67th Annual Conference

Thursday, February 25

All-Day Workshops

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

Master Workshop 1a

The Inevitable Impact of the Psychotherapist’s Life Narrative on Group Work

Chair:                

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

Open to participants with more than ten years of group psychotherapy experience.

As group psychotherapists, our personal life odysseys have a profound, multi-layered influence on our leadership of our therapy groups and group culture. This experiential workshop will explore how our own life stories influence our groups as well as how our group work affects our private lives and our professional identity.

experiential-sharing of work experiences-demonstration-didactic

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Discuss the personal and professional reasons for leading therapy groups.

2. Describe the pivotal dynamics that influence how group therapists think about and intervene in their groups.

3. Formulate how critical events in therapists’ lives invariably influence their group work and group culture.

4. Identify how group work has an impact on therapists’ lives.

Course References:

Goldberg, C. (1991). On Being a Psychotherapist. N.J.: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Guy, J. D. (1987). The Personal Life of the Psychotherapist. N.Y.: Wiley.

Welt, S. R., & Herron, W.G. (1990). Narcissism and the Psychotherapist. N.Y.: Guilford Press.