65th Annual Conference

Thursday, February 21

Morning Open Sessions

10:00 A.M.-1:15 P.M.

Session 301

Fear and Loathing in Group Therapy

Chair:

Joseph Shay, Ph.D., CGP, FAGPA, Private Practice, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Panelists:

Lise Motherwell, Ph.D., Psy.D., FAGPA, Faculty, Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, MGH, Boston, Massachusetts
J. Scott Rutan, Ph.D., CGP, DFAGPA, Private Practice, Newton, Massachusetts
 

Group therapists faced with “difficult” patients or groups often feel unknowledgeable, unskilled, or unhinged. Not uncommonly, therapists are momentarily paralyzed into inaction or propelled into enactment. Watching video clips and engaging in role play of these problematic situations, we hope to increase your ability to intervene in such situations, rather than simply survive them.

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Appreciate the complexity of the phrase “difficult” patients and groups
2. Identify indications and contraindications for treating difficult patients & groups
3. Recognize common countertransference reactions when in these situations
4. Enhance ability to formulate underlying dynamics in these situations
5. Learn techniques to intervene when such situations arise
 

Course References:

1. Roth, B.E., Stone, W.N., & Kibel, H.D. (Eds.), The difficult patient in group: Group psychotherapy with borderline and narcissistic disorders.
2. Rutan, J.S., Stone, W.N., & Shay, J.J. (2007) Difficult groups and difficult patients. In J.S. Rutan, W.N. Stone, & Shay, J.J. Psychodynamic group psychotherapy, 4th ed. (pp. 309-339). New York: Guilford Press.
3. Rutan, J.S. Treating difficult patients in groups (2005). In L. Motherwell & J. Shay (eds.), Complex dilemmas in group therapy: Pathways to resolution (pp. 41-49). New York: Brunner-Routledge.