But then certain events in the group would fan her major, smoldering concerns into anxious conflagration. At first, sometimes for weeks on end, Nancy would work comfortably on important but minor conflict areas. How were Nancy’s dynamics evoked and worked through in the social microcosm of the group? Slowly! It took time for these concerns to manifest themselves. She had long been sensitized to the breakup of nuclear units as a child she had felt it was her task to keep her volatile family together, and now as an adult she nurtured the fantasy that when she married, the various factions among her relatives would be permanently reconciled.
All of Nancy’s symptoms had been intensified by the threatened breakup of the small commune in which she lived. For example, Nancy, a young woman with borderline personality disorder, entered the group because of a disabling depression, a subjective state of disintegration, and a tendency to develop panic when left alone. And that in turn increases the likelihood that the central problematic issues of all the members will be evoked and addressed. The more spontaneous interaction there is, the more rapid and authentic will be the development of the social microcosm. Members shape their own microcosm, which in turn pulls characteristic defensive behavior from each. THE SOCIAL MICROCOSM: A DYNAMIC INTERACTION There is a rich and subtle dynamic interplay between the group member and the group environment. The subsequent course of Ed’s group therapy was greatly informed by his displaying his interpersonal pathology inside the group, and his therapy profited enormously from focusing exhaustively on his relationships with the other group members. The Social Microcosm: A Dynamic Interaction 41 ized attentions.
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