Hope and the Inclination to Be Troublesome: Winnicott and the Treatment of Character Disorder in Group Therapy

ABSTRACT

While some group participants communicate about the problems in their lives by patterns of troublesome behavior, others may accommodate superficially to the needs of the group but feel an inner sense offutility and quiet desperation. Through use of Winnicott's paradoxical emphasis on the hope that is expressed within the “antisocial inclination” in all character disorders, the group may negotiate an adequate alliance for the discovery, containment, and exploration of the inclination to be troublesome in group in all participants. It may also provide supportive holding during the experience of affects that formerly were overwhelming such as shame and unresolved guilty anxiety. This approach is applicable to the group as a whole as well as to individuals.