Group Analysis in the Land of Milk and Honey

Book excerpt: Group Analysis in the Land of Milk and Honey is a collection of beautifully written clinical essays by group analysts in Israel - a society which suffers from chronic war and violence. Israeli group conductors share their experience and their special skills concerning the reflection of terror and existential anxiety in their group-analytic therapy groups. The topics range from the influence of society on the individual, the nature of the "group", combined individual and group therapy, groups with mentally ill and elderly patients, and coping with aggressive patients and the self-destructive processes that are ubiquitous in a society threatened with extinction. These group analysts discuss breaking of boundaries, "democracy in action", leadership, paternalism and fanatic identifications. The special place of Shoah survivors and of Arab and Jewish conflict make this book unique. The book conveys both the trauma and the creativity of Israeli society. The editors, Dr Robi Friedman and Yael Doron, represent different generations within the IIGA - the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis.