Theme-centered interaction (TCI) is a concept and a method for working in groups. Its aim is social learning and development of the person. Since the nineteen fifties, TCI has been developed in the United States by the psychoanalyst and psychologist Ruth Cohn, by the therapists Norman Liberman, Isaac Zieman and by other representatives of humanistic psychology. Later, TCI was developed further in Europe and in India. TCI arose from the theoretical background of psychoanalysis, of group therapy and of humanistic psychology; it takes experiences from Gestalt therapy and from group dynamics into account. Ruth Cohn's original purpose was to "enable a healthy person to remain healthy". Here "health" not only refers to individual well-being, but also to political responsibility in the world.
In the first years after the development of TCI, its use grew rapidly in the United States. Today, however, TCI is virtually unknown in the United States, but it continues to be well-known and an important concept for educators, therapists, supervisors and managers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and India.
The concept of TCI develops on the basis of three axioms which describe certain problems in dialectical form. [1]
Autonomy:
The human being is a psycho-biological entity. He/she is also part of the universe, and therefore at once autonomous and interdependent. The person's autonomy increases to the extent that she/he becomes conscious of being interdependent (being part of the universe). [2]
Appreciation:
Respect is due to all living entities and to their growth. Respecting growth requires decisions based on values. The humane is valuable, the inhumane is threatening. [2]
Expanding one's limits:
A free decision happens within conditioning internal and external limits. It is possible to expand these limits. [2]
The axioms lead to the following methodical postulates:
The postulates should not be seen as rules, but rather as descriptions of fact. Hence: disturbances do take their precedence - whether we let them or not. (If there is a tree lying across the street, the cyclist will have to give it the right of way if he wants to avoid a collision). And similarly for the postulate concerning the chair person: de facto, the human being is responsible for the partial power which he/she has been given. De facto, he/she is responsible for deeds and omissions.
But since these postulates are now formulated as imperatives, they want to teach us to act in this way.
The first two postulates have been widely adopted by group methods. The first calls upon the individual to be aware of their own feelings and to decide responsibly for themselves and others. The second highlights that hidden disturbances may interfere with group processes, and will have to be noticed or cured to make productive group work possible. [5]
The next level of methods, the most important, says that in group processes, interests of the individual (I), the developing relational pattern of the group (WE) and the problem at hand, the theme (IT) must be in dynamical balance.
This can be symbolized by a triangle placed in a circle. The triangle in the circle symbolizes the GLOBE, that is the organisational, physical, structural, social, political, ecological surroundings, in a narrow and wider sense, which condition and influence the teamwork of the group, and which in turn are influenced by the work of the group. The globe can create disturbances and it can upset dynamical balance, shifting weight to one corner of the triangle. [5]
In earlier times, "IT" was considered to be the "theme". In present TCI literature [1] there is a differentiation: the theme on which the group is working is influenced by all four factors, not only by "IT". This point is specific to TCI.
The auxiliary rules [6] may have a positive influence on the interactions within a group. "It is important that auxiliary rules are used in a diplomatic and not in a dictatorial manner. Every rule can be reduced to absurdity." [6]
Theme-centered interaction is being used in diverse applications: in management, in the university, in psychological guidance and therapy, in supervision, in education, in social and special pedagogy, in adult education, in pastoral care, in care of patients, etc. It is the explicit goal of TCI not only to support the leader, but also to enable a group to lead itself (chair person postulate).
In his Ph.D. thesis, Friedrich Ewert [8] has investigated the influence of TCI training upon the professional ability of teachers active in various types of schools and in teacher training. He found a lasting effect of TCI training upon the teaching skills, and a strengthening of their personalities.
TCI is being taught by members of the Ruth Cohn Institute (RCI) for TCI international. [9] This is an association located in Basel, Switzerland, with sections in all German speaking countries, in the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and India.
The training consists of two sections: basic training and diploma training. The basic training consists of formation of the personality and of methods, it lasts 6 1/2 weeks and is terminated by a certificate. The diploma training lasts about ten weeks and contains elements like supervision, working in peer groups, more workshops for formation of the personality, and methods. Normally, basic and diploma training take several years. Teaching TCI requires a third level of training which is completed by graduation.
Since 1987, RCI international has been publishing a biannual journal "Theme-centered interaction" through Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen, Germany. The articles are in German, but for some, there is also an English abstract.
Every two years, an International Congress and Exchange Workshop is held on behalf of RCI international. In April, 2012, this was held in Lindau, Germany, celebrating Ruth Cohn's 100th birthday.
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