Psychoanalytic-interactional method and the Göttingen model of group psychotherapy

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Annelise Heigl-Evers, Franz Heigl, Ott · 1973 · Gottingen

What it is

Access caveat: This guide draws on the tables of contents, forewords, introductions and short reviews of the core books, plus one 1997 abstract. Their technique chapters are not drawn on. Wherever a step-level instruction below is not stated in the sources, it is tagged or.

Format

• No formal phase model exists. The Handbuch is organised as a sequence (preparation and education, then frame agreements, then treatment in the answering mode, then ending). It does not set phase goals or session-based transition criteria. The phases below follow that sequence, and the criteria for…
• A. Choosing the level (Göttingen three-level model). Heigl-Evers & Heigl (1973) graded psychodynamic group therapy by how much regression it promotes, matched to how severe the disorder is.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Secondary sources disagree on how Heigl-Evers' group-process levels map onto the three methods. These levels are normative behaviour regulation, psychosocial compromise formation and shared unconscious fantasy. Wikipedia DE attaches normative regulation to the interactional level. Check this against Heigl-Evers & Heigl 1978 before you teach it.
• Move on when (synthesis): the patient has heard and roughly accepts a working description of their problems as problems of relating and regulating; the safety and contact rules have been stated; and a first focus has been named.
• The therapist works in the answering mode, lends ego functions, works with affects and nonverbal behaviour, anticipates habitual patterns, and gives primacy to self-regulation and to progression.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• your own gratification, or defensive self-deprecation.
• the rule being used as a weapon ("you have to be open!").
• generic praise, which patients with structural problems often distrust.
• sounding fatalistic. Working when: the patient starts the anticipation themselves.
• siding with the patient against absent others, or with others against the patient.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.