66th Annual Conference

Thursday, February 19

Afternoon Workshops

2:30 - 5:00 P.M.

Workshop 23

The Personal Journey to Becoming a Group Therapist

Chair(s):                

Harold S. Bernard, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, DFAGPA, Clinical Associate Professor  of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York

Bonnie Buchele, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, DFAGPA, Private Practice, Kansas City, Missouri

This workshop explores the many roads that participants have taken in their making working with groups an important aspect of their professional identity. We will consider early life experiences, personal struggles, early professional experiences, and the role of supervisors and other role models. We will utilize experiential exercises as well as small group and large group discussion.

demonstration-sharing of work experiences-experiential-didactic

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1.  Identify the key contributors to their having chosen to become group therapists.

2.  Appreciate the variability in how different group therapists have made their choices.

3.  Recognize the enormous influence that supervisors, mentors, and other role models have on all of us.

Course References:

Buchele, BJ (2008).  The music of churches, gangs, and other groups.  GROUP, 32(2), 97-104.

Gans, J.  (2006).  My abiding therapeutic core:  Its emergence over time.  Voices, 42(3), 14 - 29.

Rice, C.A.  (2008).  Arriving where I started. GROUP, 32(2), 137-144.