Taking groups to the ‘street’: The value of Pichon-Rivière’s notion of task

Abstract

This text aims at developing the importance of the notion of task in Pichon-Rivière in planning and conducting groups outside the consulting room. It is structured as a theoretical and practical reflection. After a preliminary general discussion on the statute of the task for both Pichon-Rivière and Foulkes, we propose and discuss three practical developments from Pichon-Rivière’s conception of task. The three developments are: 1) The task as a leader: its value in dealing with identity issues; 2) How centring on the task can moderate the transference towards the conductor; 3) Respecting narcissistic envelopes with tasked-centred interventions. It concludes by reaffirming that all three discussed elements are helpful when taking groups outside the consulting room—and yet that they also contribute to approach what Pichon-Rivière called the moment of a task as a potential moment in the sense of Donald Winnicott.