Building empathic bridges
Cross-cultural ‘maternal’ attunement in group psychotherapy for immigrants and refugees
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14775233 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Victor L Schermer (0000-0001-7980-5984, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 226-243 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Group Analysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0533-3164 • E-ISSN: 1461-717X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0533316420978359 |
| OpenAlex | W3115371773 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
Today, the immigrant population is significantly increasing in many countries, and some therapists are convening groups specifically devoted to them. Therapy with immigrants requires maintaining the emotional connection between persons of different cultures. Since culture is initially transmitted in pre-verbal interactions between mothers and infants, the field of mother-infant research can be utilized to provide models for mutual attunement in group psychotherapy. A revised understanding of the ‘mother group’ is proposed in terms of actual observed interactions as complementary to the inferred group dynamics in theories of ‘the group as mother’. Consideration is given to how healthy attachment and collaboration can be facilitated in the group. Since many refugees and asylum seekers suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, special attention is given to the maternal function of containment with respect to traumatic enactments in groups
Attunement · Developmental psychology · Empathy · Group psychotherapy · Immigration · Population · Psychotherapist · Refugee · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |