Workshop 6

Bridging the Gender Gap to Strengthen the Group: Exploring the Therapists' Countertransference

Chair:                

Alice Byrne, M.S.W., CGP, Senior Faculty - Training Analyst, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York, New York

Lois Kennedy, Psy.D., Senior Faculty - Training Analyst, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York, New York

Jerome Leff, M.S.W., BCD, Senior Faculty - Training Analyst, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, New York, New York

Emanuel Shapiro, Ph.D., CGP, FAGPA, Senior Faculty - Training Analyst, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health Group Department, New York, New York

Open to participants with less than four years of group psychotherapy experience

Strong group foundations result in part when the group leader becomes aware of gender-based countertransference and considers the impact of  same and opposite-gender parents and siblings. This primarily experiential workshop will investigate countertransference related to gender via writing exercises, kinetic family drawings and group process.

experiential-sharing of work experiences-didactic-demonstration

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify gender related countertransference.

2. Distinguish different reactions to male and female group members.

3. Evaluate the therapist's contribution to a therapeutic impasse related to gender-based countertransference.

Course References:

1. Epstein, L. & Feiner, A. (1979). Countertransference: The Therapist's Contribution to the Therapeutic Situation. New York: Jason Aronson.

2. Gilligan, C., (1983). In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.