ENVY IN THE GROUP-THERAPY PROCESS

The origins and vicissitudes of envy are discussed from the viewpoints of Boris and the Kleinians, Their ideas, coupled with a relational pe rspective of the therapeutic process, enrich our understanding and inf orm our work concerning the emergence, processing, and working through of envy in the therapy group. A variable in the negative therapeutic reaction, envy can be destructive to he therapy process It is proposed that envy, accompanied by shame and guilt, is likely to enter the gro up via enactments. They are fueled Dy projective identification, which , if ignored, impede the continuation of the group process. Four clini cal vignettes illustrate how envy enters the group and how the group f unctions as a container and transformational object as it processes th e projective identifications and works through the enactments.