64th Annual Conference

Friday, March 9

Afternoon Workshops

2:45-6:00 P.M.

Workshop 59

Living with Cancer

Chairs:         

Mary Dluhy, M.S.W., CGP, FAGPA, Faculty, National Group Psychotherapy Institute, Washington School of Psychiatry, Washington, DC

Hillel Swiller, M.D., CGP, FAGPA, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

This workshop will enable group therapists who have or who have had cancer to share their experiences with one another for purposes of mutual support, personal growth and the development of new professional skills. We will address how we can use what we have learned to benefit our group members who are themselves, or who have loved ones, facing powerful existential issues.

sharing of work experiences, experiential, demonstration, didactic

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:
1. Understand others' responses to issues of life and death.
2. Understand how others have used their personal experiences to benefit their group members.
3. Increase their appreciation of the gift of existence.
4. Help their group members enhance their appreciation of the here and now in life as well as in the group.

Course References:

1. Trillin, A. (1981). Of Dragons and Garden Peas. New England Journal of Medicine.
2. Straker, N. (2000). The Psychotherapy of Cancer Patients. American Journal of Psychiatry.
3. Tolstoy, I. (1981). The Death of Ivan Ilych.