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There are five theoretical pillars
of the Ormont Method of
Group Psychotherapy |
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The Observing Ego |
The observing ego is that part of the self that has no
affects, engages in no actions, and makes no decisions. It functions in conflict-free
states to merely witness what it sees. It is like a camera that records without judgment.
It is never weighing any thought, gesture or action on the scale of right and wrong, sane
or insane, good or bad. It is a psychic entity that is intact and separate from what is
taking place before it.
Dr. Ormont's concept of the observing ego extends familiar concepts in ego psychology
and incorporates thinking from eastern philosophy. He has developed group leadership
techniques to use the collective and individual observing egos within a group as a source
of strength and potentiation for all group members. |
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The Insulation Barrier |
The insulation barrier is a psychic structure that supports and
protects ego boundaries. A healthy insulation barrier allows a person to withstand
toxic stimuli but to take in nutrient experiences. The individual with a healthy insulation
barrier generally enjoys feelings of ease and wholeness within ego boundaries that are
flexible and adaptive. The insulation barrier is a developmental concept that has roots in
psychoanalytic theories of defense, and in humanistic psychology's respect for the self-directing
capacities of human beings, as well as the developmental need for genuine I-Thou
encounters.
Dr. Ormont's theory and methodology enables the group leader to empower group members to sustain
a group environment in which interactions among and between members support the development of
insulation barriers that maximize one's inherent capacity for ease, generosity and contentment,
in all aspects of human relationship. |
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Generative Communication:
Progressive
Emotional
Interactive
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Generative Communication is the verbalization of the feeling, thought, notion or idea in
mature adult language. It has three qualities: it is progressive, emotional
and interactive. Progressive refers to the irresistible
forward movement of the group's maturation. Emotional refers to
the affect laden aspects of human communication. Interactive refers
to the dynamic energy that takes place between people as they meaningfully connect with each
other.
Generative Communication describes the entire spectrum of meaningful connection in the
group's intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamic-from the most general to the most
specific, the most personal to the most collective. It has the important characteristic that
it is of the moment yet it carries the individual and group forward. |
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Function
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Generative communication is the dynamic that functions as the transformative power of the
group. In E.M. Forster's words, "The important thing is to connect." Generative communication
is a construct that includes theoretical understanding, and provides specific techniques and
interventions group leaders can use to facilitate healthful, generative connections in
groups. |
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Theoretical Underpinnings
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The theory of generative communication is rooted in Dr. Ormont's own clinical work, and in
an impulse in group therapy that is traceable to the salubrious effects of the spontaneous
interactions physician Joseph Pratt noted in his tubercular treatment groups in the early
1900's. The impulse of interpersonal connection is present in some meaningful form in
every branch of psychotherapy and theory of effective leadership.
Current research in attachment theory underscores the pervasive and overarching impact of
learned patterns of connection that contribute to modes of human behavior in all arenas of
human life. |
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Immediacy |
Immediacy is a term used to describe the formulation that the avenue to change
is an emotionally charged interpersonal engagement that takes on a new form. Immediacy
is the forming of new connections, and of building new forms out of old ones.
Dr. Ormont provides interventions and techniques that promote immediacy in conjunction with
progressive emotional interactive communication. Immediacy is the medium in which
the group-and each member of the group-can be the agent of change for all its
members. |
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The Group as
Maturational Agent |
Maturational agent refers to the capacity of the group to provide exchanges
between and among members that facilitate their personal development and growth. The
Ormont method focuses on interventions to resolve the group's resistance to engaging
in needed nutrient exchanges. Through selective interventions the leader can empower
the group as a whole to repair emotional damage, fill in the developmental voids, and
foster the potential of each of its members. |
