In a recent podcast hosted by Oprah Winfrey, she had an inspiring conversation with the Artemis II crew. The astronauts reflected on the extraordinary teamwork required to carry out one of humanity’s most ambitious missions. While each crew member brought unique skills, experiences, and perspectives, they repeatedly emphasized that success depended on developing deep trust, mutual respect, and the capacity to rely on one another under conditions of uncertainty and risk. Years of training together transformed them from a collection of highly accomplished individuals into a cohesive team, united by a shared purpose and commitment to one another. The astronauts spoke not only of the crew itself, but also of the thousands of engineers, scientists, flight controllers, and support staff whose collective efforts made the mission possible.

Several themes resonated strongly with issues relevant to group leaders. The crew described learning to be ‘at ease with not knowing’, trusting both the process and one another when faced with uncertainty. They highlighted the importance of integrity, open communication, emotional vulnerability, and the willingness to engage in difficult conversations - including discussions about risk, mortality, and the impact of the mission on their families. Perhaps most striking was their shared reflection that viewing Earth from a distance deepened their appreciation of human interconnectedness.

Their experience serves as a powerful reminder that effective groups are built not through individual achievement alone, but through shared purpose, collaboration, and the capacity to remain connected in the face of challenge and uncertainty.

The Oprah Podcast: Winfrey, O. (Host). (2026, May 12). Oprah and the Artemis II Crew: To the Moon and Back [Audio podcast episode]. The Oprah Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ES9WGxEMK0


Priya Parker, in a beautiful recent blog post (April 28, 2026), highlights 11 lessons to take away from the Artemis II astronauts:
1. Artemis II is full of protocol. But it’s also full of ritual.
2. Each crew members knows their unique role in the group.
3. They also understand the role they’re playing towards us (... you know, all of humanity).
4. They’re meaning-makers.
5. They’re in their bodies.
6. They name what’s hard and hold each other through it.
7. They inhabit the mythic and the mundane.
8. They have a great sense of humour.
9. There’s excellence and a celebration of excellence.
10.Having a Canadian astronaut on this mission lets the whole world be part of it.
11.They let themselves be altered by this experience, and each other... They are amazed by what they’re seeing...they can’t believe their eyes. And by letting themselves be altered. Letting us see them be altered. They are giving us the gift of being altered too.”

When Virginia Brabender applied chaos theory to the understanding of psychotherapy groups, she found that no two psychotherapy groups are alike and no single group is completely predictable, even when following similar structures or developmental stages. Each group develops a unique ‘personality’ and unfolds in distinctive, often unpredictable ways. Uncertainty is an intrinsic property of group dynamics, especially during periods of transition or chaos. Chaos theory provides a framework for understanding uncertainty as a natural and necessary part of group life. It posits that groups, like other complex systems, move through periods of order and disorder, with uncertainty being a hallmark of the chaotic phase. During chaos, small, seemingly insignificant events (such as a member arriving late or an external interruption) can have disproportionate and lasting effects on the group's trajectory. The unpredictability of which events will become significant is only clear in retrospect, reinforcing the idea that uncertainty is fundamental and not merely a gap in knowledge. Therapists and group members often experience uncertainty as confusion, surprise, or even anxiety, especially during chaotic periods when the group's previous structure dissolves. The therapist's role during these times is to help contain and normalize these feelings, preparing members to tolerate and even appreciate uncertainty as a creative force that can lead to new group organization and growth. Therapists are encouraged to anticipate chaotic periods and to communicate to members that feeling lost or unsure is a normal and valuable part of the group process and can lead to richer and more adaptive therapeutic experiences.
Brabender, V. (2000). Chaos, Group Psychotherapy, and the Future of Uncertainty and Uniqueness. Group, 24(1), 23–46.

THE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTION

Fear by Khalil Gibran

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river cannot go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

The impact of sustained uncertainty is felt not only by our person systems but also by our relationships. Individually and collectively, we may experience a greater sense of vulnerability and anxiety that shifts us into a survival state that can restrain our capacity to maintain connection with others.

Community and connection are essential in coping with the vulnerability associated with uncertainty. We need relationships and connection to survive and thrive in the face of uncertainty.

Groups can play a vital role in healing the human suffering caused by the prolonged uncertainty of the current state of our conflict-ridden polarized world. Marmarosh (2024) explores “how groups can foster compassion, spiritual healing and address human suffering”. She examines the healing power of gratitude, cultural humility, play, forgiveness, compassion for self and others, as curative factors that foster repair and connection in group.
Marmarosh, C. (2024) Spirituality, Security, Compassion, and Play: Innovative Ways Group Psychotherapy Addresses Human Suffering, International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 74:2, 85-97.

Livingston (1999) writes about how participating in group can build our capacity to hold our vulnerability and stay connected with others in moments of uncertainty. He contends that healing and growth is facilitated by the courage to share vulnerable moments in a safe space and be held with tenderness. Livingston, M.S. (1999) Vulnerability, Tenderness, and the Experience of Self-object Relationship: A Self Psychological View of Deepening Curative Process in Group Psychotherapy, International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 49:1, 19-40.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR READERS:

One of our recent graduates shared her poem, Is it just me? during our April graduation ceremony:

Is it just me? By Nadia Zamzul

Is it just me or do you also wish we were sitting around a campfire tending to the flames of being and belonging?

Is it just me or do you also want to play in the sandbox losing all sense of time, playng games, within worlds of imagination?

Is it just me or do you also wish we were getting to know one another’s quirks and mannerisms, feeling the space between us as we sit side-by-side? Is it just me or are you also afraid to share too much, too soon, too quickly afraid to be perceived as this that or the other?

Is it just me or do you long for the words “to be accepted and seen without judgement” to be a full embodied experience, re-writing the parts once exiled?

For, if it is just me, then I imagine a world where we are, in fact, closer. Not in an enmeshed codependent way, but in way where there’s enough trust in each other. Trust in the strength of our bond.

If it’s just me, I imagine a world, revelling in the deep okayness, the yes-ness, of our being — our humanness that we often attribute as being messy including our diversities and differences samenesses and fears.

If it is just me then I imagine a world where, a sandbox is just a sandbox, containing laughter, giggles and play. Not a world where the sand is used to bury, in boxes of unmarked graves.

Is it just me or are you also still dreaming of a brighter future despite another world war run by hungry ghosts and monsters?

Is it just me or are you, too, seeking to merge with the part of you who wasn't interrupted by adulting, bills and inflation, but, where time stood still and we got to play until we finished the end of our game?

Mattering is different now. It’s real. Because the truth is, I am matter, and so are you. So. What now? What will we choose to do with that? Being the beacons of light, that we are.

Is it just me?

Or does anyone want to join me?