Abstract
Human relations training has moved from the original T-group emphasis on group process, through focusing on the individual's mode of interacting in the group, to the use of the encounter situation for fostering personality change. Psychotherapy is moving out of the dyadic relationship into groups using increasing degrees of confrontation. The resulting overlap in group techniques calls for examination of the part each can play in the overlap area between the clear-cut functions of each specialty. The theoretical basis for differentiation lies in the respective models of awkward (“neurotic”) behaviour: psychotherapy starts from the pathological and emphasizes intrapersonal structure, while encounter starts from full-functioning behaviour and emphasizes interpersonal interaction. Practical responsibilities can be divided between encounter and psychotherapy on the basis of the level achieved by an individual moving through a hierarchy of ascending personal achievement levels. Because of the high probability of individuals interchanging between encounter and psychotherapy, practitioners will need to have at least basic knowledge of both systems. Rapprochement could eventually come through the systematic extension of existential psychotherapy.