Intimacy and distance in staff-group relationships

T. Kron, R. Yungman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The authors interpret the dynamics of transitions between two states in staff-group relations, intimacy and distance, in the conceptual framework of Martin Buber's dialogue philosophy. The first part of the article deals with the nature of I-You and I-It relations, pointing to the different views of human existence held by the dialogue philosophy and by psychoanalytic theory. A basic concept in Jewish Kabbalistic philosophy, that of contraction, is used to describe the process that enables the I-You relationship to occur. In the second part of the article, the dynamics of I-You and I-It relations in the therapeutic community are described and illustrated by clinical material. It is shown how the staff and/or the group can attain I-You relationships by contracting themselves and, thereby, making room for the other. Although, as Buber himself noted, every I-You relation must, of necessity, change into an I-It relation - a change which entails the pain of loss - the readiness to enter again into an I-You relationship is what makes life possible, even for those most isolated and alienated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)99-109
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Therapeutic Communities
Volume5
Issue number2
StatePublished - 1984

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