A KLEINIAN ANALYSIS OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Michael J. Stiers, Ph.D.

Various theoretical models have been used to study stages of group development. This
paper analyzes the early phases of a therapy group using Melanie Klein's theory of
developmental positions. In discussing the underlying forces that contribute to the
evolution of the group, a special emphasis is placed on Klein's concept of projective
identification and Bion's containment model.

Numerous studies (Bennis & Shcppard, 1956; Kaplan & Roman, 1963; Schutz, 1958;
Tuckman, 1965; Yalom, 1970} have identified stages of group development. While each
study reports a somewhat differing set of stages, all agree on the general character of such
sequences. Each study contains a phase of dependence on the leader, a phase of rebellion and
turning away from the leader, and a phase in which group members turn toward each other.
In recent years several investigators (Anderson, 1984;Kepner, 1980; Pedigo & Singer,
3982) have used specific theoretical models in an attempt to identify underlying forces that
contribute to group development, Pedigo and Singer (1982) discuss phases of group
development from the perspective of psychoanalytic theory. They suggest that the evolution
of a group parallels the psychosexual stages of individual development. Anderson (1984)
applies an analysis of group development based on the theories of humanistic psychology. He
argues that groups evolve in a manner that leads to the self-actualization of its members.
Kepner (1980) views group development from the holistic perspective of gestalt psychology,
seeing an evolution in the group toward greater individual freedom, discipline, and social
responsibility.
The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the developmental sequence that takes place
in the early stages of a therapy group from a Kleinian perspective. Although several group
theorists (Bion, 1961; Ezriel, 1950; Foulkes & Anthony, 1957) have been influenced by the
work of Melanie Klein, an analysis of group development based on Klein's theory (.Segal,
1979, 1981) of developmental positions appears to be absent from the literature. A
progression along these lines was suggested by Alonso and Rutan (1984) and
Ganzarain(1983), however, neither study has as its focus the analysis of group development.
In the present paper, a special emphasis is placed on the concepts of projective identification
(Klein, 1946) and containment (Bion, 1962).

_____________________________________

Michael J. Stiers, Ph.D., is on the faculty of the Group Psychotherapy Training Program at the Washington
School of Psychiatry and is an associate of the Washington-Baltimore Center, A.K. Rice Institute. Address
correspondence to: Michael J. Stiers. Ph.D., 1616 18th St.. NW, #112, Washington. DC 20009.

GROUP, Volume 11, Number 2, Summer 1987, Brunner/Mazcl, Inc. /67

1
 THE PARANOID-SCHIZOID AND DEPRESSIVE POSITIONS

Bion (1961) was the first theorist to apply Klein's analysis of early mental life to the
unconscious regressive phenomena observed in groups. Bion argues that Freuds
conceptualization of the family as the prototype of group behavior was incomplete in that it
left out the source of the main emotional drives in the group. He states that "the central
position in group dynamics is occupied by the more primitive mechanisms that Melanie Klein
has described as peculiar to the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions" (Bion, 1961, p.
188).
Melanie Klein (Segal, 1979,1981) describes two stages within the oral stage which she calls
the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive positions. Presented succinctly, in the paranoid-
schizoid position, the infant has no concept of a person. He relates to part-objects primarily
the breast. He also experiences no ambivalence. His object is split into an ideal and
persecutory one, and the prevalent anxiety at that stage is of a persecutory nature, the fear that
the persecutors may invade and destroy the self and the ideal object. The aim of the infant is
to acquire, possess, and identify with the ideal object and to project and keep at bay both the
bad objects and his own destructive impulses. Splitting, introjection, and projection are very
active mechanisms of defense. (Segal, 1981, p. 11)
Another important mechanism involved in the paranoid-schizoid position is that of
projective identification. This mechanism plays a major role in our conceptualization of group
behavior and, therefore, will be discussed in greater detail later in this paper.
The depressive position begins when the infant has achieved sufficient maturation to
recognize the mother as a whole object. As opposed to the earlier stage in which the mother
was seen as a collection of anatomical parts split into good and bad objects, the infant now
sees the mother as a whole person with an independent existence, who is the source of both
good and bad experiences. With the integration of the object, there is a corresponding
integration of the self, so that the infant realizes that he, as a separate entity, both loves and
hates the same person, his mother. The infant now experiences ambivalence in his object
relations, which changes the content of his anxieties from the previous dread of being
destroyed by persecutors to the fear that his own aggression will destroy the ambivalently
loved object. Since fantasies are felt to be omnipotent for the infant at this stage, he is
exposed to the experience that his aggression has destroyed the mother, resulting in feelings
of guilt, loss of the loved object, and mourning.
It is the capacity to hold on to depressive anxiety, which is the anxiety over harm done by
the self to one's good object, that promotes feelings of responsibility, attempts at reparation,
and the development of creativity. If the infant does not develop a sufficient capacity to deal
with depressive anxiety, he or she remains dominated by the more primitive persecutory
anxiety.
For the adult, the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions correspond to two types of ego
and object-relation organization. Individuals throughout their lives oscillate between these
two states of internal organization, and it is (………………………)
As mentioned earlier, Bion postulates that only by recognizing the role played by the
primitive defense mechanisms identified by Klein in her description of the paranoid-schizoid
position could the dynamics of the groups be fully understood. In addition to her assertion
that splitting, projection and introjection are active defense mechanisms in the paranoid-
schizoid position Klein introduce another mechanism, projective identification. Horowitz
(1983) points out that Bion “made the concept into a cornerstone of group behavior” (p. 259).
For this reason, projective identification, along with the related concept of containment, will
be discussed in greater detail.

2
 PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION AND CONTAINMENT

In this section, we attempt to emphasize the importance of projective identification and

containment as basic explanatory concepts which enables us to comprehend the complexity of
interpersonal dynamics observed in groups.
Klein (1946) defines projective identification “as splitting of parts of the self and projecting
them into another person” (p. 103). She adds later that this results in a “feeling of
identification with the other person because one has attributed qualities or attributes of one’s
own to them” (Klein, 1955, p. 58). Zinner and Shapiro (1972) emphasize the importance of
realizing that the ego does not simply dissociate itself from the projected part, but rather,
under the effects of projective identification, aims to forcefully enter into the external object
and control it.
Horowitz (1983) elaborates on this point by delineating two general processes that take
place when projective identification is in operation. The first deals with the effect on the
subject who is using the mechanism. The second process concerns the external object who is
the target of the mechanism.
In the (………………) subject project good or bad parts of the self or the whole self into an
external object. Horowitz explains, however, that “in contrast to straight projection, a variety
of other motives are involved in the process, over and beyond ridding oneself of unacceptable
impulses” (Horowitz, 1983, pp. 262-263). He suggests, as an example, that primitive envy of
the object’s idealized qualities may lead the subject to project his/her bad corrosive qualities
into the object in order to spoil or devalue the perceived qualities. Another example is the
wish for re-fusion with the object when the subject is faced with separation anxieties. Since
the subject can reintroject the content previously projected into the external object, this results
in a feeling of identification with the object.
In the latter process, attention is drown to the effect of the external object, who becomes the
repository for unwanted contents. Horowitz explains that in this part of the process,
projections emanating from the subject enter into the object and become fused with the object
characteristics. In effect, the external object begins to take on characteristics of the subject.
The targeted person can have the experience of being manipulated by someone else’s
fantasies. In essence, projective identification in one person not only can evoke feelings but
also can lead to behaviors in the other than conform with the subject’s perceptions or wishes.
In applying this concept to groups, Bion (1961) identifies projective identification as the
underlying mechanism that explains the emergence of his well-known basic assumptions.
Taking the basic assumptions, dependency, as an example, he postulates that members split
off idealized internal objects and (……………..)
Grinberg (1973) observes that projective identification operates (…….) members and is an
important covert process underlying the roles (that) members of group may take. He
elaborates on this by pointing out that roles in a group develop as a “response to the contents
of the unconscious phantasies projected by each participant the role every other. Each
member will cling to the role (that) has been assigned provided that such a role complies with
his own phantasies. On the other hand, each participant will lay on the others those aspects
which, for various reasons, he dares not acknowledge as his own” (p. 149). One’s role in the
group, thus, results from a collusive process originating from the projections of members of
the group into an individual and completed by the acceptance of that role by recipient of the
projections.
Horwitz (1983) focuses on the effects of projective identification on the target object of the
projections in explaining the emergence of spokespersons as a scapegoats in small groups. In
the spokesperson phenomenon wherein the member expresses the dominant theme for the
group, Horwitz suggests that a reciprocal process takes place between the target persons

3
conflicts and character style and the group’s dominant need at a given time. He points out that
“group’s quickly learn which members are best able to express anger, who can deal most
comfortably with closeness and libidinal attraction, and who can experience dependency with
a minimum of conflict” (Horwitz, 1983, p. 271). At any given time, projections emanating
from the group members can become fused with characteristics of the targeted individual,
frequently, resulting in this person expressing the desired but threatening impulse for the
group.
A similar process takes place in the case of the scapegoat who ends up being the carrier of
unwanted affects or split-off internal objects of other group members. Horwitz warns that
these patients are often castigated, ridiculed, or even excluded from the group.
Scheidlinger (1974) suggests that the group itself may become a target of process similar to
projective identification. He proposes that members may view the group entity as a maternal
object, resulting in projections into the group-as-a-whole and identification with it.
Ganzarian (1977) adds a fourth target of projective mechanisms, which he refers to as “an
outgroup or an outsider.” He proposes that an object who is not a member of the group can
become an ideational repository of several elements of the psychic life of the group members.
An example of this can be seen in the case of a group member discussing his or her spouse.
The group may collude to develop an image of the spouse which has characteristics of the
split-off parts or affects of the group members.
In our current discussion of projective identification, two functions of the mechanism have
been identified. The first function is to serve as a “defense” to rid the self of unwanted parts.
The second function is as a “means of control” in relation to external objects.
Waddell (1981) proposes a third function of projective identification, which is as a “form of
communication”. This notion is based on Bion’s (1962) concept of containment. Bion offers a
model of container/contained as an extension of the concept of projective identification. The
model is based on the notion of the mother as a container for the infant’s projected feelings,
needs, or unwanted parts. It indicates that the mother, through a particular state of mind called
“reverie”, can be open and ready to take in and reflect upon what the baby projects into her.
She than empathically conveys back to the baby the (……………………………..)
(………………………………….) infants identification with the mother’s containing
function that enables an individual to be open to the emotional impact of new experiences
without being disturbed by them. As a result, a person develops a growing capacity to tolerate
ambivalence and conflict within oneself. If the capacity for containment is not sufficiently
developed in an individual, the person is limited in his or her ability to tolerate painful,
conflictual, or novel experiences.
Bion (1962) implies that the therapeutic process serves as a corrective experience, in which
patients project impulses and parts of themselves into the therapist, who, in turn, may be able
to feel and understand these experiences. If the therapist can tolerate these experiences and
interpret them, providing a containment function, the patients can begin to tolerate their
disowned feelings and split-off parts. The patients gradually develop a greater capacity for
containment within themselves, diminishing the pressure to project into others unwanted parts
of themselves.
James (1984) applies the model of container/contained to therapy groups suggesting that in
the group situation, patients are able to use not only the therapist but each other as containers
for intolerable aspects of themselves. Patients will find, either in the therapist or another
group member, a person who can tolerate some unbearable part of themselves. The
experience of seeing these unacceptable parts of the self borne, tolerated, and eventually
understood by others begins to allow each patient to reown and tolerate his or her previously
projected parts. This brings each patient nearer to the depressive position, that is, to the state
of being an integrated self in relation to an integrated object.

4
 CLINICAL ILLUSTRATIONS

The theoretical concepts just presented form the basis for analyzing the course of
development in a time-limited therapy group. The therapy group met on a weekly basis for 1
year. Each session was 90 minutes. The present author was the sole therapist for the group.
Each session after the first group meeting was tape-recorded. There were five women and
four men in the group. Their ages ranged from early twenties to mid-forties. The patients
were diagnosed as either neurotic or having personality disorders. Education level was some
college or higher. The patients were employed in professional occupations. Each patient's
presenting problem involved a moderate-to-serious difficulty in some aspect of interpersonal
functioning, this being, in the majority of cases, the failure to establish or maintain a
satisfying intimate dyadic relationship. Each patient was either in concurrent individual
therapy or had had previous individual psychotherapy.
Each member met with the therapist individually before entering the group. Patients were
informed that it would be unlikely that the therapist would give individual attention to any
member of the group. A summary of the rationale of the treatment (….) five conditions
believed to facilitate group treatment were sent to the patients by mail. The rationale stated,
"Psychological problems in living can most often be seen, as reflecting a basic difficulty in
establishing and maintaining mutually satisfying relationships with other people.
Furthermore, group psychotherapy provides group members with the opportunity to examine
intensively their relationships with one another and to learn from the results." Other points
summarized concerned confidentiality limiting outside contacts, commitment to the group for
at least 12 sessions.
(………………………) was being done to him and other within the group and to
(………….) manner that he believed would facilitate the exploration of these unconscious
processes by the group members. The aim was to help each member reinternalize split-off
parts of the self that had been externalized through the use of projective identification and
other defense mechanisms.
A retrospective examination of the course of group treatment resulted in two major
observations. The first observation is that in relation to thematic content, the group passed
through a developmental progression similar to the sequence described by Yalom (1970).
Yalom suggests that in the early phases of therapy, groups go through three recognizable
stages before emerging as a fully developed work group. He designates these stages: "in-out,"
"top-bottom," and "near-far." In the "in-out" phase, there is a great dependence on the leader.
Attention is drawn to the boundaries that separate what is inside from what is outside the
group. Concerns center around issues of joining, commitment and establishing cohesion. In
the "top-bottom" phase, the central issues become dominance, control, and power, with an
emergence of hostility toward the therapist. In the "near-far" phase, the chief concerns are
related to intimacy and closeness. The major conflicts have to do with either not feeling close
enough to people or with feeling too intimate. Sexual secrets are, frequently, shared and long-
buried transgressions disclosed.
The second major observation is that a perceived shift occurred in the group, from a level of
functioning analogous to the ego and object-relation organization of the paranoid-schizoid
position to a level of functioning analogous to the depressive position. Although oscillations
between the two levels of organization occurred throughout the life of the group, there
appeared to be a growing, capacity to reflect upon and integrate emotional experiences.
The following illustrations, taken from therapy sessions, are aimed at clarifying this
emerging process in the group.

5
 “
ln-Out" Phase—Paranoid-Schizoid Level of Organization

The "in-out" phase of the group seemed to last for roughly 12 sessions. It should be recalled
that members had agreed to commit themselves to staying in the group for at least this
number of sessions before deciding whether or not group therapy was for them. Although
other issues were raised during this initial phase, the central focus seemed to be on the
boundary that separated what was inside the group from what was outside. Comparisons were
made between feelings inside and outside the sessions, loyalties to relationships outside
versus loyalty to the group, etc. The central conflict was acted out around commitment to
treatment for the 1-year period. If any cohesion began to develop, one or more members
would invariably question their willingness to stay within the group. These people would
become the focus of conversation. Other members would attempt to coerce them into staying.
If they made a verbal commitment to stay, it was only a short time before another member or
subgroup would form, questioning his or her or their willingness to remain within the group.
On an emotional level the sessions were filled with an unsettling anxiety. Members
frequently spoke of feelings of unreality. Quick, angry interactions were followed by loud
laughter, seeming to be a parody of intense emotional interactions. Members complained of
feelings of emptiness. One female member (…………………………………) members talked
openly about longings for nurturance and brought up childhood fears of drowning and
smothering. The therapist was referred to as the "oracle who made enigmatic pronouncements
from on high”, leaving the group in a "fog." A magical significance was given to the 12th
session. There was an irrational belief that something miraculous would happen during that
session. .
If there were a transition point, it did seem to occur during this 12th session. As the group
began, one member who was absent the previous session was confronted about her
commitment to staying. She replied that she was "waiting to.ee if the miracle occurs." The
discussion then focused on another female member who talked about how helpless she had
been feeling since having gotten a new job and a new apartment, adding that she was "just
going nuts inside." Around the mid-point of the session, the group focused on the member
who had been the least vocal person for the first 11 sessions. He stated that he and the group
were "irrelevant and that nothing mattered." As the session progressed, he sounded
increasingly irrational. The other members felt unable to help him and, instead, focused .on
the "miracle" that was supposed to happen.
The issues that dominated interactions during these first 12 sessions appeared to be similar
to those observed by Yalom (1970). However, in regard to the degree of anxiety and the level
of ego and object-relation organization, the group conformed to Bion's (1961) depiction of an
"extremely early primal scene"'(p. 164). This is not unlike the observation of other authors
who have recounted profound regressions in small groups. Kernberg (1976) notes that “in
certain group situations without precise role definitions or a clear-cut external task, primitive
defenses, primitive object-relations and… even deep personal conflicts may surface rapidly"
(p. 250).
In the present group, we propose that a similar profound and rapid regression led to the
release of repressed or dissociated primitive internal object relations with the corresponding
defenses of splitting and projective identification. The group became a confusing and
frightening place because, for each member, it contained elements of very early object
relations. Put another way, to defend against the anxiety brought about by the rapid release of
repressed or dissociated material, each member split off parts of himself and projected them
into thee therapist, other group members, the group as an entity, and representational objects.
From the vantage point of any given member, parts of himself were experienced as residing
within those external objects. These objects, at times, may have been perceived as threatening

6
devouring or attacking, and, at other times, nurturing, omniscient and omnipotent.
Viewed from this perspective, the themes, that arose in the first 12 sessions may contain
elements of primitive unconscious material. The preoccupation with the boundary which
separates what was inside from what is outside the group may contain dynamic aspects
related to the member’s confusion regarding personal ego boundaries. In the regressed state,
under the influence of projective identification, a blurring of ego boundaries can result from
the perception that parts of the self are residing in various external objects.
The vascillation by various members as to whether they would stay or leave the group may
be a visible manifestation group members, using projective identification, to place "bad" parts
of themselves into designated members, hoping to rid themselves of these "bad" parts by
pushing targeted individuals out of the group. Another possibility is that by
(…………………………………………………..) that members at times sought to take
flight from the perceived devouring object. At other times, due to the members identifying
with the group-as-an-entity, the threat of several members leaving the group may have raised
primitive fears related to a fragmentation of the ego and a depletion of the self.
The dependency on the leader is clearly observable in the 12th session in that, by splitting
and projective identification, the group members placed the ' ;bad objects'' into the "silent
member" and the "primitive idealized objects" into the therapist. The "miracle" that was being
demanded was for the idealized therapist to magically rid the group of its "badness."

“Top-Bottom'' Phase—Emergence of Depressive Anxieties

After the 12th session, the focus of the group shifted from "in-out" issues to "top-bottom"
concerns, that is, issues of control, dominance, and power. Again, these were not the only
issues present, but they seemed to predominate. More sustained anger was present. Members
accused each other of trying to control the group or trying to “get an upper hand." Outside
relationships brought into the group focused on controlling mothers, dominating fathers, and
supervisors at work. There was a discussion as to whether the therapist should be called Dr.
or by his first name. There were also references to how the therapist maintained power by his
silence or was manipulating the group by his comments. For the majority of the patients,
anger was denied and projected into two particular members who took the roles of the "angry
man" and the "aggressive bitch." In relation to the members' position vis-a-vis the therapist,
they consistently saw themselves as being mistreated. This was also the perception when
outside events were brought into the group. What needs to be emphasized is that the central
dynamic present was the need for each member to see himself or herself as the "victim," that
is, the recipient of aggressive impulses.
Sessions 22 and 23 seemed to mark the transition period between this phase and the next. In
session 22, the therapist was verbally attacked by the "angry man" for needlessly interrupting
important interactions among members. The other group members reacted with excitement
and laughter. For the remainder of the session, the therapists comments were ignored or
ridiculed.
The next session began with the "angry man" asking, "What were we talking about the last
time? Power?" A female member answered. "Either power or hierarchies." This was
immediately followed by a discussion focusing on a public figure who had been murdered the
previous week. The victim happened to be a doctor. It became clear from the discussion that
the members of the group were consciously identifying with the murdered physician, splitting
off their own aggression and projecting it into the murderer with resulting feelings of fear and
anxiety.
This conscious identification with the "outgroup" victim served as a defense against the

7
split-off aggressive feelings toward the therapist, which were expressed through the
"spokesperson," the ''angry man," in the previous session. As this session proceeded, the
members brought the discussion back to the group by focusing on one patient whom they
accused of seeing everything as outside of himself, and as a result, feeling powerless and
frightened. At this point the therapist commented that this particular patient was not the only
(………………………………………………………………………………………………)
fears regarding anger, it was interpreted that the members had been (…..) aggressive and
hostile impulses as being outside of themselves and outside of the group, and that what they
were not acknowledging was their own anger at the therapist.
At the beginning of the next-session, several members stated that they thought about the
group all week but no one could remember what was discussed during the previous session.
The discussion focused on feelings of depression. At one point, one member began speaking
and another member angrily interrupted him to "cut the shit" and to "stop intellectualizing."
The accusing member, however, subsequently apologized, saying later in the session “Getting
angry at….. made me feel guilty, because he didn't deserve it. It was hard but it was
interesting that he didn't get terribly upset." The patient who had been the recipient of the
attack responded, "It hurt me, but I feel that I have enough of a connection with you ( the
other patient ), so I didn't get that you were disapproving of me as a person but rather you
didn't like what I was doing." This was the first time in the group that anyone apologized for
being hostile to another member. The most depressed member then became the focus of the
group. The theme became "the loss of the ability to care for others”.
At this point the therapist interpreted that the group members feared the therapist had lost
his ability to care for them because of their attack in the earlier session.
This material is interesting in light of Melanie Klein's theory concerning the depressive
position. As noted earlier: she postulates that during this phase, the infant recognizes the
mother as a whole object with a corresponding shift from the main anxiety of the paranoid-
schizoid position, the destruction of the self, to a fear of destroying the loved object through
one's own destructive impulses. The emotions experienced are depression and guilt, with
attempts at preparation.
Ganzarain (1977) suggests that two important conditions are necessary in the working
through of depressive anxieties. First, the object resiliency and its capacity to accept and
endure hate. Second, the object's capacity to allow for the repair of the damaging effects of
hate.
Both the emotional level and the themes of the group appeared quite different when
comparing the "in-out" phase to this “top-bottom" phase. Consequently, the capacity, of the
therapist and the patients to withstand and contain the aggression released and to accept
reparative gestures appeared to signal the transition to the next phase, "near-far."

"Near-Far” Phase—Working through Depressive Anxieties

In the "near-far”-phase of the group the chief concerns shifted from dominance and power
to intimacy and closeness. There was a noticeable increase of pairing within the group.
Outside interactions between pairs of group members were reported for the first time.
Divisions in the group developed along the lines of men versus women or "caring" versus
"noncaring" members. Sexual material was talked about with greater frequency, The main
wish expressed about the therapist was that he be less distant and relate to the group as a
member. Members began to address the therapist by his first name.
(………………………………………………) the period of depression. The 26th session

8
began with a female member reporting that one of her friends was raped by an old boyfriend,
One member of the group misheard the story, thinking the assailant and the victim were
strangers. No one else commented on this error and the discussion began to focus on the legal
implications involved in prosecuting rapists. This discussion, however, quickly deteriorated
into a shouting match between the "aggressive bitch" of the group and the "angry man." The
man accused the woman of hating men. Other men in the group also accused her of being
antagonistic toward males. The woman attempted to provide evidence to contradict these
accusations. Her protests had very little effect on the men. The female patients remained
silent. Finally, in exasperation, the woman cried out, "It doesn't matter what I say, you don't
listen. You're not going to listen. You have this view of me. It doesn't matter what I do, you're
still going to have the same reaction."
The therapist suggested that the group members were putting "good” feelings into certain
group members and angry, aggressive feelings into other group members. It became clear to
the group that they had divided two of the female members into the "nurturing madonna" and
the "aggressive bitch.'' It was then pointed out to the group that in the earlier discussion, the
rapist and the victim were not strangers but recent lovers and that no one picked up on this
fact. There was also evidence to suggest that the heated exchange that took place between the
two members within the group had elements off sexuality as well as aggression. The group, in
essence, had been dealing with ambivalent feelings by splitting libidinal and aggressive
affects and projecting them into targeted group members, creating stereotypes and polar
opposites. In subsequent sessions, other roles that bad developed in the group were discussed
and analyzed. Ambivalent feelings toward the therapist also emerged and were worked with.
During this stage, the group members were beginning to integrate their experience by
reowning projected parts of themselves and acknowledging ambivalent feelings toward each
other and the therapist. Ganzarain (1977) states, "Integration is one of the crucial effects of
the working through of the depressive position. It enables the combination of part objects into
images of whole objects. This allows for an integration of the self to take place
simultaneously by integrating the good and the bad aspects of the self, that is, the love and the
hate for the objects" (p. 445).
Although there were regressive periods in the remaining sessions of the group, there was a
definite lessening of splitting and the defensive use of projective identification. There was a
movement toward more genuine interactions and, as a result, the group became a "container"
where significant intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts were explored.

CONCLUSIONS

Various theoretical models have been used to study and explain stages of group
development The present paper uses Melanie Klein's theory of developmental positions and
Bion's model of containment to illustrate that primitive unconscious processes are not only
active during the early phases of a group but are essential underlying mechanisms for
empathic communication.
It is our belief that in the early phases of group development, patients and the therapist work
through schizoid-paranoid anxieties and eventually shift at the level of (…) object relation
organization of the depressive position.
(……………..) work with the primitive anxieties and aggressive feelings that inevitably
emerge in these early phases, the group then takes on a containment function. This creates a
supportive, facilitating environment where meaningful therapeutic work can occur.

9
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