57th ANNUAL INSTITUTE

Two Special Institute Presentations
Monday, February 25, 9:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.

Registration Form

SI-1. The Role of Personal Experience in the Making of a Group Psychotherapist and The Courage of the Group Psychotherapist

Instructor:

Jerome S. Gans, MD, CGP, DLFAGPA

Many components go into the making of a group therapist. It seems remarkable that one component – a focus of this Special Institute - is hardly mentioned, namely the therapists’ personal experience. This Special Institute will address such experiences, the lessons they have taught us, and the ways in which these lessons inform our therapeutic presence.  Dr. Gans will invite attendees to think about the ways in which their personal experience has influenced their clinical work.  The afternoon session will focus on the leaders’ courage. Both topics will find expression in morning and afternoon demonstration groups.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify two personal experiences that have contributed to your clinical strengths.
2. Name two mentors who have positively affected your professional career.
3. List three clinical truisms that your have culled from your personal experience.
4. Discuss how your experiences with money growing up contribute to your facility and/or difficulty dealing with money professionally.
5. List four categories of leader courage.
6. Contrast expected leader competence from leader courage.
7. Distinguish leader courage from countertransference difficulty.
8. State three reasons why leaders are reluctant to acknowledge their courageous moments.

Course References:
1. Frost, J.C. (1998). Countertransference considerations for the gay male when leading psychotherapy groups for gay men. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 48(1), 3-24.
2. Gans, J.S. (2006). My abiding therapeutic core, Its emergence over time. Voices, 43(3), 14-28.
3. Rice, C.A. (2008). Arriving where I started. Group, 32(2), 137-144.
4. Roth, S. (1987). Psychotherapy: The Art of Wooing Nature. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., pp. 1-16.
5. Shay, J.J. & Wheelis, J. (Eds.) (2000). Odysseys in Psychotherapy. New York: Ardent Media.
 

Jerome Gans, MD, CGP, FAGPA is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Clinical Associate in Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Gans is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Distinguished Fellow of AGPA. Dr. Gans has served as Co-Chair of the Annual Meeting and Institute Committees of AGPA as well as the Book Review Editor of the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy. He has also served as an AGPA Board Member and as Editor of The Group Circle, AGPA’s newsletter.  Dr. Gans has published widely on group and individual psychotherapy.  In 2010, he authored the book Difficult Topics in Group Psychotherapy: My Journey from Shame to Courage. Dr. Gans has a private practice in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

SI-2. Sexuality and Desire in Group Psychotherapy

This event is also available by simulcast. If you can't attend in person, you can still enjoy the live atmosphere and participate in real time with those in attendance as well as view the broadcast following the event.

Instructor:

Morris Nitsun, BA, (Hons), MA, PhD

Sexuality and desire are ever present in groups but may be hidden, denied or enacted destructively. This Special Institute presents a positive model for working with sexuality in groups, recognizing the importance of sexual diversity as well as the group processes that enhance and deepen the sexual discourse.  Topics will include anxiety and excitement about sexuality in the group, shame, the internet and the changing landscape of sexuality, erotic transference and countertransference and the group therapist’s sexuality. Didactic presentations will be interspersed with demonstration/discussion groups.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Describe the factors inhibiting the expression of sexuality in the group.
2. Outline attitudes towards sexuality in the development of individual and group psychotherapy.
3. Identify the risks of open exploration of sexuality in the group.
4. Name the positive group processes that support the expression of sexuality in the group.
5. Outline group therapist factors that facilitate the exploration of sexuality.
6. Name the alternative narratives of desire and their view on whether desire is favorable for development.
7. Identify changes in the sexual landscape that have a bearing on the therapy group.
 

Course References:

1. Denman, C. (2004). Sexuality: A Biopsychosocial Approach. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Mann, D. (2003). Erotic Transference and Counter-transference. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.
3. Nitsun, M. (2006). The Group as an Object of Desire: Exploring sexuality in group psychotherapy. London: Routledge.
4. Nitsun, M. (2012). Sexual Diversity in Group Psychotherapy. In J.L. Kleinberg (Ed.), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Group Psychotherapy. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
5. O’Connor, N. & Ryan, J. (1993). Wild Desires and Mistaken Identities. London: Virago.

Morris Nitsun, BA, (Hons), MA, PhD, is Consultant Psychologist in Group Psychotherapy in Camden and Islington National Health Service Trust, London. He has spent many years establishing and running large-scale public group psychotherapy services. Dr. Nitsun is also in private practice at the Fitzrovia Group Analytic Practice, he is a training analyst at the Institute of Group Analysis, and course director of the Diploma in Group Interventions, Anna Freud Centre. His books, The Anti-Group: Destructive Forces in the Group and their Creative Potential (1996) and The Group as an Object of Desire (2006) are widely known and appreciated. Dr. Nitsun is also a practicing artist and has had several successful exhibitions of his paintings in London, most recently in 2012.

Continuing Education for Special Institute Presentations: 6.0 credits/.6 units

Two-Day Institute Sections
Tuesday & Wednesday, February 26-27

INSTITUTE OPENING PLENARY SESSION
Tuesday, February 26, 8:30-9:15 A.M.

What are We Hiding and Who are We Hiding From?

Instructor:

Mary Dluhy, MSW, CGP, FAGPA

This plenary session will discuss how and why it is important to bring our authentic selves to the two day Institute. We will explore how the group provides the possibility to see in the other what is hidden in ourselves, as members of the group and as clinicians.  The talk will include how to engage ourselves in creative ways and the others in the group around the issues of shame, of what is unformulated, as well as,  the processes and signs that promote and/or inhibit risk taking and finding the courage to do our work.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify how to be in the group process from the beginning. We will describe the issues that may arise early on in the group and the defenses employed to remain hidden.
2. Explain and apply the vocabulary of risk taking, including courage, resistance and unformulated experience.
3. Apply theoretical support from various theoretical perspectives to review how to stay mindful and connected to the authentic self and to the other.

Mary Dluhy, M.S.W., CGP, FAGPA, is Director of Group Initiatives and consultant to the President's Office at Georgetown University. She is also in private practice in Washington DC and is a former Director of the National Group Psychotherapy Institute of the Washington School of Psychiatry where she serves as a Faculty Member and a Large Group Consultant.  Ms. Dluhy is a fellow of AGPA and has served in many capacities including Co-Chair of the Membership and Recruitment Committee, on the Board of Directors, on the Nominating Committee, as well as, Co-Chair of the Institute and Annual Meeting Committees.  She is currently a member of the Fellowship Committee.  Ms. Dluhy has written and often presented in the areas of Self Psychology, Intersubjectivity and Social Dreaming.  She is a co-editor, with George Saiger and Sy Rubenfeld of the book, Windows into Today’s Group Psychotherapy. Ms. Dluhy is a proud Founding Member of the Red Well Theater Group of Washington DC. Red Well has presented its work at AGPA for the past 10 years. The Red Well group indeed attests to the power of group as it has helped Ms. Dluhy continue to work through her traumatizing, failed attempt to play the Angel Gabriel in her 5^th grade Christmas pageant.

The Institute is primarily designed for clinical professionals who meet the requirements of at least a Master’s degree in a mental health profession and who have clinical psychotherapy experience. Many sections of the Institute welcome psychiatric residents, graduate students in mental health degree programs as well as mental health workers who work in a range of human service settings. Please register for a section consistent with your experience.

The Institute is scheduled over two full days: Tuesday, February 26, 9:30 A.M. – 5:45 P.M. and Wednesday, February 27, 8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Registration will only be accepted for the full two-days and registrants will be expected to attend both days, including the Institute Opening Plenary Session. Continuing Education credit will not be awarded for partial attendance. Devoted to small group experiential teaching, these two-day groups are led by carefully selected experienced instructors. The secure environment of these small groups allows for rich cognitive and emotional learning about group processes and oneself as well as an opportunity for personal and professional refreshment. The Institute consists of two sections:

• Process Group Experience (PGE) Sections:  
  These small groups provide participants an environment in which to obtain, expand and retain their skills in conducting group therapy. The PGE sections are conducted by many of the country's outstanding group therapists.  The group psychotherapy skills gained are important in conducting any group, regardless of its theoretical orientation, time parameter or patient population.  PGE sections are essential training and benefit the participants, both personally and professionally. A portion of each PGE will be didactic. A maximum of twelve registrants will be accepted per group.

• Specific Interest Sections:  
  These groups offer intensive learning about specific theories and approaches in group treatment. Registrants can pursue current interests in greater depth or learn ways of integrating new approaches and methods into their private practice, clinic or agency work. Most of the Specific Interest Sections have extensive experiential components. Registration maximum (up to 20 registrants) has been set by each instructor.

Continuing Education for Two-Day Institute Sections: 13.0 credits/1.3 units 

OBSERVATION AND EVALUATION: Institute sections will be observed by Institute Committee members. Registrants will be asked to complete brief evaluation questionnaires designed to aid us in continuing to provide high quality meetings, upon conclusion of their attendance at events.

Below are the listings of the two types of Institutes: Process Group Experiences (PGE) and Specific Interest Sections (SIS). The PGE participants acquire general therapy skills relevant to leading groups by participating in a process-oriented group. Specific Interest Sections offer participants a chance to explore a particular theme in greater depth or to learn a new theoretical approach. For Specific Interest Sections, previous participation in a PGE is recommended but not required. Members agree to attend the entire group, to participate actively, and to respect the privacy of the other members. After attending an Institute, participants will be able to identify various aspects of group process and dynamics. These groups provide an important opportunity for experiential learning and growth.

PROCESS GROUP EXPERIENCE (PGE) SECTIONS

I-A. GENERAL PROCESS GROUP EXPERIENCE

Entry Level
Less than 4 years of group psychotherapy experience

Instructors:

1. Maryetta Andrews-Sachs, LICSW, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Washington, DC

2. Linda Eisenberg, MA, MEd, CGP, Private Practice, Portland, Oregon

3. Michael P. Frank, MA, MFT, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Los Angeles, California

4. Francis Kaklauskas, PsyD, CGP, FAGPA, Co-Facilitator, Group Training Program, Wardenburg Psychological Health and Psychiatry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

5. Reginald Nettles, PhD, CGP, Private Practice, Columbia, Maryland

6. Alice Powsner, MSN, RNCS, CGP, Private Practice, Albuquerque, New Mexico

17. Sharan L. Schwartzberg, EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA, CGP, FAGPA, Professor of Occupational Therapy, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

18. Elizabeth (Libby) Shapiro, PhD, CGP, Clinical Director, Boston Institute for Psychotherapy, Brookline, Massachusetts

 

Intermediate Level
4-9 years of group psychotherapy experience

Instructors:

7.   Chera Finnis, PsyD, CGP, FAGPA , Private Practice, New York, New York
8.   Dan Raviv, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, New York and Great Neck, New York
9.   Kathy T. Rider, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Austin, Texas
10. Barney Straus, MA, LCSW, CGP, Private Practice, Chicago and Evanston, Illinois

Advanced Level
10+ years of group psychotherapy experience

Instructors:

11. Sara Emerson, LICSW, CGP, FAGPA, Adjunct Faculty, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts

12. Scott Simon Fehr, PsyD, CGP, Graduate Faculty, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

13. Joseph C. Kobos, PhD, ABPP, CGP, LFAGPA, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

14. Judith Schaer, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA, Director, Long Island Center Group Training, Roslyn, New York

I-B. PROCESS GROUP EXPERIENCE SECTION WITH MIXED LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE

Instructors:

1.   Gaea Logan, MA, LPC, LPC-S, CGP, Founder/Director, International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights, Austin, Texas

2.   Gregory MacColl, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, New York and Forest Hills, New York

I-C. PROCESS GROUP EXPERIENCE SECTION FOR SENIOR THERAPISTS

Limited to prior AGPA Institute instructors or registrants who have participated in four or more AGPA Institutes.

Instructor:

Norman A. Neiberg, PhD, CGP, DLFAGPA, Private Practice, Newton, Massachusetts

I-D. TWO-YEAR CONTINUOUS SECTION

Registration for this section assumes attendance at two consecutive Annual Meetings.

Instructors:

1. Barbara Finn, PhD, CGP, Private Practice, Menlo Park, California (This is the 1^st year of this two-year group.)  

2. Barry Wepman, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Faculty, Washington School of Psychiatry, Washington, DC  (This is the 2^nd year of this two-year group; new participants will not be accepted.)  

I-E. TWO-YEAR CONTINUOUS SECTION WITH INTERMITTENT CONFERENCE CALL MEETINGS

Registration for this section assumes attendance at two consecutive Annual Meetings. There will be five telephone conference call sessions between the two meetings onsite at the Institute. (This is the 1^st year of this two-year group.)

Instructor:

Gil Spielberg, MSW, PhD, ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Training and Supervising Analyst, Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles, California; and Robert Unger, MSW, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Faculty, Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado

I-F. THREE-YEAR CONTINUOUS SECTION

Registration for this section assumes attendance at three consecutive Annual Meetings.

Instructors:

1. Elaine Jean Cooper, LCSW, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Clinical Professor, University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco, San Francisco, California (This is the 2nd year of this 3-year group, new participants will not be accepted.)

2. Esther G. Stone, MSSW, CGP, DLFAGPA, Private Practice, San Francisco and Corte Madera, California (This is the 1^st year of this group.)

SPECIFIC INTEREST SECTIONS

Becoming Who We are in Groups: A Jungian Approach to Group Psychotherapy  

Instructor:

Justin B. Hecht, PhD, CGP, Clinical Faculty, University of California, San Francisco, California

This section will approach group from a Jungian perspective. The leader will use a symbolic approach to facilitate appreciation of the dynamic unconscious and the influence of archetypes. We will attend to paradox, transference, individuation, and the problem of the opposites. A didactic presentation will conclude the institute.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Apply a Jungian orientation to group psychotherapy interventions.
2. Identify archetypal material in group settings.
3. Utilize a Jungian approach to the transference to facilitate individuation.
4. Apply the transcendent function in resolving the problem of the opposites.
5. Support individuation strivings in a psychotherapy group.
6. Resolve ‘spiritual bypass’ issues to support ego functioning.
7. Facilitate optimal ego-self axis connection.

Course References:

1. Hecht, J.B. (2011). Becoming who we are in Group: One Jungian’s approach to Group Psychotherapy. Group, 35(2), 151-166.
2. Whitmont, E.C. (1964). Group therapy and analytical psychology. Journal of Analytical Psychology.
3. Willeford, W. (1967). Group psychotherapy and symbol formation. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 12, 137-160.
4. Zinkin, L. (1989). The group’s search for wholeness: A Jungian perspective. Group, 13, 252-264.
 

Section III

Coming Alive in a Grief Group: The Vitalizing Force of Mourning with Your Tribe

Instructor:

Mary V. Sussillo, LCSW, BCD, CGP, Private Practice, New York, New York

This section will demonstrate newer relational understandings and tasks of mourning including continuing bonds with the dead, expanding sense of self, and balancing the dual process of loss. The leader will actively facilitate the mourning process by connecting the mourners to others, thereby enhancing hope and vitality. Complicated grief will be addressed.
 

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Cite and discuss the newer understandings of the mourning process.
2. Identify the tasks of mourning.
3. Describe the dual process of mourning.
4. Apply and discuss treatment interventions in a grief group.
5. Apply the meaning of ritual.
6. Specify signs of, and treatment methods for, complicated grief.
 

Course References:

1. Klass, D., Silverman, P., & Nickman, S. (Eds.), (1996). Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
2. Neimeyer, R. (Ed.), (2000). Meaning reconstruction & the experience of loss. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3. Shear, K., & Shair, H. (2005). Attachment, loss and complicated grief. Psychobiology, 47(3), 253-267.
4. Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (2010). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: A decade on. Omega, 61(4), 273-89.
5. Sussillo, M. (2005). Beyond the grave-Adolescent parental loss: Letting go and holding on. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 15(4), 499-527.

Section IV

Excitement and Shame in Group Psychotherapy

Instructor:

Stewart L. Aledort, MD, CGP, FAGPA, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC

This institute will demonstrate the power of the Omnipotent Child in its function to stabilize identity and serve as a template for intimacy. Excitement and Shame as powerful affects will be explored, in particular as it gets expressed in the sexual and sensual aspects of the group. One sees also the excitement in shame and how it can be looked at and explored. One sees how the group struggles to shift to a passionate good fit, with its attendant losses.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify and list the characteristics of the Omnipotent Child.
2. Identify the power of the passion in the group.
3. Describe the leader's techniques at the start of the group process.
4. Describe how the therapist works with desires in the group.
5. Describe the developmental stages the group traversed.
6. Describe the shifting roles of the leader and the group's responses.
7. Identify the hidden excitement in shame.

Course References:

1. Aledort, S. (2002). The omnipotent child syndrome: The role of passionately held bad fits in the formation of identity. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 52, 67-89.
2. Morrison, A. (1989). Shame the underside of narcissism. New York, London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
3. Mahler, M. (1968). On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation. New York: International University Press.
4. Flores, P. (2010). Group psychotherapy and neuronal-plasticity: An attachment theory perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 60(4), 546-572.
5. Livingston, L.R. (2006). No place to hide: The group leader's moments of shame. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 56, 307-324.

Section V

Expanding the Emotional Range in Group: The Leader's Emotional Receptivity

Instructor:

Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Austin, Texas

This section will help participants examine the impact of the leader's emotional receptivity on groups. Of special significance is the leader's openness to all the emotions experienced as countertransference, including love, hate, liking, and disliking our clients. We will explore ways of encouraging a wide range of feelings in our groups. This includes learning to welcome and explore positive and negative transferences with interest and freedom.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Distinguish between objective and subjective countertransference reactions.
2. Define countertransference resistance and develop a greater appreciation for its role in group leadership.
3. List common sources of countertransference resistance.
4. Identify emotions that you may discourage in your groups.
5. Discuss the role of self-acceptance in effective group leadership.
6. Cite fears and concerns about emotional communication in group.
7. Identify ways a group therapist can develop emotional insulation.
8. List guidelines for working effectively with anger and conflict in group.

Course References:

1. Bernstein, A. (2001). The Fear of Compassion. CMPS/Modern Psychoanalysis, 26(2), 200-219.
2. Flores, P.J. (2010). Group Psychotherapy and Neuro-Plasticity An Attachment Theory Perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 60(4), 546-570.
3. Maroda, K.J. (2010). Psychodynamic Techniques: Working with Emotion in the Therapeutic Relationship. New York: The Guilford Press.
4. Ormont, L.R. (1988). The Leader’s Role in Resolving Resistances to Intimacy in the Group Setting. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 38(1), 29-45.
5. Zeisel, E.M. (2009). Affect Education and the Development of the Interpersonal Ego in Modern Group Psychoanalysis. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 59(3), 421-432.
 

Section VI

Functional Subgrouping: Linking Systems-Centered Training (SCT) and Interpersonal Neurobiology

Presented in cooperation with the Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute

Instructor:

Susan P. Gantt, PhD, ABPP, CGP, FAPA, FAGPA, Director, Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute, Atlanta, Georgia   

Functional subgrouping regulates the flow of energy and information in groups in the direction of increased integration and builds the group mind toward greater neuroplasticity. We will explore how functional subgrouping creates mindful group systems by increasing emotional containment, neural integration, and exploration of novelty.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Differentiate between explaining which activates top down invariant experience and exploring which orients to bottom up or spontaneous experience.
2. Apply functional subgrouping to develop the group system and potentiate greater neural integration.
3. Identify the experiential conditions that promote neural development.
4. Describe how to use functional subgrouping for lowering reactivity to difference.
5. Describe how to use functional subgrouping for increasing social engagement system.
6. Describe how to use functional subgrouping for increasing group's capacity for exploring novelty.
7. Summarize the interpersonal neurobiological research most relevant to group psychotherapy.
 

Course References:

1. Gantt, S.P., & Agazarian, Y.M. (2010). Developing the Group Mind through Functional Subgrouping: Linking Systems-Centered Training (SCT) and Interpersonal Neurobiology. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 60(4): 515-544..
2. Siegel, D. (2012). The developing mind (2nd Ed.). New York: Guilford.
3. Moreno, J.K. (2006). Scapegoating in group psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 57, 93-105.
4. Agazarian, Y. (1997). Systems-centered therapy for groups. New York: Guilford.
5. Brabender, V. (1997). Chaos and Order in the Psychotherapy Group. In F. Masterpasqua & P. Perna, The Psychological Meaning of Chaos. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
 

Section VII

Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction

Presented under the auspices of the AGPA Addiction and Recovery SIG

Instructor:

Jeffrey D. Roth, MD, FAGPA, Medical Director, Working Sobriety, Chicago, Illinois

Addiction is a disease of isolation. Recovery occurs in groups. Group psychotherapy and mutual support groups are the ideal combination of group experiences to foster recovery from addiction. This institute will demonstrate experientially the use of the group-as-a-whole in supporting recovery from addiction.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Compare powerlessness with free association.
2. Compare unmanageability with resistance.
3. Compare Higher Power with authority.
4. Compare surrender with transference.
5. Compare transference resistance with inventory.
6. Compare prayer with speaking to the group.
7. Compare meditation with listening to the group.
8. Compare carrying the message to using oneself in role.
 

Course References:

1. Brook, D.W., & Spitz, H.I. (Ed.) (2002). The Group Therapy of Substance Abuse. New York: Haworth Press.
2. Flores, P.J. (2007). Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations: An Integration of Twelve-step and Psychodynamic Theory (3rd Ed.). New York: Haworth Press.
3. Flores, P.J. (2004). Addiction as an Attachment Disorder. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Press.
4. Khantzian, E.J. (2006). Group Therapy, Abstinence, Harm Reduction: The Real and Honest Word. Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery, 1(2), 5-13.
5. Roth, J.D. (2004). Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction: Carrying the Message. New York: Haworth Press.
 

Section VIII

Intersubjective Group Psychotherapy: What Does It Mean to be Relational? 

Instructor:

Haim Weinberg, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Director of International Programs, The Professional School of Psychology, Sacramento, California

Relational approaches state that in every meeting there are two subjective experiences that meet. Applying the approach to groups emphasizes enactment instead of interpretation. We will explore the participants' experience and difficulty acknowledging other members' different experience, the therapists' limitations and their impact on the group, enactments and reparation in the group.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Recognize their own and others' subjective experience.
2. Focus on relational issues in group therapy.
3. Use relational/intersubjectively-informed interventions in groups.
4. Work with enactments and reparations in group therapy.
5. Accept and utilize their limitations as group therapists.
6. Explore and understand what it means to become relational.
7. Learn about the limitations of the intersubjective approach.

Course References:

1. Aron, L. (1996). A meeting of minds. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.
2. Wright, F. (2004). Being seen, moved, disrupted, and reconfigured: Group leadership from a relational perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 54, 235-251.
3. Grossmark, R. (2007). The edge of chaos: Enactment, disruption, and emergence in group psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 17(4), 479-499.
4. Billow, M.R. (2003). Relational group psychotherapy: From basic assumptions to passion. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
5. Gans, S.J., & Alonso, A. (1998). Difficult patients: Their construction in group therapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 48(3), 311-326.

Section IX

Leadership in Organizations: Is it Lonely at the Top? (AGPA Leadership Track)

Presented under the auspices of the AGPA Affiliate Societies Assembly

Instructor:

Darryl L. Pure, PhD, ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Associate in Clinical Psychiatry, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois

Leadership in organizations can stimulate powerful conscious and unconscious forces in us all. This process-oriented section is designed to explore what draws the participants to leadership positions in addition to that which inhibits them from doing their best work. There will also be didactic material on leadership styles in organizations and their use relevance to various settings.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the conscious and unconscious forces drawing them to leadership.
2. Describe their resistances to fully realizing their potential in leadership.
3. Evaluate their personal impact on the organizational setting.
4. Revise their interpersonal behavior in ways that maximize their leadership potential.
5. Integrate previous knowledge with group feedback to better identify pitfalls to effective leadership.
6. Identify leadership styles and the organizational challenges to which they are best applied.
7. Apply different leadership styles depending on the challenges faced by the organization.

Course References:

1. Eagly, A.H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C., & van Engen, M.L. (2003). Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Women and Men. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569–591.
2. Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review, March-April, 78-90.
3. Judge, T.A., Bono, J.E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M.W. (2002). Personality and Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 765–780.
4. Palmer, B., Walls, M, Burgess, Z., & Stough, C. (2001). Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22(1).
 

Section X

Making Contact: The Relational Therapist in the Group

Instructor:

Diane Montgomery-Logan, MA, CGP, Private Practice, Winooski, Vermont   

This institute will focus on creating a bridge for clients to cross from isolation to deep contact with each other. The leader will demonstrate relationally oriented tools for supporting members in the move from thought to felt experience as they create emotional bonds with each other.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Invite vulnerability among group members.
2. Utilize strategies to help group members tolerate contact with each other.
3. Distinguish between non-active and active presence in the group.
4. Shift focus from the intellectual to the emotional.
5. Guide the group process toward awareness of the felt experience of the members.
6. Integrate deep listening with intervention skills.
 

Course References:

1. American Group Psychotherapy Association Inc. (2007). Practice guidelines for group psychotherapy. New York: AGPA Website http://www.agpa.org/guidelines/index.html.
2. Billow, R. (2003). Bonding in group: The therapist’s contribution. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 53(1), 83-110.
3. Rubenfeld, S. (2005). Relational perspectives regarding countertransference in group and trauma. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 55(1), 115-135.
4. Rutan, J., Stone, W.N., & Shay, J. (2007). Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy (4th Ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
5. Wright, F. (2004). Being seen, moved, disrupted, and reconfigured: Group leadership from a relational perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 54(2), 235-250.
 

Section XI

The Mind and Body in Group Therapy: Lessons Learned from Somatic Experiencing®

Presented in cooperation with the Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute

Instructors: 

Roger Saint-Laurent, PsyD, SEP, CGP, Private Practice, New York and Briarcliff Manor, New York

Peter J. Taylor, PhD, SEP, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, New York and Briarcliff Manor, New York

Somatic Experiencing® is a therapeutic approach which facilitates re-establishing one's natural capacity to self-regulate activation, settling, and social engagement. We will explore how basic concepts of SE can help group members and leaders deepen the felt experience of self and other, mind and body, and the interpersonal field of groups. 

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Apply basic concepts of Somatic Experiencing® in order to develop a more embodied therapeutic stance.
2. Judge the usefulness of tuning in to deeply felt internal states to make subsequent interpersonal interactions with group members and colleagues more effective.
3. Trace the development of group members' individual and collective self-regulation.
4. List physiological reactions regulated by the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (the PNS), the sympathetic branch of the nervous system (the SNS), and discuss clinical applications of these reactions.
5. Utilize the interplay of gentle cycles of sympathetic and parasympathetic stimulation to facilitate the re-regulation of the autonomic nervous system.
6. Use titrated activation to maintain group members and the group as a whole within a range of resiliency.
7. List the three specific defensive or protective survival responses—fight, flight, and freeze—and offer examples of how these responses can manifest in group dynamics.
8. Utilize techniques for the containment and management of client activation, including maintaining group leader’s own settled nervous system; having group members notice indicators of safety in the room; taking time to invite a group member’s attention to go where it wants in the environment; inviting social engagement, which typically leads members back to a more PNS-dominated state; developing strategies for grounding, orienting, and stabilizing prior to working with states of higher activation; and having group members learn to notice somatic signs of activation in self and others as that activation arises, before it becomes overwhelming.

Course References:

1. Cohen, S.L. (2011). Coming to our senses: The application of somatic psychology to group psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 61(3), 397-413.
2. Heller, D.P., & Heller, L. (2001). Crash course: A self-healing guide to auto accident trauma & recovery. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
3. Levine, P. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
4. Levine, P. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
5. Scaer, R. (2005). The trauma spectrum: Hidden wounds and human resiliency. New York: W.W. Norton.
 

Section XII

Modern Gestalt Group Therapy: A Relational Approach to Growth and Healing

Instructors:

Peter Cole, LCSW, CGP, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California

Daisy Reese, LCSW, CGP, Immediate Past President, Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society, San Francisco, California   

Modern Gestalt Group Therapy is a relational approach integrating insights from Gestalt theory, intersubjective psychoanalysis and "group-as-a-whole" understandings and approaches. In this experiential institute, participants will be provided a safe, contained experience in which they will have an opportunity to explore and better understand themselves and their relationship to others.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Name three elements of the Dialogic Approach.
2. Discuss the Primacy of Relationality in both Gestalt Group Therapy (GGT) and in emotional health.
3. Define “Here and Now” as it is used in GGT.
4. Summarize how a greater understanding of shame has affected the practice of GGT and moved it out of the old “Hot Seat Model” and into an interactive group process model.
5. Define “Affective Process” as it is used in GGT.
6. Summarize the “Paradoxical Theory of Change” as it is applied in GGT.
7. Summarize the Egalitarian/Democratic Ethos in Modern Gestalt Group Therapy.
 

Course References:

1. Cole, P. (1998). Affective Process in Psychotherapy: A Gestalt Therapist's View. The Gestalt Journal, 21(1), 49-71.
2. Feder, B. (2006). Gestalt Group Therapy, A Practical Guide. Metairie/New Orleans: Gestalt Institute Press.
3. Feder, B. (Ed.), (2008). Beyond the Hot Seat, Revisited: Gestalt Approaches to Group. Metairie/New Orleans: Gestalt Institute Press.
4. Hycner, R., & Jacobs, L. (1995). The Healing Relationship in Gestalt Therapy. Highland, NY: Gestalt Journal Press.
5. Woldt, A., & Toman, S., (Eds.), (2005). Gestalt Therapy: History, Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage.
 

Section XIII

Mother-Daughter Interaction through the Group's Hall of Mirrors

 Presented under the auspices of the AGPA Women in Group Psychotherapy SIG

Instructor:

Shoshana Ben-Noam, PsyD, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, New York, New York

This all-women's section will explore mother-daughter interactions through the group's "hall of mirrors" and didactic learning. It will examine how this relationship affects: women's interactions in the 'here & now' in areas such as intimacy, competition or conflict; and, the development of the daughters' personal and professional selves. Working through difficulties stemming from this relationship in ourselves and our groups will be addressed.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the impact of mother-daughter interactions on daughters' intimacy.
2. Identify the impact of mother-daughter interactions on daughters' competition.
3. Identify the impact of mother-daughter interaction on daughters' ability to handle conflict.
4. Formulate the effects of "mother loving" and/or "mother blaming" on daughters' relationships with others.
5. Identify the impact of mother-daughter interactions on women's development of professional selves.
6. Recognize the impact of the relationship on the sense of self.
7. Cite interventions for working through women's difficulties stemming from unresolved issues with their mothers.

Course References:

1. Brenner, J. R. (2002). Mother and Daughters in Israel - Only Human: A Group Experience. In Brenner, J.R., Savran, B. & Singer, I. (Eds) Women in the Therapy Space Jerusalem. Israel: The Counseling Center for Women.
2. Ford, J., & Ford, A. (1999). Between mother and daughter. Berkeley, California: Conari Press.
3. Fuller, C., & Plum, A. (2010). Mother-Daughter Duet. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Multnomah Books.
4. Mendell, D., & Turrini, P. (Eds) (2003). The Inner World of the Mother. Connecticut: Psychosocial Press.
5. Caplan, P.J. (2000). The New Don't Blame Mother: Mending the Mother-Daughter Relationship. New York: Routledge.

Section XIV

Passionate Feelings in Groups: The Interplay between Envy, Competition, and Intimacy

Instructor:        

Steven L. Van Wagoner, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Washington, DC

We examine members' struggles with intimacy through competition, avoidance, or mutual sharing. Through the leader's containment and modeling, participants will analyze various ways of constructing intimacy and competing for relatedness, learning to identify and verbalize passionately held feelings of envy and jealousy as a way of neutralizing their destructive potential.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Examine the impact of passionately held feelings of envy and competitiveness on group cohesion, especially those that go unexpressed verbally.
2. Identify the effect of competition and envy on building intimacy and stronger group foundations.
3. Distinguish between healthy and destructive aspects of competition and their impact on group relationships.
4. Identify ways in which jealousy and envy emerge in competition as they elicit experiences of inclusion and exclusion.
5. Illustrate how to contain envy, jealousy and competition, and transform them into intimate interactions.
6. Discuss how to work with jealousy and envy when it emerges in competition.
7. Construct ways in which to illuminate and work with gender differences in envy and competition.
8. Compare and critique methods for containing and working through these powerful group dynamics.
9. Identify transference manifestations of envy, jealousy, competition and intimate approach and avoidance.
 

Course References:

1. Berman, A. (2007). Envy and generativity: Owning inner resources. In L. Navaro & S. L. Schwartzberg, (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on jealousy, envy, competition, and gender. London: Brunner/Routledge.
2. Boris, H. (1994). Envy. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc.
3. Doherty, P., Moses, L.N., & Perlow, J. (1996). Competition in women: From prohibition to triumph. In B. DeChant (Ed.), Women and group psychotherapy: Theory and practice (pp. 200-220). New York, Guilford Press.
4. Ormont, L.R. (1988). The leader’s role in resolving resistances to intimacy in the group setting. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 38(1), 29-45.
5. Van Wagoner, S.L. (2007). Men and competition: Whither the new man? In L. Navaro & S. L. Schwartzberg, (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on jealousy, envy, competition, and gender. London: Brunner/Routledge.
 

Section XV

Projective Identification and Countertransference

Instructor:        

Barbara Keezell, LICSW, MSW, CGP, FAGPA, Associate Staff, Boston Institute for Psychotherapy, Brookline, Massachusetts

This experiential section will explore the power of projective identification and how best to understand and utilize it in the group process. We will also examine countertransference and how both countertransference and projective identification can inform the leader and how they can affect the work of the group.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Distinguish between simple projection and projective identification.
2. Identify when projective identification is occurring.
3. Formulate ways of intervening when projective identification is arising and having a negative impact on the group.
4. Define countertransference.
5. Identify his/her own countertransference reactions.
6. Identify and utilize the process of projective identification in his/her groups.

Course References:

1. Aron, L. (1996). A Meeting of Minds: Mutuality in Psychoanalysis. New Jersey: The Analytic Press.
2. Motherwell, L., & Shay, J. (Eds.) (2005). Complex Dilemmas in Group Therapy: Pathways to Resolution. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
3. Ogden, T. (1982). Projective Identification and Psychotherapeutic Technique. New York: Jason Aronson.
4. Rutan, J.S., Stone, W.N., & Shay, J.J. (2007). Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy (4th Ed.). New York and London: Guilford Press.
5. Shay, J.J. (2009). Projective identification simplified: Recruiting your shadow. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 61, 239-261.
 

Section XVI

The Spectator Inside: On Looking, Seeing and Being Seen   

Instructor:

Leyla Navaro, MA, Adjunct Faculty, BUREM Student Counseling Center, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey

Eye was before tongue, gaze before language... We learned first to look, then to see, then give meaning to what we see, then see through those conditioned meanings. This institute explores the ways we look, see and are being seen. The gaze of the (m)other and its effects on our self-image will be examined. Experiences of bruised and healthy narcissism, internalized self-image, mirroring, gleam in the eye, existential wish of being recognized, stage fright, internalization of dominant culture (“Men act and women appear. Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at” (Berger 1972) will be explored. Art material, authentic movement and a session of blind group are programmed.
 

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Better trace the ways they look, gaze, see or don’t see.
2. Explore internalized self-images.
3. Explore gender differences in looking and being seen.
4. Define internalizations, projections, introjections.
5. State the effects of the gaze of the (m)other.
6. Differentiate between self-image and reality.
7. Discuss (in)direct ways of competition for (m)other's eye.
8. Differentiate between healthy and unhealthy narcissism.
 

Course References:

1. Berger, J. (1977). Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books.
2. Winnicott, D.W. (1990). The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. London: Karnac Books.
3. Kohut, H. (1972). Thoughts on Narcissism and Narcissistic Rage. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 27, 360-400.
4. Navaro, L. (2011).The Passion of the "Bad Girls": Women's Struggles with Desire and Passion. In L. Navaro, R. Friedman, & S.L. Schwartzberg (Ed.), Desire, Passion & Gender: Clinical Implications. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
5. Bollas, C. (1987). The shadow of the object: The Psychoanalysis of the Unthought Known. New York: Columbia University Press.
 

Section XVII

To Be or Not to Be: What is the Answer? or What Affects Tell and Don't Tell in Group Psychotherapy

Instructor:

Macario Giraldo, PhD, CGP, Faculty, Washington School of Psychiatry, Washington, DC

This section will focus the attention of the participants on the role of affects in the psychoanalytic group. Following Freud's ideas as received and expanded by Jacques Lacan we will pay special attention to affect as a defense both in the patient and the therapist and the legitimate function of affects in the cure.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Differentiate affects as displacements from affects speaking the truth of the subject.
2. Demonstrate the importance of affects in the patient for the cure desired in the treatment.
3. Demonstrate the difference in the role of affects for the patient versus the therapist.
4. Distinguish the affects called enigmatic in Lacanian theory from other common affects.
5. Recognize how the three registers, Real, Imaginary and Symbolic, are present in affects.
6. Demonstrate the affect of anxiety as crucial in the conduct of the treatment.

Course References:

1. Giraldo, M. (2012). The Dialogues in the Group: Lacanian Perspectives on the psychoanalytic Group. London: Karnac Books.
2. Conkright, S. (2010). Lacan, Jouissance, and Group Psychotherapy. Group, 34, 2.
3. Schulte, R. (2010). A Theatrical Rendering of Lack in a Trio. Group, 34, 2.
4. Swales, S. (2010). Psychosis or Neurosis? Lacanian Diagnosis and its Relevance for Group Psychotherapists. Group, 34, 2.
 

Section XVIII

Trauma as an Integral Part of Life   

Instructors:

Robert H. Klein, PhD, ABPP, CGP, DLFAGPA, Instructor, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut

Suzanne B. Phillips, PsyD, ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Adjunct Professor, Derner Institute, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York

Trauma is ubiquitous. Virtually everyone has experienced some form of trauma during their lifetime. How such experiences set the stage for, color and prepare us for our current lives will be the focus of this institute. Participants will be encouraged to explore how learned modes of surviving and coping with trauma shape our relationships and the predicaments in which we find ourselves.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the multiple impacts of past trauma on their current lives.
2. Detect and diagnose the presence of unresolved trauma-based responses in the form of interpersonal reenactments and repetition compulsion phenomena in daily life.
3. Evaluate the relevance and utility of learned modes of surviving and coping with trauma.
4. Contrast successful versus unsuccessful modes of coping with trauma.
5. Describe the linkages between current countertransference problems and past trauma.
6. Formulate new, more flexible and adaptive means of coping with trauma.

Course References:

1. Boss, P. (2006). Loss, Trauma and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2. Boulanger, G. (2002). Wounded by Reality: The Collapse of the Self in Adult Onset Trauma. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 38(1), 45-76.
3. Buchele, B.J., & Spitz, H.I. (Eds.),(2004). Group Interventions for the Treatment of Psychological Trauma. New York: American Group Psychotherapy Association.
4. Klein, R.H., & Phillips, S.B. (Eds.), (2008). Public Mental Health Service Delivery Protocols: Group Interventions for Disaster Preparedness and Response. New York: American Group Psychotherapy Association.
5. Stolorow, R. (2007). Trauma and Human Existence. New York: The Analytic Press.
 

Section XIX 

Understanding the Other: A Modern Analytic and Relational Group Schema for Contending with Fear, Prejudice, and Enmity   

Instructors:

Nimer Said, MA, Clincial Psychologist and Group Therapist, Clinical Member, Nazareth and Haifa, Israel

Elliot Zeisel, PhD, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA, Director, Group Department, Center for Modern Analytic Studies, New York, New York

Within humankind, identities exist as a mosaic that make us more alike than different.  However, racial, ethnic and religious differences can promote fear, hatred, and prejudicial behavior that undermine interpersonal functioning and sometimes lead to enmity and genocide.  Emotionally understanding "the other" becomes extremely difficult. This Institute, co-lead by a Palestinian - Israeli clinical psychologist and a Jewish - American, Zionist, psychoanalyst, will utilize a Relational Analytic group model and a Modern Analytic method to conduct the experience. Similarities and differences between participants will be highlighted and the potential for interpersonal engagement beyond the socio - political perspective will be explored. Through didactic and experiential process, attendees will be helped to acknowledge the hidden and unspoken emotions that hinder empathic connection and meaningful relationship.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Learn how to build a group contract and culture that supports exploration of resistance.
2. Engage in analysis of Resistance.
3. Understand how to use their feelings in crafting interventions.
4. Understand the leaders use of self in crafting interventions.
5. Delineate the use of the interpersonal ego in relating to others.
6. Understand the use of group to resolve subjective countertransference resistances.
 

Course References:

1. Grotjahn, M. (1977). The Art and Technique of Analytic Group Therapy. New York: Jason Aronson.
2. Meadow, P. (1996). Modern Psychoanalysis: Selected Theoretical and Clinical Papers. New York: Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies.
3. Ormont, L. (1992). The Group Therapy Experience. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
4. Furgeri, Lena (Ed.), The Technique of Group Treatment: The Collected Papers of Louis R. Ormont, Ph.D. Madison, CT: Psychosocial Press.
5. Rosenthal, L. (1987). Resolving Resistances in Group Psychotherapy. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.

Section XX

Working with Love and Hate in Groups: Bringing Passion into Group Therapy

Instructor:

Ronnie Levine, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Faculty, Center for Group Studies, New York, New York

This institute is designed to help therapists understand and work more comfortably with loving and angry feelings in groups and in themselves. This section will help participants to identify the indicators of disguised feelings, to control destructive aggression, and to transform anger into its creative potential for therapeutic growth.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Identify the leader's fears that interfere with addressing loving and angry feelings in group.
2. Identify individual and group manifestations of love and hate.
3. Formulate interventions that address emotional needs of group members.
4. Develop the technique of joining as an emotional intervention in group for individuals, subgroups and groups.
5. Develop the techniques of bridging to promote ego support, feedback, subgroup and group cohesion.
6. Identify the group member's fear of expressing feelings.
7. Examine the interpersonal adaptations to fear and desire that are being expressed in the group.
8. Develop emotional interventions that take in to account the individual and groups' capacity to tolerate and regulate affect.
 

Course References:

1. Aledort, S.L. (2009). Excitement: A Crucial Marker for Group Therapy. Group, 33, 45-62.
2. Levine, R. (2011). Progressing While Regressing in Relationships. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 61(4), 621- 643.
3. Gans, J.S. (1995). Discussion of Therapist Anger in Group Psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 45(4), 355-362.
4. Ormont, L. (1984). The leader's role in dealing with aggression in groups. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 34(4), 353-372.
5. Ormont, L. (1988). The leader's role in resolving resistances to intimacy in the group setting. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 38(1), 29-45.

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