Those who experience integration issues – as migrants or as receivers – know that integration is the result of a very long – and sometimes very hard – mediation effort. Both parties need to take up the responsibility of the negotiation, that often gives rise to strong emotions and requires to compromise between resources and opportunities of a economic, as well as psychological and affective, nature. In the
introduction possible relationships between foreigners and the land they have moved to are outlined, and possible fantasies prompted by their arrival. The paper focuses on the crossing of borders by new entries in a small psychotherapy group, and the dynamics of hospitality, acquisition and integration. The arrival of a new patient in a group bears similarities to the arrival of a newborn sibling, but also with the arrival of a foreigner from a different culture. A number of clinical vignettes will show how the borders of the therapy group change after each new entry and the extensive work that must be done to re-define and re-shape the identity and culture of the group. As migrants take a stance about those who have never left home, new patients prompt fantasies about siblings who have left the small therapy group.