62nd Annual Conference

Workshop 28

Attachment and Immediacy in Group Therapy
 

Chair:     

Barbara Kuerer Gangi, Ph.D., CSW, CGP, Senior Group Facilitator, Adventures in Counseling & Teaching, NYC, NY

This workshop integrates the science of infant-parent research with the art of group psychotherapy and introduces attachment theory as an aid in resolving resistances to immediacy. Workshop participants will study how attachment orientation affects here and now interaction.  The effect of the group therapist's attachment issues will also be considered.

experiential-didactic-sharing of work experiences-demonstration
 

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the role that attachment issues play in group member resistance to immediacy

2. Describe the effect of the group therapist's attachment issues on the group.

3. Explain the therapeutic power of immediacy in group as a tool in addressing attachment issues

References:

1.  Kobak, R. [1999] “The emotional dynamics of disruptions in attachment relationships: Implications for theory, research and clinical intervention” in Jude Cassidy and Phil Shaver (eds.), Handbook of Attachment.  New York, Guilford Press, 21-43.

2.  Ormont, L. [1993]. “Resolving Resistances to Immediacy in the Group Setting. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 43, 399-418.

3.  Schore, Allan N. [2000] “Attachment, the Right Brain, and Empathic Processes Within the Therapeutic Alliance” in Psychologist Psychoanalyst, Vol. XX, No. 4, 8-11.