63rd Annual Conference

Friday, February 24

Morning Workshops

10:00 A.M.-1:15 P.M.

Workshop 41

The Therapist’s Professional Will: A Practice Necessity?

Chair:    

Anne Steiner, Ph.D., FAGPA, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California Medical School, San Francisco, California

Illnesses and other sudden emergencies happen to us all. Now is the time to think through and design a plan for minor or serious illness, retirement, relocation and death, including who will contact your group members if you cannot. This hands-on workshop helps minimize the impact on your clients, your colleagues and yourself. Laptops welcome.

Didactic-sharing of work experience-experiential-demonstration

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Describe the power and impact on group members when the leader cancels or is ill.

2. Analyze when and whether, it is appropriate to be self-disclosing regarding the therapist’s health, reasons for cancellation of sessions and termination.

3. List the essential ingredients of a comprehensive Professional Will.

4. Describe the ways that they plan to minimize the trauma caused by canceling, transferring or terminating with their groups.

Course References:

1. Gerson, B. (Ed.).(1996). The Therapist as a Person: Life crises, life choices, life experiences, and their effects on treatment. New Jersey: The Analytic Press Inc., Publishers.

2. Rauch, E. (1998) A One Session Memorial Group Following the Death of a Therapist. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 48 (1), 99-104.

3. Steiner, A. (2004) The Therapist Protection Plan: Preparing for expected and unexpected absences from practice. The California Therapist, 64-74.