Routledge From Psychoanalysis to Group Analysis: The Pioneering Work of Trigant Burrow (The New International Library of Group Analysis)

This volume gathers a selection of psychoanalytic and group analytic essays by Trigant Burrow (1875-1950), precursor of group analysis and co-founder of the American Psychoanalytic Association. They show the development of the relational orientation in psychoanalysis, and the origin and evolution of group analysis, namely, from drive to the relation and the group processes as the person's structure. The events that led Burrow from psychoanalysis to group analysis, the censorship of the psychoanalytic orthodoxy, the silence of group analysis and the distortions of historiography are reported in the editors' introductory essay. The book presents the richness and originality of the theoretic, clinical, and methodological themes developed by Burrow either in the psychoanalytic or the group analytic fields. Review "Trigant Burrow, philosopher of the mind and pioneer of group analysis, was a man ahead of his time. His revolutionary ideas on the social nature of the person and the healing properties of groups anticipated the work of later figures like S.H. Foulkes and many others, but jarred with the psychoanalytic establishment of the day, whose members edged him into obscurity. It has taken several decades for Burrow's voice to be heard again. Now, thanks to the rigorous and painstaking work of reconstruction by the authors of this book, his radical therapeutic techniques and his all-embracing optimism for group therapy have come to light with a relevance which astonishes. The authors have located Burrow in his social context through their compilation of essays and commentaries which bring him to life with refreshing veracity. Coupled with this they have faithfully reproduced his key papers, allowing the man to speak for himself. True to the spirit of group analysis, they have enabled the silence surrounding Burrow's work to be broken and in so doing they have advanced our understanding of the therapeutic nature of groups. At last, almost ninety years after his enlightened break with traditional psychoanalysis, Trigant Burrow has found champions for his beliefs. This is a book in which the past speaks to the future with prophetic wisdom."--Dr Harold Behr, consultant psychiatrist, training group analyst, Institute of Group Analysis, London, and former editor "Trigant Burrow is a forgotten pioneer of group and social psychology whose exploration of humankind's self-destructive tendencies is of the utmost relevance in today's world. In From Psychoanalysis to Group Analysis: The Pioneering Work of Trigant Burrow, Edi Gatti Pertegato and Giorgio Orghe Pertegato offer us an important reminder of Burrow's long-neglected research on group analysis, which embodied a social conception of human beings, a study of their interactive behavior within the community, and an innovative tool to overcome conflict in favour of cooperation and solidarity."--Steven Rosen, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, and member of the Board of Directors About the Author Edi Gatti Pertegato