El “radar” en un grupo terapéutico

Abstract

This study presents, briefly, the psycho - dynamic characteristics of the therapeutic group. It is pointed out that the collective psychological phenomenon is, in essence, qualitatively different from the individual psycho - therapeutic process, one of its principal aspects of differentiation being the characteristic that the members of a group fulfill roles and functions. The observation and study of this Particularity led the authors to discover a certain function of special interest because of the importance it has for the group and the utility of its knowledge and subsequent manipulation in the therapy. As it occurs in the individual, in the group, too, tendencies exist which are collectively repressed, which repression is not always successful and leads to situations of growing tension. It is especially in these situations that the “function” which is the motive of the present communication appears. The said role, played by one of the members of the group, who has been called the “radar” because of his “detective function”, consists in exposing the deep conflicts which provoke this state of tension. The “radar” function may be fulfilled by different members of the group, succesively, or repeatedly by one alone as it occurs in the sessions of the group which are covered by the present study, in order to facilitate its understanding. It is pointed out that this function, like others, is accomplished predominantly in an unconscious manner, and for this reason, is not always expressed through the means of verbalization. It may therefore happen that the “radar” shows what he has detected through an attitude, an affective state, a gesture, a. symptom, or the relating of a dream.
That which is detected by the “radar” and expressed in some of the ways described, is not always intelligible to the rest, nor even to himself; it is often necessary to interpret his information for it to be correctly understood.