Abstract

Group analysis (or group analytic psychotherapy) is a group psychotherapy technique. For group members, successful treatment in a group is also connected with the therapist’s preparatory tasks relating to group development, which primarily refers to the selection of group members and their preparation. The development of a group can be viewed through various stages of group development. Each subsequent stage of group development is shaped and built upon the successfully mastered previous stage. Early developmental failures will, therefore, become visible through further group existence and group dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to present the course of a group process and events in the group in relation to the exclusion of a suicidal member. The first part of the presentation refers to the exclusion of the member, while the second part includes a later group period when consequences referring to the slow dethronement of the conductor and the slow working of the negative part of transference are still present, in addition to the development of the scapegoat phenomenon. The dethronement of the conductor, the working of the aggressive/negative part of transference and finding of a scapegoat are characteristics of the second phase of group development, which in this case was prolonged.