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The Two-Minute Check-in at the Beginning of Psychoanalytic Group Therapy Sessions

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A check-in at the beginning of supportive and symptom-focused groups is common. However, it has not been part of psychoanalytic groups which centre on the unconscious determinates of symptoms. The purpose of the two-minute check-in in a psychoanalytic group is to gain information on each member's state of mind, help the group decide where it wants to focus its attention during the session, to balance the member's participation (so that talkative and quiet members start the group equally), and to produce a sense of mutuality and group concern. It is also the time for members to bring up attendance issues, payment issues or termination plans. The two-minute check-in is not likely to have much of a therapeutic effect in and of itself. A survey of my patients in two groups considered the two-minute check-in as functioning as a group level intervention. It sets the stage for a more efficient psychoanalytic group session at the interpersonal and intrapsychic levels.

Key Words: psychoanalytic group therapy • check-in

Group Analysis, Vol. 41, No. 4, 366-372 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0533316408098289


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