Emotional Incest in Group Psychotherapy

In recent years, observers have reported the incidence of ego dysfunction in some analytic, institute-trained group therapists and have noted the impact of this dysfunction on their delivery of treatment services to the groups that they run (Pepper, 1990; Temerlin & Temerlin, 1982). The research indicates that this ego dysfunction may be related to the group therapist’s participation in multiple role relationships with his or her own group therapist and his or her fellow group patients who are affiliated with the same institute. The goal of this article is to examine these multiple role relationships and to study their clinical and ethical effects. Further, the implications of these relationships for the delivery of treatment services to the general population of group therapy patients will be discussed. In this first section, multiple role relations between practicing group therapists will be described. The second section will explore their impact on patient-trainees. In the third section, the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational forces that sustain these relationships will be presented. In the final section, suggestions for reform will be offered.