66th Annual Conference

Thursday, February 19

All-Day Workshops

10:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M. & 2:30-5:00 P.M.

Love and Loss in Group Psychotherapy

Chairs:

Allan B. Elfant, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, State College, Pennsylvania

Jennifer Harp, Ph.D., CGP, Private Practice, State College, Pennsylvania

Love, passion, and sexuality are inevitable in psychotherapy groups and always create an atmosphere of excitement and tension. Experiences of loss are also omnipresent and produce profound and confusing feelings. This experiential workshop will explore the intertwining impact of love and loss in our groups.

experiential-demonstration-sharing of work experiences-didactic

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Discuss the complicated tensions that occur when issues of love and loss are engaged.

2. Appraise the risks and benefits of experiencing and expressing love and loss in group psychotherapy.

3. Identify and explain the constructive as well as the harmful impact of group leader countertransference issues that arise when themes of love and loss occur in our groups.

Course References:

1. Boss, P.  (1999).  Ambiguous loss:  Learning to live with unresolved grief. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

2. Kauffman, J.  (2002).  Loss of the assumptive world:  A theory of traumatic loss.  New York:  Taylor & Francis.

3. Person, Ethel (1988) Dreams of Love and Faithful Encounters: The Power of Romantic Passion. N.Y.: Penguin Books.