The concept of parallel processes in educational and therapeutic groups

Abstract

This paper describes a model of parallel processes in small groups that occur under certain conditions as unconscious factors of group interaction. The author makes a brief overview of foreign publications on the problem of dual processes as part of cognition, perception of social information, moral judgment and problem of parallel processes between therapist and supervisor. The author's concept is to interpret group interaction as source of group psychological reality different from the visible reality of the group. This second reality contains such relations between group subjects, emotional processes and other psychological material that, being unacceptable for conscious processing, displaced into the area of group unconscious. However, this information partially passes into consciousness zone, but not directly, but getting forms of very different realities, other people, relationships. An attempt is made to make analogies between parallel processes in groups of different sizes and levels

Keywords

• parallel processes