63rd Annual Conference

Morning Workshops

8:45 A.M.-12:00 noon 

Workshop 71

The Steering Problem: Navigating Among Competing Group Agendas

Chair:         

Neal Spivack, Ph.D., CGP, Supervising Psychologist, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Bronx, New York

Group leaders must frequently navigate between subgroups that have conflicting agendas.  Leaders face a dilemma, since promoting conditions favored by one subgroup can alienate others.  Through discussion and demonstration, this workshop will examine the pulls leaders feel to favor different subgroups and explore stances that can help manage these splits.

didactic-experiential-demonstration-sharing of work experiences

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Define the concept of “steering problem” within group psychotherapy.

2. Discuss dilemmas posed by the leader promoting conditions preferred by a particular subgroup.

3. Identify leadership stances that can help the leader navigate between splits in the group.

4. Formulate how they could respond to subgroups favoring competing agendas.

Course References:

1. Agazarian, Y. (1997). Systems-Centered Therapy for Groups. New York: Guilford.

2. Gustafson, J. & Cooper, L. (1992). After Basic Assumptions: On holding a specialized versus a general theory of participant observation in small groups. In M. Pines (Ed.). Bion and Group Psychotherapy. London: Routledge. 157-175.

3. Smith, K. & Berg, D. (1987). Paradoxes of Group Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.