encounter group

noun

: a usually unstructured group that seeks to develop the capacity of the individual to express feelings and to form emotional ties by unrestrained confrontation of individuals

Examples of encounter group in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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In the late 1960s, Ms. Sher was divorced and broke, living in a welfare hotel in New York City with two young sons, working as a dishwasher during the day and as an encounter group leader at night. Penelope Green, BostonGlobe.com, 30 May 2020 And when a scene requires more people than the cast can summon by itself — say, an encounter group — the performers enlist front-row audience members to fill in. Ben Brantley, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2020 The workshop involved participation in massages, therapy games, encounter groups, and meditations from 5:00 am until midnight. Win McCormack, The New Republic, 12 Apr. 2018 Storr takes part in encounter groups in California, grills a Benedictine monk cloistered at Pluscarden Abbey in Scotland, and gets academic psychologists to chat frankly about their work. Anthony Gottlieb, New York Times, 21 June 2018 During the civil rights era, reporters in the South frequently encountered groups of people who threatened to harm them. Tim Arango, New York Times, 29 June 2018 In the encounter groups that took place here (and still do, in a different form, an experience to which Storr subjects himself), people were provoked, often harshly, into screaming at imaginary parents and usually ended up berating each other. Gal Beckerman, The New Republic, 7 May 2018 He was especially appalled by the amount of psychological and physical violence prevalent in Rajneesh encounter groups. Win McCormack, The New Republic, 27 Mar. 2018 In a 1978 issue of the German magazine Stern, a woman named Eva Renzi recounted her experiences in a Rajneesh encounter group. Win McCormack, The New Republic, 27 Mar. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of encounter group was in 1967

Dictionary Entries Near encounter group

Cite this Entry

“Encounter group.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encounter%20group. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

encounter group

noun
en·​coun·​ter group in-ˈkau̇nt-ər, en- How to pronounce encounter group (audio)
: a usually leaderless and unstructured group that seeks to develop the capacity of the individual to express feelings and to form emotional ties by unrestrained confrontation of individuals (as by physical contact, uninhibited verbalization, or nudity) compare t-group

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