Cultivating the observing ego in the group setting

Group therapy provides the ideal arena for helping individuals cultivate the observing ego--that part of the sensorium that has the power of witnessing oneself in the world. The essence of our method is to employ the group as a temporary observing ego, out of which members may develop their own observing egos. A five-step process is presented to (1) help the members see how they are affecting others when they do not see this themselves, (2) help the members see how they produce this effect, (3) help the members see the self-injurious nature of their behavior, (4) resolve resistance to seeing any of this, and (5) help the members arrive at new modes of behavior.