Must we separate? Brief clinical notes on summer separation

In this short article, the author describes one of the topics that regularly emerges in psychotherapy, whether it be individual or group therapy. What is discussed is the holiday period or the moment when the group members meet again after a period of vacation, a moment which is generally preceded or followed by particular sessions, meetings in which the distress due to the experienced or expected distance is the real protagonist of the group experience. The group described in this article involves patients coming from the Mental Health Department of the Milan suburbs, a group formed by chance by only women, affected by different pathological conditions and having different ways of feeling and living their experiences. The session described and discussed here is the first after the holiday break, a session in which the group, including the therapist, does not recognize itself as it was before the summer break. This session is reported from the Author’s point of view, with the aim of representing - in its developments and in the emotional charge of the words - a paradigmatic session on the experienced distance and breaks in psychotherapy, to which anyone could refer to for study and research purposes.

Keywords: Psychotherapy, group, distance, holidays, anguish, Mental Health Department.

Paolo Colavero, Dobbiamo proprio lasciarci? Brevi appunti clinici sulla distanza estiva in "GRUPPI" 2/2012, pp 115-129, DOI: 10.3280/GRU2012-002009