Changing times, changing realities, a glimpse of the future: there is something more

Over the past 25 years, group analysis has been much influenced by new developments in psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, evolutionary neurobiology, and evolutionary psychology. Basic group-analytic concepts are now being validated and reinforced by new knowledge of developmental processes in infancy and childhood. The development of both our brain as the organ of sociality and our personality begins as early as in utero. A child first learns how and whether to trust others and how to manage its emotions through empathy and sensitive responsiveness of its parents. Infant mental and emotional development is indebted to good enough environmental responses. Understanding these early influences is important because, among other things, it makes us aware how difficult it may be to influence such early factors by psychotherapy.