Publication and Presentation Announcement by Haim Weinberg (USA)

Resistances to Online Group Analysis—Is there Anything New Under the Sun?

Weinberg, H. (2025). Resistances to online group analysis—Is there anything new under the sun? Group Analysis, 58  (1), 49–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/05333164251315825

In this article I explore the common resistances to online group analysis and group therapy and bring arguments to support the use of online settings for analytic groups. The arguments are based on theoretical, practical, experimental and experiential perspectives. Online groups are not supposed to replace in-person meetings; the article advocates an integrative model that benefits from both the online and in-person options. A comparison is made between the early arguments by individual psychoanalysts against group analysis and current arguments against online group analysis. Perhaps such resistance shows there is nothing new under the sun.

Social Trauma and the Social Unconscious – Using the Large Group for Healing

Weinberg, H. (2025). Social trauma and the social unconscious – Using the Large Group for healing. In L.M. Leiderman & B.J. Buchele (Eds.), Advances in Group Therapy Trauma Treatment. Routledge.

This chapter explores the intricate relationship between social trauma and the social unconscious, arguing that trauma transcends the individual psyche and becomes embedded in the collective fabric of society. Drawing upon group analytic theory and the relational psychoanalytic tradition, it proposes that the Large Group format serves as a powerful sociotherapeutic instrument for healing the unconscious wounds of communities and nations. Social trauma—such as war, systemic injustice, pandemics, and political polarization—disrupts social cohesion, erodes trust, and is transmitted across generations through cultural narratives and even biological mechanisms. The chapter distinguishes the social unconscious from the Jungian collective unconscious, emphasizing that each society internalizes its own unspoken histories, myths, and traumas that unconsciously shape behavior and identity. Illustrative case examples from Israel, Palestine, and China demonstrate how LGs provide a transformative space for “social mourning,” enabling participants to process collective pain, confront projections, and move from binary confrontation toward dialogue and empathy.

Presentations and Workshops

Weinberg, H. (2025). Healing social trauma through Large Group work  [presentation]. International School of Group Analysis, Moscow, online.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Rupture and repair: In therapy groups, organizations and society  [workshop]. National Group Psychotherapy Institute (NGPI) at the Washington School of Psychiatry, Washington, DC. [Similar talks given at Stavropol, Russia and XinMeng Institute, Beijing, China]

Weinberg, H. (2025). Keeping a multilayered perspective in a troubled world  [plenary]. International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP) Conference, Pasadena, California.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Unconscious social processes behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  [panel]. International Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP) Conference, Sapporo, Japan.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Managing sociopolitical conflicts in groups: Repairing ruptures among clients, colleagues & communities.  American Psychological Association (APA) Conference, Denver.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Forced termination – When to remove a patient from our group?  [open session]. American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Advances in group therapy trauma treatment  [open session]. American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco.

Weinberg, H. (2025). Teaching the principles of group therapy with emphasis on trauma groups.  Neuropsychology Institute, Israel.

Haim Weinberg, Ph.D., CGP
Sacramento, California, USA
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