From Free Association to Group Associative Chains

Resumen

The author provides a brief historical overview of free association and the difficulties encountered by psychoanalysts in its use in the group camp. It emphasizes the work of conceptualization of the group associative chains realized by Kaës that considers that they are produced as an interweaving of the singular and intrapsychic free associations, those produced by the intersubjective ensemble and those produced in the group encounter, guided on the diachronic and synchronic pillars. Introduce a therapeutic mediator called a group pictogram which consists of inviting group members to play by drawing together on the same sheet of paper. Drawings that produce pictograms that allow to say, to tell what the group lives, feels and thinks. The strokes, drawings, pictograms, are included as associative chains that would link drawings with words, with narratives and stories of each subject, of the intersubjective link and of the group. It presents some illustrative vignettes.