Social Unconscious in Persons, Groups, and Societies

Earl Hopper, PhD, is a psychoanalyst, group analyst, certified group therapist, and organisational consultant in private practice in London. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, an Honorary Member of the Group Analytic Society International, and an Honorary Member of the Institute of Group Analysis, he is a supervisor and training analyst for many psychotherapy organizations in England. He is alos a former President of the International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP), and a former Chairman of the Association of Independent Psychoanalysts of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Haim Weinberg is a Californian and Israeli licensed psychologist and group analyst. He is Past-president of the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society and the Israeli Association of Group Psychotherapy. He is the director of an international doctorate program in psychology with an emphasis on group psychotherapy at the Professional School of Psychology, Sacramento, California, where he serves as the academic Vice President.

'This outstanding collection of essays from clinicians and academics of international renown in the fields of group analysis, psychoanalysis, and sociology, addresses the social unconscious in depth and breadth. Especially important is the focus on theory as well as illustrations of it in reference to Europe and the Middle East.'- Frances Griffiths, group analyst and executive coach, and chair of the Board of Trustees, Institute of Group Analysis, UK'A great book! A very productive international scientific team provides us with the state-of-the-art theory of the social unconscious, as well as timely illustrations of it, with special reference to peoples and societies in the Middle East. In the tradition of Norbert Elias and S.H. Foulkes, this highly civilised book is a working tool for scientists and a fascinating, informative text for students and colleagues alike.'- Pieter Hutz, diploma sociologist, training group analyst, and chair of Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Gruppenanalyse und Gruppenpsychotherapie'With new perspectives and further conceptualisation of the social unconscious and the foundation matrix, this volume combines in-depth theoretical discussions with empirical studies and analyses, which contribute to an enhanced understanding of the concepts and their applications - not least to the complex socio-political processes of peoples and societies in the Middle East. Well written by authors of high international standing in the field of group analysis, their contributions will be important for my colleagues in the world of group psychotherapy and the study of group processes.'- Thor Kristian Island, MD, psychiatrist, group analyst, former director of the Institute of Group Analysis, Norway, and member of the board of the International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes'Once again, the scope and richness of the social unconscious is revealed. In weaving together many theoretical threads from group analysis, psychoanalysis, and sociology, the study of the matrix is indeed extended and re-configured. Essential hypotheses are illustrated. The importance of patterns of non-verbal communication is recognised. This book is essential for the formation of scholars and clinicians.'- Carla Penna, PhD, psychoanalyst, group analyst in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and past president of the Brazilian Association of Group Psychotherapy

• Introduction -- Theory -- The concepts of the social unconscious and of the matrix in the work of S. H. Foulkes -- The fluid and the solid—or the dynamic and the static: some further thoughts about the conceptualisation of foundation matrices, processes of the social unconscious, and/or large group identities -- The national habitus: steps towards reintegrating sociology and group analysis -- The inner organisation of the matrix -- Non-Verbal Communication -- The unbearable appeal of totalitarianism and the collective self: an inquiry into the social nature of non-verbal communication -- The musical foundation matrix: communicative musicality as a mechanism for the transmission and elaboration of co-created unconscious social processes -- Empirical Studies of the Social Unconscious and the Dynamic and Foundation Matrices of Middle Eastern Peoples and Societies -- The social unconscious of Israeli Jews: described and analysed by an Israeli living in North America -- “Black holes” as a collective defence against shared fears of annihilation in a small therapy group and in its contextual society -- The social unconscious of the Palestinian people -- “After the last sky”:* Palestine, Palestinians, social memory -- The social unconscious of the Egyptian people: an application of some of the ideas of Bion and Klein -- Fundamental terror of ISIS: the story of a reversed family -- Epilogue