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Abstract

Are there, besides the unique and outstandingly creative personality of S.H. Foulkes specific roots in contemporary thinking of his early days? The author shows important stimulations Foulkes received from gestalt theory and traces back some of its central positions to Hegel's argument against cartesian and empiristic views. Foulkes' orignal adaptation of gestalt statements to group processes is discussed in the following part of this paper. Having "the whole" of the group and the individual in balance, the author shows how not to slip into any holistic mystification of the group, how to remain in a continuous interchange between matrix view and personal aspects. In this context, a supervision situation of inpatient psychiatric treatment is discussed.