The Impact of the “Troubles” on Therapy Groups in Northern Ireland

Authors: Rice C.A.¹; Kapur R.²

Source: Group, Volume 26, Number 3, September 2002 , pp. 247-264(18)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Since September 11, 2001, terrorism has become familiar to us. The word itself rolls readily off our lips and we wonder about, and struggle with, the lasting consequences of that late summer day. In this paper we speak about thirty-four years of civil strife and terrorism in Northern Ireland. We examine the traumatic impact of that chronic strife on the therapy groups in Northern Ireland. Specifically we examine its impact on therapy groups-as-a-whole, on therapy group members and their interactions with each other, and on the group therapists who lead those groups. A brief review of the history of the strife and its impact on the citizenry precedes these central discussions. We conclude with suggestions about how we may use specially designed groups to enable therapists to address those effects in their groups. Some of these suggestions are already underway.

Keywords: group therapy; trauma; civil strife and chronic trauma; intergroup conflict; civil strife and group therapy; group therapists and trauma

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: President and a Co-Founder of the Boston Institute for Psychotherapy, on the faculty of Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital, Private Practice. Director and Clinical Psychologist with Threshold and Course Director of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training at the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. 23 Briarwood Circle Needham, Massachusetts 02494; cecilrice@attbi.com 2: Director and Clinical Psychologist with Threshold and Course Director of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training at the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland

Publication date: 2002-09-01