In this article I endeavour to show that containment in Foulkesian group-analytic psychotherapy has a number of different aspects. I outline how containment needs to be active as well as interpretive and that this results in a temporary distortion of the circular shape of the analytic group. The conductor; while always remaining a member of the group, temporarily joins with other professionals outside the group in order to understand better the psychopathology of a particular patient. Then s/he is able to reintegrate within the group those aspects of the patient which have been projected outside.
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