconstituting it."

…if encounter groups were to be effective vehicles of personal change, ‘Feelings not thought’ should be altered to ‘feelings, only with thought.’

Emancipated in social group... guilt assuaged.

“The individual is emancipated in the social group.” “Freud commented that only through the solidarity of all the participants could the sense of guilt be assuaged.” Norman O. Brown Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History

“It is not individualism that fulfills the individual, on the contrary it destroys him. Society is the necessary framework through which freedom and individuality are made realities… only in a socialist society.” Karl Marx

Personal needs met from groups mutual trust and respect:

"Members must develop a feeling of mutual trust and respect and must come to value the group as an important means of meeting their personal needs." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Self-esteem... public esteem system:

"The self-esteem—public esteem system is thus closely related to the concept of group cohesiveness. We have said that the degree of group’s influence on self-esteem is a function of its cohesiveness." Irvin D. Yalom Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Deviant behavior redefined:

"It is important that the therapist attempt to screen out patients who will become marked deviants, deviants because of their interpersonal behavior in the group sessions and not because of a deviant life style or past history." "There is no type of past behavior too deviant for a group to accept once therapeutic group norms are established.… the patient with a homosexual orientation often adds breadth and depth to the group." "... the deviant … correlates very highly with negative outcome: a member deemed by the others … to be ‘out’ of the group has virtually no chance of benefiting from the group and a strong chance of suffering harm." "The successful leader … reinforces each member’s activity … escort the deviant back into the group, and he discourages the development of scapegoating and judgmentalism." "One of the most difficult patients for me to work with in groups is the individual who employs fundamentalist religious views in the service of denial." "Communication toward a deviant is very great initially and then drops off sharply as the group rejects the deviant. Eventually, the group will extrude the deviant. They may smile at one another when he speaks or behaves irrelevantly; they will mascot him, they will ignore him rather than invest the necessary time to understand his interventions." (Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy)

"A group which reaches an autonomous decision based on a thorough exploration of the pertinent problems will employ all of its resources in support of its decision: Members must develop a feeling of mutual trust and respect and must come to value the group as an important means of meeting their personal needs. Once a member realizes that others accept him and are trying to understand him, then he finds it less necessary to hold rigidly to his own beliefs; and he may be willing to explore previously denied aspects of himself. One of the most fascinating aspects of group therapy is that everyone is born again, born together in the group. He must help the patient solidify the change and he must encourage generalization of the change, from the group setting into the patient’s larger life environment. How can one propose crisp, basic guidelines for a procedure which has such complexity, such range, such delicate timing, so many linguistic nuances. … herein lies the art of psychotherapy; it will come to the therapist as he gains experience; … As the comments become more complex and more inferential, the author of the comments becomes more removed from the other person; in short, more a therapist process-commentator. [The patient] bears the responsibility for the creation of his world, and therefore, the responsibility for the transmutation of this world. … the patient with a homosexual orientation often adds breadth and depth to the group."
"The ‘third force’ in psychology … which emphasized a holistic, humanistic concept of the person, provided impetus and form to the encounter group …" "Theroeticians—Freudian, Sullivanian, Horneyan, Rogerian —explored the application of their conceptual framework to group therapy theory and practice." "With the advent of the object relations and the interpersonal systems of conceptualizing psychopathology … have come rudimentary attempts to classify individuals according to interpersonal styles of relating." Irvin D. Yalom Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Ervin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"Working through the resistances to change is the key to the production of change" Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

"Unfreezing. This term, also adopted from Lewinian change theory, refers to the process of disconfirming an individual's former belief system." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

"He reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. . . . the patient changes the past by reconstituting it." " . . . a patient might, with further change, outgrow . . . his spouse . . . unless concomitant changes occur in the spouse." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

"Freud referred to ... the group’s ‘need to be governed by unrestricted force . . . it’s extreme passion for authority . . . it’s thirst for obedience.’ Among the strongest of these is man’s need for an omnipotent, omniscient, omnicaring parent, which together with his infinite capacity for self-deception creates a yearning for and a belief in a superbeing." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

"The familiar must be made strange; many common props, social conventions, status symbols, and ordinary procedural rules are eliminated from the T-group, and the individual's values and beliefs about himself are challenged." Irvin Yalom, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

In the group not only must the individual strive for autonomy but the leader must be willing to allow him to do so. … an individual’s behavior cannot be fully understood without an appreciation of his environmental press. …one member’s behavior is not understandable out of context of the entire group. …there is no more important issue than the interrelationship of the group members. … few individuals, as Asch has shown, can maintain their objectivity in the face of apparent group unanimity; and the individual rejects critical feelings toward the group at this time to avoid a state of cognitive dissonance. To question the value or activities of the group, would be to thrust himself into a state of dissonance. Long cherished but self-defeating beliefs and attitudes may waver and decompose in the face of a dissenting majority. One of the most difficult patients for me to work with in groups is the individual who employs fundamentalist religious views in the service of denial. The ‘third force’ in psychology … which emphasized a holistic, humanistic concept of the person, provided impetus and form to the encounter group … The patient reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. … the patient changes the past by reconstituting it. The therapist assists the patient to clarify the nature of the imagined danger and then … to detoxify, to disconfirm the reality of this danger. By shifting the group’s attention from ‘then-and-there’ to ‘here-and-now’ material, he performs a service to the group … focusing the group upon itself. Members must develop a feeling of mutual trust and respect and must come to value the group as an important means of meeting their personal needs. Once a member realizes that others accept him and are trying to understand him, then he finds it less necessary to hold rigidly to his own beliefs; and he may be willing to explore previously denied aspects of himself. Patients should be encouraged to take risks in the group; such behavior change results in positive feedback and reinforcement and encourages further risk-taking. Members learn about the impact of their behavior on the feelings of other members. …a patient might, with further change, outgrow … his spouse … unless concomitant changes occur in the spouse.

Source: Irvin Yalom, Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"… few individuals, as Asch has shown, can maintain their objectivity [their belief] in the face of apparent group unanimity; and the individual rejects critical feelings toward the group at this time to avoid a state of cognitive dissonance. To question the value or activities of the group, would be to thrust himself into a state of dissonance. Long cherished but self-defeating beliefs and attitudes may waver and decompose in the face of a dissenting majority. Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Therapy

"If an individual wishes to maintain a position of arbitrary authority, then it behooves him to inhibit the development of any rules permitting reciprocal process observation and commentary." "the therapist … is the group historian, only he is permitted to maintain a temporal perspective, and he remains immune from the charge that he … elevates himself above the others." Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"… new models are … acquired subtly, as a result of overt or covert suggestion, unconscious identification with the therapist, corrective emotional experiences … operant conditioning via implicit or explicit expressions of his approval or disapproval." Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"Eventually, the group will extrude the deviant.…deviant because of their interpersonal behavior in the group sessions and not because of a deviant life style or past history.…communication toward a deviant is very great initially and then drops off sharply as the group rejects the deviant. They may smile at one another when he speaks or behaves irrelevantly; they will mascot him, they will ignore him rather than invest the necessary time to understand his interventions." Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"Freud referred to as the group’s ‘need to be governed by unrestricted force . . . it’s extreme passion for authority . . . it’s thirst for obedience.’" "Among the strongest of these is man’s need for an omnipotent, omniscient, omnicaring parent, which together with his infinite capacity for self-deception creates a yearning for and a belief in a superbeing." Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"There is no type of past behavior too deviant for a group to accept once therapeutic group norms are established." Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"… deviants because of their interpersonal behavior in the group sessions and not because of a deviant life style or past history." ibid

"…the therapist is the living personification of all parental images, Group therapists refuse to fill the traditional authority role: they do not lead in the ordinary manner, they do not provide answers and solutions, they urge the group to explore and to employ its own resources. [It is] essential … that the group feel free to confront the therapist, who must not only permit, but encourage, such confrontation." (Yalom)

"The person who comments on process sets himself apart from the others; he is viewed with suspicion as ‘not one of us.’" (Yalom)

"The current generation is the first in the history of the world which has nothing to learn from grandparents;" (Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy)

“The person must be helped to reexamine many cherished assumptions about himself and his relations to others.” “The familiar must be made strange; many common props, social conventions, status symbols, and ordinary procedural rules are eliminated ..., and the individual’s values and beliefs about himself are challenged.” " Irvin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"To question the value or activities of the group, would be to thrust himself into a state of dissonance. Long cherished but self-defeating beliefs and attitudes may waver and decompose in the face of a dissenting majority.... The patient reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. … the patient changes the past by reconstituting it." "By shifting the group’s attention from ‘then-and-there’ [the family] to ‘here-and-now’ [the group] material, he performs a service to the group … focusing the group upon itself. Members must develop a feeling of mutual trust and respect and must come to value the group as an important means of meeting their personal needs. Once a member realizes that others accept him and are trying to understand him, then he finds it less necessary to hold rigidly to his own beliefs; and he may be willing to explore previously denied aspects of himself. Patients should be encouraged to take risks in the group; such behavior change results in positive feedback and reinforcement and encourages further risk-taking. Members learn about the impact of their behavior on the feelings of other members. …a patient might, with further change, outgrow … his spouse … unless concomitant changes occur in the spouse. " Irvin Yalom

Ervin Yalom Theory and Practice and Group Psychotherapy

"What better way to help the patient recapture the past than to allow him to reexperience and reenact ancient feelings toward parents in his current relationship to the therapist? The therapist is the living personification of all parental images. Group therapists refuse to fill the traditional authority role: they do not lead in the ordinary manner, they do not provide answers and solutions, they urge the group to explore and to employ its own resources. The group [must] feel free to confront the therapist, who must not only permit, but encourage, such confrontation. He [the patient] reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. … the patient changes the past by reconstituting it."

"A group which reaches an autonomous decision based on a thorough exploration of the pertinent problems will employ all of its resources in support of its decision: Members must develop a feeling of mutual trust and respect and must come to value the group as an important means of meeting their personal needs. Once a member realizes that others accept him and are trying to understand him, then he finds it less necessary to hold rigidly to his own beliefs; and he may be willing to explore previously denied aspects of himself. One of the most fascinating aspects of group therapy is that everyone is born again, born together in the group. He must help the patient solidify the change and he must encourage generalization of the change, from the group setting into the patient’s larger life environment. How can one propose crisp, basic guidelines for a procedure which has such complexity, such range, such delicate timing, so many linguistic nuances. … herein lies the art of psychotherapy; it will come to the therapist as he gains experience; … As the comments become more complex and more inferential, the author of the comments becomes more removed from the other person; in short, more a therapist process-commentator. [The patient] bears the responsibility for the creation of his world, and therefore, the responsibility for the transmutation of this world. … the patient with a homosexual orientation often adds breadth and depth to the group."