Groups Are To Be Loved, Or Feared

Just back from a weekend group experience at a small college in western Massachusetts got me thinking about what it is about groups; why they can be so extremely powerful in either a positive or negative direction. People are not wrong to approach them with caution; what, exactly, are we getting ourselves into when we interact with strangers and allow ourselves to feel, and say, what's been on our minds in our previously-quiet isolation? With thanks to all the people who've ever uttered a sentence of true feeling in my presence over the past 39 years of my therapy work, here are some reflections.