haunted groups: Ghosts, authority, and gender; a response to charalambides’ proposal for a group turn in psychoanalytic training

This paper responds to Charalambides’ proposal (this issue) for a “group turn” in psychoanalytic training, which calls for embedding group processes, including large groups, group supervision, and plural leadership, into psychoanalytic education. I argue that Charalambides’ emphasis on dismantling hierarchy and fostering democratic participation resonates with my own work on ghosts, historical trauma, and the erasure of Indigenous experience. Drawing on multiple perspectives, I situate Charalambides’ proposal within psychoanalytic debates about authority, sibling dynamics, and gender. I suggest that group work not only enhances clinical competence but also provides a space for institutional hauntings and historical ghosts to be collectively acknowledged and mourned. By integrating Charalambides’ structural innovations with an attentiveness to racial and gender complexity, psychoanalysis can move toward a more inclusive, resilient, and ethically accountable future.