Group Therapy Through the Lens of Attachment Theory: Yearly Rhythm

The

Fall 2012 From the President Group Kathleen Ulman, PhD, CGP, FAGPA s the leaves start to Afall and the days grow shorter, I remember my excite- Circle ment and anticipation The Newsletter of the of new challenges American Group Psychotherapy Association with the onset of and the International Board for Certification of the new school year that marked the Group Psychotherapists beginning of the rhythm of the coming academic year. AGPA also has its own Group Therapy Through the Lens of Attachment Theory: yearly rhythm. For me, the fall brings thoughts of scheduling Board meetings, An Interview with David Wallin, PhD encouraging scholarship applications, Paul Kaye, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Co-Chair, Annual Meeting Committee beginning preparations for the Annual Meeting, anticipation of Distance David Wallin, PhD, is a clinical experience; we’re just defined by it. Learning participation, and the start of psychologist in private practice in In contrast, I’ve referred to mentalizing and mindful- many goings-on outside of the aware- Albany and Mill Valley, California. ness as “the double helix of psychological liberation.” ness of many AGPA members. I would Dr. Wallin has been practicing, Why? Because each of these stances fosters the dis-embed- like to take this opportunity to share with you the activities that have been teaching, and writing about psy- ding that loosens the grip of automatic response patterns. taking place on behalf of AGPA over the chotherapy for nearly three decades. Each stance is also affect-regulating, contributes to insight summer while most of us have been on His most recent book, Attachment and empathy, and helps promote the integration of dissoci- vacation, as well as more recently. in Psychotherapy (©2007, The ated experience that’s key to therapeutic change. The Annual Meeting Program is Guilford Press), has been translated In working with our patients, it is critical to gauge completed, the Special Institute and into nine languages. He is also co-author (with Stephen the patient’s capacity to mentalize. We often make this Two-Day Institute Programs can be Goldbart, PhD,) of Mapping the Terrain of the Heart: assessment on the fly, and sometimes it shifts on a dime. viewed on the website, and the rest Passion, Tenderness, and The Capacity to Love (©1996, The extent to which patients can mentalize helps us of the program will soon be available. Jason Aronson). He has lectured on attachment and psy- choose our interventions. For assessment purposes, three This is the time of year to encourage trainees and new professionals to apply chotherapy in Australia, Europe, Canada, and through- questions are key: a) At any particular moment, can the for scholarships. Your help is essential. out the United States. Dr. Wallin will present the Anne patient see that reality might be other than he thinks The Scholarship Program has been and Ramon Alonso Plenary Address at the AGPA Annual or feels it is? b) Can he see that different people might a vital source of new attendees and Meeting in New Orleans on March 1, 2013. legitimately regard the same reality in different ways? members. In June, the Board approved and c) Can he appreciate that his own estimate of what a pilot to simulcast a limited number PK: In your book, Attachment in Psychotherapy, he now regards as reality might well change? The idea of Annual Meeting events. This is an you state, “…. the stance of the self toward expe- here is that mentalizing involves the capacity to consider exciting innovation that means that rience predicts attachment security better than multiple perspectives on experience, rather than being group therapists around the world will the facts of personal history themselves.” Could trapped in the presumed reality of a single view. Because be able to observe in real time these events, as well as interact and ask you define what the stance of the self toward mentalizing capability is both developmentally deter- questions. These simulcasts will also experience refers to and describe how a clinician mined and context-dependent, its strength varies; hence, be stored and available following the would go about assessing it? the importance of keeping in mind the inverse relation- Annual Meeting. ship between the intensity of feelings—or the rigidity of The Annual Meeting Committee sur- DW: The stance of the self toward experience refers to defenses against feeling—and the degree to which we’re veyed the 2011 attendees who did not the ways in which we respond to and process our own able to take a step back from experience in order to make return in 2012 to the Annual Meeting experience and that of others. In my book, I describe sense of it. The more freaked out we are, or the more rig- in New York City. The results showed three such stances, suggesting that we can be embedded idly detached, the less we’re able to mentalize. that the major reason for not returning was determined by considerations of in experience, we can be reflective (in other words, we can If you think of a hierarchy of interventions with empa- time and money and was not related mentalize), or we can be mindful. When embedded in our thy and support at the top and interpretations of motiva- to satisfaction with attendees’ experi- experience, we simply believe everything we think and tional dynamics (especially as these involve transference- ences. The Annual Meeting Committee (especially) feel. When we reflect or mentalize, we make countertransference) at the bottom, then it’s the intensity of has also been using participant evalu- sense of experience and behavior in light of the underly- the patient’s emotion, or defenses against same, that should ations to help guide them in designing ing mental states that shape them. When we’re mindful, determine the depth of our intervention: The more mental continued on page 2 we’re deliberately present and fully aware of whatever space available to the patient, the deeper the intervention experience arises in the immediacy of the moment. should be. On the other hand, there’s also a kind of hori- I want to make sure I give the concept embedded- zontal differentiation to be made between highly emotional What’s Inside ness its due. This stance is probably just what’s called for patients with a hyper-activating attachment strategy and when we’re immersed in the pleasures of music, or skiing, emotionally detached patients with a de-activating strategy. Call for Nominations 2 or making love. On the other hand, embeddedness is a The former may need more in the way of ongoing empathy Annual Meeting Survey Results 3 problem when it’s regularly our only option. Then we’re and support from the therapist, while the latter may need Making of a Group Therapist 4 on autopilot—prisoners of our own internal world—with the therapist to show some emotion, to lead the way, to offer Group Assets Insert little ability to regulate our emotions, or to understand more in the way of confrontation and self-disclosure. Group As an Object of Desire 5 ourselves or others. With such a stance we can’t interpret continued on page 6 Consultation, Please 7 Affiliate Society News 8 The Group Circle is President organization that began this summer and published four times a year by the continued from page 1 will continue to be through the fall and From the American Group Psychotherapy this year’s and future meetings. winter. The design is drawing on both Association, Inc. and the International I am pleased to announce that the Board member input and the expertise of many Board for Certification of Group Editor approved Boston as the site for our 2014 branches of the organization; we have Psychotherapists. Steven Van Wagoner, PhD, CGP, FAGPA Annual Meeting. A contract has been been using the results of the membership Editor signed with the Westin Copley Place for survey and the input developed at the Tri- Steven Van Wagoner, PhD, CGP, FAGPA March 3-8, 2014. Organizational Board Meeting in March always love the Fall edition because In August, the American Psychological for overall website development. The Editorial Staff current and past Special Interest Group for me, and I hope for many of you, Tammy Brown, MSSW, CGP Association cited AGPA’s Practice Guide- it stirs excitement and anticipation Hank Fallon, PhD, CGP, FAGPA lines for Group Psychotherapy several Task Force Co-Chairs and AGPA Secretary I for the Annual Meeting, which is only Michael Hegener, MA, LCP, FAGPA times in their new Resolution on the have been reviewing new software as an Jennifer Johnson, PhD a few months away. Reading the fine Effectiveness of Psychotherapy. It was alternative to E-Communities. The Annual interviews with David Wallin, PhD, Managing Editor very good news, and satisfying to see Meeting Committee undertook the time- consuming task of developing the tax- Morris Nitsun, PhD, and Jerry Gans, Marsha Block, CAE, CFRE AGPA’s Practice Guidelines, developed by PhD, CGP, DFAGPA, is like getting a the Science to Services Task Force, rec- onomy for tagging Annual Meeting and taste of the menu before making my Editorial/Production Managers ognized. Distance Learning presentations so that choices. At times, I could imagine Nicole Millman-Falk, CAE Now that we have a new Editor— continuing education will be searchable myself in dialogue with each of them, Angela Stephens, CAE Dominick Grundy, PhD, CGP—for the on the website. The Science to Services generating my own questions in International Journal of Group Psycho- Task Force is taking a final look at the AGPA anticipation of rich responses. 25 East 21st Street, 6th floor therapy, the Journal Search Committee taxonomy to make sure it reflects the As is occasionally the case in New York, NY 10010 has sent out separate surveys to the state of the art in group psychotherapy. our organization, enthusiasm for the phone: 212-477-2677 Editorial Committee, readership, and The Task Force is also looking at video- activities AGPA offers coincides with toll-free: 877-668-AGPA authors to obtain feedback about the tapes that could be put on the site to the periodic loss of our community’s fax: 212-979-6627 quality of articles and authors experienc- demonstrate what a group looks like in e-mail: [email protected] precious members. Beryce MacLennan, es to provide information for recommen- action. The Certification Board is con- www.agpa.org PhD, CGP, DFAGPA, and F. Theodore dations to the new Editor. sulting with the office to redesign the (Ted) Reid, PhD, CGP, DFAGPA, two of In July, Jeffrey Kleinberg, PhD, CGP, directory to make sure it reflects member Advertising Rates our Distinguished Fellows and generous FAGPA, Marsha Block, CAE, CFRE, CEO, comments for changes and that it’s user Display Ad Sizes contributors to the field of group and I traveled to the IAGP meeting in friendly. As we move through the website Width/Height Cost psychotherapy, died recently. We honor Cartagena, Colombia, and participated in plans, we will also be contacting mem- Full Page the life of Dr. MacLennan in this issue’s 3 3 bers to test the site with us to insure 8 /4 x 13 /4 $ 1,250 the meeting of the International Standards In Memoriam, and we will do the same Half Page Vertical Committee that continued the work that functionality and ease of use.

1 3 for Dr. Reid in the next issue. Their loss 4 /4 x 13 /4 $ 625 was begun in New York in March. The The redesign of the website is a massive is keenly felt in the AGPA community. Half Page Horizontal agenda was very full, with each group orga- undertaking that will involve many com- 3 3 4 4 I again urge you to send me 8 / x 6 / $ 625 nization presenting its point of view. The mittees, as well as a large portion of the Quarter Page your ideas for an article on a topic meetings culminated in the development office staff’s time. As you can see, it takes 1 3 4 /4 x 6 /4 $ 325 of interest in group psychotherapy. of a draft for basic standards for interna- a village to build the AGPA website. I want Sixth Page So many of you have offered stellar 3 3 tional certification of group therapists. The to thank everyone who has been involved 2 /4 x 6 /4 $ 210 workshops and institutes that you Twelfth Page Committee work will continue at the AGPA in this monumental effort and to give spe-

3 1 might want to turn into an article for 2 /4 x 3 /8 $ 110 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. cial thanks to Marsha Block and the office The Group Circle. Do not hesitate to The development of a new website staff who have put in many long hours get- Call Nicole Millman-Falk ting this effort off the ground. contact me with your ideas. at 201-652-1687 for further details. has been the major undertaking of the • •

IBCGP Looking for Outstanding Contributions in Call for Nominations for Member Education and Training AGPA Election 2013

News The International Board for Certification of Group Psychotherapists (IBCGP) is Jeffrey Kleinberg, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, accepting nominations for the Harold S. Bernard Group Psychotherapy Chair, Nominating Committee Training Award. IBCGP is greatly honored that the award will now carry Dr. Bernard’s name. Dr. Bernard was a Past President and Distinguished Fellow of The Nominating Committee is pleased to AGPA and was a prolific and outstanding contributor to the field of group psy- invite nominations for Officer and Board of chotherapy through his many years of teaching, training, and writing. Director positions of the American Group The award will be presented at the AGPA 2013 Annual Meeting (February Psychotherapy Association. All nomina- 25–March 2) to an individual or organization whose work in training and/or tions should be directed to the Chair Gil Spielberg, PhD, ABPP, education contributes to excellence in the practice of group psychotherapy. of this Committee, Jeffrey Kleinberg at Examples of contributions that will be considered include the creation of a CGP, FAGPA, gave a pre- [email protected]. curriculum, monographs, manuals or programs for the development of psy- At this stage, we are simply accept- sentation to the Institute of chotherapists; provisions of continuing education and/or training of practicing ing nominations. As the pool of poten- Contemporary Psychoanalysis group psychotherapists; or advocacy for quality in the provision of group psy- tial applicants grow, the Nominating in Los Angeles, California, on chotherapy services. Committee will exercise its charge to put Building Immediacy in Group Anyone can submit a nominee. An applicant may be self-nominated. together a slate of candidates that is as Using the Adjacent Possible. Priority is given to CGPs and AGPA members. The application must include diverse as possible to faithfully and most This was the first-ever group- the name, address, curriculum vita (if it applies to an individual) and a detailed fully represent our membership. A nomina- reason for the award nomination. Additional letters of recommendation will be tion to the Committee does not guarantee oriented presentation for this encouraged to accompany the award nomination. candidacy, but does ensure a deep pool analytic institute. The application should be sent to Sherrie Smith, LCSW-R, CGP, FAGPA, of potential candidates for the 2013 elec- Chairwoman IBCGP Board of Directors, [email protected], and tions. It should be noted that nominations Leah Penney, Membership and Credentials Associate, [email protected]. for President-Elect should have previously Due to Hurricane Sandy, the deadline has been extended to November 30. • served on the AGPA Board of Directors. •

2 In Memoriam: Beryce Winifred MacLennan, PhD, CGP, FAPA, DFAGPA

he following paragraphs are the person- ents, would take hours to make, and no, I Beryce’s lifetime of devotion and contribu- Saiger, MD, and Carol Tal reflections of Bea Liebenberg, MSW, never tackled it. tions to the study of the theory and practice Hausman, PhD. She CGP, DFAGPA, for whom Beryce Winifred As innovative and complex as she of group psychotherapy. edited the text Group MacLennan, PhD, CGP, FAPA, DFAGPA, was in the kitchen and as an entertainer, In the late 1950s, she was part of a Psychotherapies for the was a colleague and consultant, as well per- she was equally so professionally. She and I committee that formed a training program for Elderly, published in sonal friend. Bea, while describing some of launched two group therapy programs at the group therapists in New York. By the time 1988. Beryce is the Dr. MacLennan’s professional achievements, Jewish Social Services Agency, where she she moved to Washington in 1960, she was a only faculty member brings to life the personal vibrancy of the served as my consultant for the next several recognized group specialist. Morris Parloff, of the Washington School of Psychiatry woman, who was friend, mentor, colleague, years. One group was for applicants for MD, DFAGPA, invited her to join him in to receive an emeritus designation in two and teacher to many clinicians. adoption and the other for adolescent girls. teaching a course on group psychotherapy at training programs, both the group and aging Beryce MacLennan, my friend, col- She was an excellent supervisor from whom the Washington School of Psychiatry (WSP), programs. league, and former consultant, died on I learned a great deal. Beryce was always and she was an active member of WSP ever Over the course of her career, Beryce June 19 at 92. She left London for New interested in serving those in need, and was since. With Irving Ryckoff, MD, Morris has contributed to her professional com- York more than 60 years ago, where she talented and skillful in her work. Parloff, and others she developed WSP’s munity as a student, clinician, program became active in the New York group group psychotherapy training and treatment developer and director, administrator, psychotherapy community, joining AGPA he remaining paragraphs are the program, first offered in 1963. It became the academic, author, supervisor, trainer, and in 1952. It was Saul Scheidlinger, PhD, Tjoint efforts of Tybe Diamond, MSW, foundation of the present National Group teacher. She has published articles in ABPP, CGP, DFAGPA, who gave her my BCD, Chair, Washington School of Psychotherapy Institute. the Policy Studies Journal, the Journal name when she moved to Washington, DC, Psychiatry’s Certificate Training Program Beryce reached into her professional of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy, with her husband Jack, a physician who on Psychotherapy with Older Adults and community in other ways as well. She orga- and the International Journal of Group was appointed to the medical faculty of the the Study of Aging, and Maryetta Andrews- nized a ballroom dancing group with her Psychotherapy. She co-authored the book Georgetown University Hospital. They were Sachs, MSW, CGP, FAGPA, President-Elect, colleagues, encouraging play and connection Group Counseling and Psychotherapy with an interesting and active young couple, and Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society, in her larger professional group. In 1962, the Adolescents with Kathryn Dies, PhD, and we loved to hike together with them on the who document the important contributions Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society co-edited Group Psychotherapies for the Appalachian and other nearby trails. Dr. MacLennan made to group psychothera- emerged out of these gatherings. Today Elderly with Shura Saul, EdD, CSW, and Jack had a terrible and fatal accident py, and later in her career to the treatment of MAGPS is an Affiliate Society of AGPA with Marcella Bakur Weiner, PhD, EdD. at Georgetown the year after they arrived in the elderly. 186 members and two regional conferences Dr. MacLennan was a good friend to Washington. From that day forward, Beryce Beryce had a distinguished career each year. Beryce served two terms as its many, a perceptive and wise colleague, and a became a member of our family. She was that spanned more than 60 years and two President, in 1965 and again in 1987, and mentor and supervisor to many psychothera- a superb cook who loved to throw dinner continents. She entered the London School was an avid member of AGPA, serving on its pists. She was avidly involved in her local parties in her then Georgetown home. An of Economics in 1945 with the goal of work- Board of Directors, and presenting often at community and was especially interested avid dancer, she would clear the second ing in Parliament. There she met Edward AGPA’s Annual Meeting. and active in assisting her community in floor of her home for ballroom dancing. I Schils, a professor of sociology and psy- Later in her career, she became their efforts to enable older adults to sustain remember once asking her for the recipe for chology who was interested in the work of interested in working with the elderly. She their independence and age in place in their an extraordinary dessert she made at one Wilfred Bion. He enabled his class to study was appointed to the faculty of the Center homes and community. She will be missed of those gatherings, which she immediately group relations at the Tavistock Clinic and for the Study of Psychotherapies for the by her friends and colleagues, who admired wrote out for me. It had countless ingredi- observe the group work of Bion. So began Aging when it was founded by George her scholarship and deep humanity.

2012 Annual Meeting Non-Attendees Survey-Results Overview Hank Fallon, PhD, CGP, FAGPA and Paul Kaye, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Annual Meeting Co-Chairs

Introduction and Survey Demographics 15% somewhat important), a negative experience in experience could enhance their meeting experience and We have tabulated the results of our survey of people 2011 (0% very important; 6% somewhat important), improve their overall perception of the organization. who attended the 2011 AGPA Annual Meeting, who and rejection of a proposal (2% very important; 0% Given that 29% had less than five years as a mem- did not return for the 2012 Annual Meeting. Out of 78 somewhat important) had less impact on respondent’s ber in AGPA and 65% of the respondents had five or respondents, 69% were female 31% male. Members decision to attend. less prior conferences, we might hypothesize that these accounted for 73% of respondents, non-members 27%. When asked to choose the chief reasons for not are newer professionals who are in the process of estab- We found that 37% of those surveyed were AGPA mem- attending the conference, time considerations (29%) lishing themselves in their career. They are the indi- bers for 0-5 years; 19% for 6-10 years; 22% for 11-15 and travel costs (23%), followed by cost of hotel (12%) viduals who will likely be most impacted by the expense years; 4% for 16-20 years; and 19% for 20 or more were the most prominent. Also of note was that 19% and time factors, although none of us are immune to years. Twenty five percent attended the Annual Meeting indicated they normally did not attend yearly. those pressures. For those in private practice, taking for the first time in 2011; 41% attended 2-5 meetings; From this sample of 2012 Non-Attendees, 27% time off is of significant cost in lost revenue. For those 18% attended 6-10 meetings; 12% attended 11-15, and were interested, 40% not interested, and 33% unsure working in agencies, professional development leave or 4% attended 16 or more meetings. Similar to the overall about whether they would use remote access to the vacation leave might be limited, also adding to the over- composition of the meetings, 40% were psychologists; conference if it were offered. We believe that this ques- all cost of attending meetings. The AGPA Scholarship 31% were social workers; 13% were psychiatrists; and tion may have confused respondents, and the survey Program remains a significant resource to those for 29% comprised all remaining disciplines. should have been clearer about what remote access whom cost is a serious impediment. actually meant. Newer members also are more likely to have Possible Reasons for Missing 2012 younger children who easily become an issue when try- Cost of travel (33% very important; 30% somewhat impor- Conclusions ing to decide whether to attend the meeting for a week, tant), cost of hotel (38% very important; 29% somewhat Most of those not attending the 2012 Annual Meeting and this was cited in the comments by some respon- important), and time considerations (30% very important; appear to be satisfied with what the Meeting offers and dents. Finally, newer members might need greater 32% somewhat important) were cited as reasons for not do not cite negative experience or rejection of a pro- assistance finding a professional and social home in attending the 2012 meeting. The location of the confer- posal as a key reason for not attending. the organization, so that attention to ways in which we ence (20% very important; 15 % somewhat important) Twenty-nine percent of our non-attendees had can make them feel more included might positively and the fact that it was held in the same city two years under five years of group experience. A review of the enhance their initial perception of the organization. in a row (8% very important;12% somewhat important comments suggests that we need to be more sensitive to The information on remote access needs to be respectively) were not as influential. early career professionals. A clearly defined track at the explored further as AGPA moves toward offering Interest in program offerings (0% very important; meeting for those with less than five years group therapy remote access to the conference. •

3 The Making of a Group Therapist: An Interview with Jerome Gans, MD, CGP, DFAGPA Eleanor Counselman, EdD, CGP, FAGPA, Institute Co-Chair

The theme of personal experience will permeate the pect of having one’s work observed by seven or eight professional, as the following Special Institute to be led by Jerome Gans, MD, CGP, people is formidable, especially given the complex- example will explain. DFAGPA, at the upcoming AGPA Annual Meeting in ity of group dynamics. All of these factors made me Twenty or so years ago, I New Orleans. The Role of Personal Experience in realize that it takes courage to run psychodynami- was invited to speak to Lou Ormont’s group in New the Making of a Group Therapist will be the focus of cally oriented groups. York City about my development as a group thera- his morning session, and The Courage of the Group pist. I remember speaking about my medical experi- Therapist is the focus of the afternoon. A private prac- EC: What do you expect to cover in your Special ence at the University of Rochester Medical School, tioner in Wellesley, Massachusetts, he is an Associate Institute? where I was exposed to giants in the field like Drs. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical John Romano and George Engel. I then spoke about School at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The JG: I plan to focus on how personal experience inevi- what I learned about group therapy from Drs. Elvin author of more than 23 refereed articles and the book tably becomes part of one’s therapeutic presence. I Semrad and Max Day at the Massachusetts Mental Difficult Topics in Group Psychotherapy: My Journey will discuss several personal experiences from which Health Center. I touched on my early life-altering from Shame to Courage, Dr. Gans also served as I have culled important lessons for therapy—and T-group experience, as well as things I learned from Editor of The Group Circle. life—and provide clinical examples for each. I will participating in AGPA Institutes. During the recep- emphasize that I highly value theory, supervision, tion after my talk, many people graciously com- EC: How did you get interested in these topics, clinical experience, mentorship, and one’s own thera- mented on my talk. What I will never forget is that and why do they continue to hold your interest? py as crucial to the making of a psychotherapist. Our 90 percent of those comments addressed a personal, basic personhood is at the heart of our therapeutic family experience that I recounted, not the profes- JG: On a hot day in July 1968, along with 27 other efforts and efficacy. sional experiences I enumerated. psychiatric residents, I began my training at the The role that our personal experience contrib- I come from a lower middle-class Conservative Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Crowded into utes to our therapeutic efficacy has been overlooked. I Jewish home. My parents had relatively little formal the second floor library, we listened to Dr. Elvin hope this Special Institute will help participants take education. When I attended Harvard College and Semrad, a renowned teacher of psychotherapy. Of the stock of their personal experience and value it as an was dazzled by the preppy, WASP culture that I many things he said that morning that stayed with important and valid part of their therapeutic presence. never knew existed, I took a 15-year sabbatical from me all these years was: “The one thing that all of I want to be sure, on the other hand, that participants Judaism. After I married and we had three children, you have that no one else has is your experience as relatively new to the field realize that basic grounding I slowly returned to my Jewish heritage. We began to you experienced it. You may not have elected it; you in theory, clinical experience, supervision, and one’s stay home on Friday nights, and my wife would pre- may think it stinks, but it is yours; so value it and own therapy all contribute to the development of our pare a beautiful Shabbos meal, replete with a white use it.” That statement has served me well over time. professional selves. A balance is needed. The personal tablecloth and our finest dishes. We would light the Initially, when I had little patient experience and without the professional runs the risk of being solip- candles, bless the children, and sing the blessings even less theoretical knowledge, it was reassuring to sistic where therapists believe they need be aware over the wine and the bread. I would look at my wife know that my personal experience counted for some- of nothing but their experience and their emotional and children with love and appreciation, ready for thing. In the next phase of my career, I overvalued states. The professional without the personal lacks a relaxing meal and special family time. Before we theory; it became a transitional object that contained inspiration, conviction, and authenticity. knew it, the children were spilling the wine, bickering my anxiety. With more clinical experience, I realized The afternoon session will delve into the differ- with each other, or dissatisfied with the food. One of that major theorists were also just people whose per- ences between expected therapeutic competence and them might leave the table. I would look at my wife, sonal experience influenced the theories they devel- leader courage. I anticipate that the demonstration all of her efforts apparently in vain, and wonder with oped. This realization helped me lower these theories group will illustrate that the concept of leader cour- her why we were expending all this energy on a ritual from the exalted positions I had placed them, put age is more complicated than it appears on the sur- that the kids didn’t seem to appreciate. Following them in perspective, and value them for their partial face. But then again, with demonstration groups and three or four such disheartening Sabbath evenings, to contribution to the field. Now I have come to appre- the energy infused in them by the unconscious, who our surprise and seemingly out of nowhere, our chil- ciate that in addition to my theoretical knowledge, I can predict what will transpire? dren would initiate a discussion about the meaning of have culled lessons from my personal experience that community, or justice, or the importance of welcom- have become part of my abiding therapeutic core. EC: Has your thinking on this topic evolved over ing the stranger. After dinner my wife and I would My interest in the courage of the group therapist time and if so, how? wonder why such wonderful Shabbos dinners didn’t resulted from telling interactions with a few colleagues happen every week. We finally realized that it was in over time. Knowing of my interest in group therapy, JG: The complexity of group dynamics and the the nature of things to have to put up with four such these colleagues let me know that they were planning healing process has always impressed me. It has evenings in order to get the fifth. to start a therapy group. When I would bump into never made sense that one theory or approach can More than anything I read in a textbook or was them months later and ask them how their groups were do justice to the variety of human experience and told by a supervisor, this highly personal experi- going, I invariably got the same answer, “I just never the countless unique contexts in which such experience helped me realize that the same pattern often was able to get the group off the ground.” ence occurs. I have never subscribed to identifying emerged in my therapy groups. Just when I was Forming and leading groups is difficult. oneself as a self-psychologist, object relations ther- ready to conclude that my groups were unproduc- Patients rarely request group therapy, and colleagues apist, or a Freudian. I have always been a pluralist, tive and not worth the time and energy, the next rarely consider referring a patient for group. Few cli- a clinician who believes that I should know all the session was remarkably productive. It was many nicians, in my experience, consistently make group theories and employ their methods with a given experiences like this one that made me appreciate referrals that stick. Having a workable mix and criti- patient—or group—at a given time, where doing so how central my personal experience is to my thera- cal mass of individuals with whom to begin a group, made therapeutic sense. Certain occurrences also peutic presence. In 2006, I wrote a paper—“My and finding an agreeable day, hour, and location for made me realize that, under this pluralist umbrella, Abiding Therapeutic Core: Its Emergence Over the meeting are daunting tasks. Moreover, the pros- I needed to include the personal as well as the continued on page 6

4 The Group as an Object of Desire: Exploring Sexuality in Group Psychotherapy with Morris Nitsun, PhD Hank Fallon, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, Co-Chair, Annual Meeting Committee

Morris Nitsun, PhD, will be a Special Institute presenter tal way. The excitement of sex should not be lost in elsewhere for this specialized at the AGPA Annual Meeting on Monday, February too serious or anxious an approach. In my book, I training. 25, 2013, in New Orleans. Dr. Nitsun is a consultant refer to the erotic imagination of the group, which clinical psychologist at the NHS Mental Health Trust includes a playful approach to sexuality expressed HF: Dealing with recognition of the body, embod- in England, a training analyst at the Institute of Group through the exploration of fantasy and sharing of ied relationships, and non-verbal communication Analysis, and a member of the Group Analytic Practice. desires in all their subjectivity. are important features of some group work. His numerous publications include The Anti-Group: How does attention to these issues enhance the Destructive Forces in the Group and Their Creative HF: You talk about sexuality becoming a property understanding of group process as it relates to Potential, and his most recent book The Group as of the group and the group being able to discuss desire and sexuality in the group? an Object of Desire: Exploring Sexuality in Group aspects of the experience that are normally kept Therapy. His Institute will cover material from this lat- hidden due to shame and/or hurt. What is the MN: The difficulties people have with their sexual- est book. He graciously took time to answer some ques- leader’s role in the development of this culture of ity are always in some way related to their bodies, tions regarding his book and provide us with insight curiosity and willingness to risk? What do we do the body in fantasy, and, of course, other people’s into his upcoming Institute. You will also be able to that can be counterproductive to this process? bodies. Therefore, there can hardly be a sexual register for a live simulcast of this Institute. discourse without attention and sensitivity to the MN: The leader’s role is crucial. The leader sets body. Again this needs openness, playfulness, and a HF: It has been about six years since the publica- the tone when it comes to sexuality, and the group non-judgmental position in the group so that people tion of your book on sexuality. Do you think that will consciously or unconsciously be alert to the can feel free to talk about bodily matters, including the field of group psychotherapy is more open his or her attitudes and feelings and be guided by intimate ones. Direct attention to the body and non- to engaging in a discourse regarding desire and them. It is important for the leader to be clear with verbal in-group interaction, generally and not only sexuality in group and is moving away from the him/herself and where he/she stands on important in relation to sexuality, facilitates this position. This marginalization of those topics you noted at the current issues such as sexual orientation, promiscu- is another area that may merit greater emphasis beginning of your book? ity, Internet sex, and the wide range of alternative in training courses since group psychotherapy is a sexual interests and practices. It is insufficient to largely verbal medium and lip service is often paid MN: Overall, the field is a bit more open to engaging assume as a group conductor that one has a liberal to non-verbal expression. in a sexual discourse, as you put it, but I still detect view of sexual matters. It requires close questioning uncertainty and defensiveness. This sometimes takes of oneself, one’s knowledge about sexual diversity, HF: You suggest that the private sexual self may the form of “Why are you making such an issue of and one’s morality. It would be counterproductive contain all the hidden desires and impulses that it?” The much greater openness about sexuality in if the therapist is closed to these issues or if he/she are at odds with social standards and norms, society-at-large, partly stimulated by the Internet, thinks he/she is open, but is inwardly guarded and and the risk of exposure may be why people fear is not reflected in commensurate changes in group self-protective. Of course, we all have anxieties and joining groups. With the exponential growth of psychotherapy. This does not alter the fact that there prejudices in this area, and I am not suggesting that the Internet, people are now able to join groups are, of course, some very open group practitioners these can simply be eradicated. in an unexposed way and talk about and engage who work creatively and directly with sexuality and around hidden desires and impulses with others. desire, but they appear to be the minority. HF: I believe you see the therapist’s sexual orien- How is this form of connection different than tation as offering both opportunities and poten- desire and sexuality in groups that you discuss? HF: In the book, you discuss the different fac- tial roadblocks to desire and sexuality discourse What can group therapy offer, if anything, to ets of the sexual self (individual, relational, and in group. Please talk about some of the complex those addicted to this type of engagement? social sexual self) and how often sexuality is dynamics involved and how we can increase our experienced as a difficult, awkward, and incom- awareness of these forces. MN: The Internet connection you describe is very plete part of the self. If the work of therapy is to different from most therapy groups in so far as uncover the hidden stories of desire beneath the MN: It is probably less complex when the thera- people participating in Internet groups usually join presenting issues and symptoms, what allows pist is heterosexual because this is mostly what is for very specific reasons having to do with sexual the group to understand and integrate the impor- assumed, and probably what most clients expect. preference and sexual liaisons. So the Internet tance of these in the group process rather than However, being straight in itself doesn’t resolve group is a group of like-minded people with very minimize them? all of the challenges, and a straight therapist may similar interests and an either implicit or explicit well have difficulty understanding and appreciat- behavioral agenda. Most therapy groups do not rep- MN: The culture of the group is all-important. It ing gay and lesbian sexuality. How well homosexual resent such specific interests and do not have this is important that there is trust in talking about the therapists facilitate discourse on sexuality may be kind of behavioral purpose. Internet activities have diversities and intimacies of sex and a recogni- complicated by whether or not they are out, whether become very important in people’s sex lives offer- tion that, for many people, sex is not all that it is clients know they are gay, and so on. They may ing forms of direct sexual stimulation with the pos- cracked out to be. Even people who have good sex also be uncertain of their ground when it comes sibility of satisfaction, and also have the advantage lives experience periods of anxiety and self-doubt. to straight sex or may be perceived as such by of anonymity, which again is very different from In addition, sexual desire in some ways knows clients. In both cases, however, an erotic imagina- therapy groups. Addiction to Internet pornography no bounds, often harboring wishes for transgres- tion can overcome biases. Additionally, therapists and other forms of sexual material is a huge issue sion or the breaking of boundaries, even if this is can benefit from focused training on sexuality and in the current world. A psychotherapy group may not enacted. The group requires openness, a non- desire and dealing with it in group. In the UK, be of assistance if members with addiction issues judgmental stance, and an absence of pathologizing. group therapy courses include very little about this. are able to address these in the group. Again trust It also requires a large element of play, so that sex Either the courses have to add sexuality training is vital. A therapy group may be able to challenge can be spoken about in a spontaneous, experimen- to their approaches or practitioners will need to go continued on page 8

5 Wallin continued from page 1 apeutic conversation. So how do we tune in to that izing the therapist role, advocating the need channel? It turns out that what human beings can’t for a paradigm shift from a one-person psy- PK: How might attachment theory be helpful put into words they tend to evoke in others, enact chology to a two-person psychology. Could to the group psychotherapist working with with others, and/or embody. The implication for the you expound on this? a mixed group of men and women who bring therapist is that to access the realm of unverbalized into the group a variety of life struggles in experience, which is often also the domain of dis- DW: I’m a big fan of both humanizing and democ- maintaining intimacy in their relationships? sociated experience, we need to attend to our own ratizing the therapeutic relationship. Therapists and subjective experience as we relate to our patients, patients alike are inescapably more human than DW: Attachment theory research has three key we need to work with the transference-countertrans- anything else—more alike than different, though implications for therapy: highlighting the centrality ference enactments we co-create with our patients, one is there primarily to help and the other to be of the relationship; nonverbal experience; and the and we need to try to read the language of emotion helped. For better and worse, therapists affect and stance of the self toward experience. and the body, for these are all routes to accessing are affected by their patients. All of us are embed- Patients often seek group therapy because they and eventually integrating preverbal, disowned, ded in the relational context. have problems in relationships, and attachment and/or dissociated experience. Unfortunately for generations of patients and research is largely research about childhood relation- I’m most interested in enactments. I see these therapists, the long-prevalent one-person psychol- ships. This research identifies the ingredients of those arising when and where the attachment patterns of ogy failed to appreciate these realities. Trained relationships that most effectively foster security, the therapist interlock with those of the patient. In in this model, many of us were encouraged to resilience, and flexibility. It suggests that as individual group therapy, these ongoing, mini-psychodramas adopt some pretty crazy assumptions. One was or group therapists we should aim to generate relation- will engage the attachment patterns of group mem- the idea (contradicted by experience) that the ships with our patients that are inclusive (they make bers as they enact with one another, as well as the therapist could be entirely neutral and objective. maximum room for patients’ feelings, views, desires), attachment patterns of the therapist as these are Another was the notion that the patient’s psyche that upgrade the dialogue to higher levels of awareness activated in the group. could be understood only if it were isolated from and complexity, in which disruptions are recognized the contaminating influence of the therapist’s and repaired, and in which the therapist is willing to PK: You mention “intersubjectivity…as the best real personality, hence the prescription that the actively engage and struggle with patients. umbrella term for an invaluable body of clinical therapist should aim (impossibly) to be a blank Attachment research also suggests, by implication, research that has taken shape in the last 20 screen. In contrast, two-person psychology rec- that our ability as therapists to implement these guide- years, that both echoes and extends the clini- ognizes the reality of mutual reciprocal influence lines will have a great deal to do with our own psy- cally fertile insights of attachment theory and and the fallacy of objectivity. It makes room for chology. How effectively parents can impart security infant-patient research.” With the above in mind, a dialogue in which therapists and patients work to the child depends largely on their freedom to recall how does the intersubjectivity model serve to together to understand primarily the patient, but and reflect upon their own attachment experience. provide this link with attachment theory and also the therapist. In this framework, therapists, When we are able to read our own minds, we can developmentally based research? like patients, are influenced by factors outside more easily read the mind of the child. Similarly, what awareness, and patients are respected as potential we can include in the relationship with the patient DW: Lots of researchers and clinicians have used the interpreters of the therapist’s experience. depends on what we can allow ourselves to recognize term intersubjectivity to mean different things. I’m We no longer have the unearned authority vest- and tolerate in our own experience. And our ability to using it to refer to what’s been called the “relational ed in us by a destructive old model. Now we can upgrade the dialogue will depend on the strength of turn” in psychoanalysis, which happens to parallel still have authority, but it has a completely different our own capacities to regulate our emotions, to mental- the relational emphasis in attachment theory. Both and sounder basis. We are (or should hope to be) ize, to be mindful, and so on. in the clinical and the attachment research settings experts at changing the system from within. This it’s become clear that we come to know ourselves as means being expert in knowing and using ourselves PK: You write, “Because our first crucial experi- we are known by others, and our experience is cre- to co-create new attachment relationships with, and ences are mainly lived outside the domain of ated in our interaction with others. The clinical and for, our patients. language, our crucial internalizations of early rela- research findings echo and may thus confirm each tionships register as representations, rules, and other, but intersubjectivity adds therapeutic inno- PK: Do you feel that your efforts at integrat- models that cannot be linguistically retrieved….. vations to attachment theory’s developmental and ing attachment, relational, and developmen- for old working models to be updated-they must diagnostic insights. Specifically, it rejects any stan- tal theories have a place within the context be accessed, that is, experientially engaged.” dard technique in favor of a kind of creative clinical of group psychotherapy? What resources are available to the clinician for pluralism. It also allows for the option of deliberate helping patient’s access nonverbal experience? self-disclosure. Lastly, it prioritizes a focus on enact- DW: Very much so. Integrating attachment research ments, not only as a key route to insight and new and relational theory creates what is, at least for DW: That’s a perfect lead-in to the third key impli- experience, but as potential barriers to both. me, an extraordinarily useful framework for clinical cation of attachment research, which is that we intervention whether the therapy is that of the indi- need to prioritize the nonverbal subtext of the ther- PK: You emphasize the importance of human- vidual, the couple, or the group. •

Gans continued from page 4 Time”—that was in the journal Voices.

EC: What advice can you offer participants for getting the most out of this experience with you?

JG: I hope that my Special Institute will inspire people to take an inventory of their significant personal experiences and to understand how some of these experiences may have contributed to their healing powers as a group therapist. •

6 x Consultation,

they secretly feel they are letting you down and are paying you Dear Consultant: fter working with John for a year, I added him to my men’s back for it? These are all issues to ponder as you continue to A group three months ago. He is articulate, affable, and outgo- study your own feelings and the group’s resistance. If this con- ing; I felt he might be a catalyst for change in this group of men, tinues to go on much longer, it could become a group destruc- several of whom are depressed and often have a difficult time talk- tive resistance, which could drive away the helpless feeling ing. John now captivates the group with stories of the difficulties members, thereby threatening the viability of the group. This of his life, making it difficult for anyone else to talk. When some- may call for strong measures. one else does talk, he finds a way to relate it to his own life and The goal here is to help your other group members to find expounds on how the group is so good for him, as he loves being their voice and be able to put their thoughts and feelings into able to help everyone. In short, he monopolizes the group and leaves words, not into behaviors like silent and sullen withdrawal. little room for anyone else. Most of the other members sit in silence Have you noticed any of the other group members rolling their as he tells dramatic stories and asks for advice, only to ignore the eyes or tapping their foot or some other subtle behavioral reac- comments of other members. My efforts to intervene by trying to tion to John? If so, you could ask (let’s call him Joe) what he get other group members involved have met with little success. Can thinks Paul is trying to say when he looks at the ceiling or taps you advise? his foot. This is a fairly benign intervention that may or may Signed, not help group members speak up. You might Please Tiger By The Tail also ask a more courageous member whether or Dear Tiger: not he feels satisfied or dissatisfied with how the hen one member monopolizes a group for multiple sessions, I presume the group is going lately. If he is dissatisfied, ask W group is in collusion to avoid really relating. John’s role as affable enter- how you have been contributing to his dissatis- tainer can be quite seductive, to you as well as the group. You brought him in faction. thinking he would change the group by role modeling more engagement. Well, the If these approaches fall flat and they con- group changed all right; but instead of more interaction, there is less. tinue to accommodate (or avoid) John, you might Since no one else feels safe or strong enough to confront his monopolizing, it consider using what Leslie Rosenthal (1971) falls to you to do so. How you do it is important, so that he doesn’t get scapegoat- developed and Lou Ormont later (1990) coined ed. I would tell the group that it feels as if “we” have been colluding with John, to “The Prognostic Intervention.” David Rosenthal, avoid really working, and really relating with one another. (1993) in his paper “The Prognostic Intervention The first reaction may simply be silence; sit with it a while. The tension will in Group Therapy: A Tool for Managing Group- be great, and John will be tempted to take over. If so, stop him. The anger toward Destructive Resistance,” wrote that the term John for taking over the group needs to emerge. If necessary, redirect it toward ‘prognostic’ refers to “the therapist’s efforts to you. Acknowledge “The John Show,” but remind them they all have been co- head off potential impact of treatment-destruc- producers, encouraging members to own why they let it go on so long. You might tive resistances before the damaging effects are even admit how you went along with it so long. If the therapist can say how he got realized.” According to David Rosenthal, the stuck, sometimes that will make it easier for the members to also do so. modern group analyst has a number of tools and techniques Dave Cooperberg MA, CGP to deal with group-destructive resistance, and the prognostic San Francisco, California intervention is particularly useful to address monopolization, sexual, and aggressive acting out. Dear Tiger: You might consider starting the next session by asking the group, “What aspect his is such a great example of a frequent situation that all of us continue of John’s life would you like him to talk about today for the entire session, and T to encounter. No matter how many times this kind of resistance arises in a how is John going to accommodate you in doing so?” Although spoken with con- group, it is never a slam dunk as to what kind of intervention will help resolve it. cern, this kind of intervention may evoke anger toward you, a safer target than I can understand you wanting to add a more active member to a group of John may be. This is a hoped for outcome as it could help resolve the resistance depressed or repressed people. On the one hand, it seems like a good idea that to aggression and free up the energy in the room. oftentimes works to the benefit of the group; the active member will catalyze the If they are angry with you for bringing in a new person or for a favored new group, and the group will move forward with newfound energy. Or, our worse fears person, it will be easier for them to direct their anger at you and hopefully loosen are realized, and the opposite happens. The depressed/repressed members get up their resistance to stopping John from monopolizing the group. Or, they may overwhelmed with additional envy and aggression, and it increases their resis- take it as a criticism and feel freer to complain to you. All this is meant to dimin- tance. This seems to be what is happening with your group in response to John ish their resistance to the expression of their anger and aggression. By doing so, and maybe even in response to you for bringing him in. the group members may be able to confront, contain and otherwise explore their I want to start out by thinking about your choice of signature and what it may own feelings in relation to John and get back to the business of making more tell us about the group. As I’m sure you know, I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail is the meaningful contact with one another, as well as help John in exploring the anxiety name of a song by Buck Owens. A definition of the phrase is that of a situation too that lurks behind his monopolizing of the group. difficult to handle. In the song, Owens sings “I’m about as helpless as a leaf in a Brian Ashin, MSW, CGP gale and it looks like I’ve got a tiger by the tail.’ My first thought addresses the Ann Arbor, Michigan issue of induced countertransference and how your group was able to get you to experience their helplessness and their own feelings of having a tiger by the tail. My guess is that group members are feeling overwhelmed with their own frighten- Members are invited to contact Michael Hegener, MA, LCP, CGP, FAGPA, the ing and shameful impulses, particularly anger. They are afraid to confront John for Editor of the Consultation, Please column, about issues and/or questions that any number of any number of reasons (fear of loss of control of their impulses, fear arise in your group psychotherapy practices. They will be presented anony- of rejection or retaliation, to name a few.) They are inducing you to experience the mously, as in the question here, and two members of AGPA will be asked to helplessness they feel in the face of their own overwhelming feelings. respond to your dilemma. In this way, we all benefit from members’ consul- I also wonder how you introduced John to the group. Did they pick up on your tation from an objective point of view. SIG members are also encouraged to send cases that pertain to your particular field of interest. Michael can be hope for something different to happen and are silently expressing their resent- reached by fax at 512-472-2880 or e-mail at [email protected]. ment towards you for bringing in a “ringer” or a favored child for that matter? Do

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Nitsun continued from page 5 the problems and losses involved in Internet addic- Affiliate Society programming ideas. Shelley Korshak, MD, CGP, tion, as well as the complexities of self-perception spoke informally about her use of psychodrama (what self-injuries or disappointments may be con- in groups, which kicked off the discussion. Members were invited to share resources by cealed in the addiction?). Relational issues can also News bringing business cards and fliers. The event be addressed: What frustrated relationship needs lie was organized by the newly formed Social behind the addiction and what might need to change Visit AGPA’s website at www.agpa.org/mtgs/affiliatemtgs. in order to give up the addiction? html for updated Affiliate Society meeting information. For Committee, co-chaired by Paige LaCava, LCPC, space considerations, events announced in previous issues are and Elyssa Fink, LCSW. IGPS hosted Hylene included in Group Connections. Dublin, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAGPA, and Paul HF: You point out that sexuality is an integral part Kaye, PhD, CGP, FAGPA, at a two-day experi- of group life, whether we acknowledge it or not. Lena Furgeri, LCSW, EdD, CGP, FAGPA, was ential Institute at Argosy University Chicago You also note that it is highly charged and there the featured presenter at the Austin Group Loop Campus. The Institute—Men and Women: are ethical issues involved, such as safety, that Psychotherapy Society’s (AGPS) Fall Separate and Together—included opportuni- Conference. She spoke on The Leader’s Role are dealt with differently depending on the thera- ties for men and women to observe each other in Containing Aggression in Group. AGPS’s Fall pist and the position that he or she takes. Can in uni-gendered groups, as well as combined Student and New Professional Institute was you elaborate? group experiences to examine similarities and held in October. Embracing Experience in Group differences in group behavior. Contact IGPS at Therapy: Our Patients, Ourselves was presented MN: Ethics usually relate to boundaries and bound- igpsinfo@aol. by Phyllis Clymer, LCSW, CGP, and Roy Clymer, ary violations. There are various boundaries that may MSW, PhD. Glenn Olds, PhD, and Tori Olds, PhD, The Tri-State Group Psychotherapy Society be broken in a group. There may be undue pressure will host a Friday Night Conversation on trans- presented its Fall 2012 conference—a mas- to reveal sexuality; there may be unfair judgments ference in group exploring the question “can ter class with Gail Brown, MA, on Maximizing of sexual behavior; and there may be precocious group mean too much?” In November, Candyce the Use of the Here and Now Working with sexualization in the group. So, when I encourage a Ossefort-Russell, LPC-S, will present a work- Groups. The Tri-State Group Psychotherapy more playful exploration of sexuality, I am aware of shop on Connection Undoes Aloneness: Looking Society continues to enjoy its recent renais- the possible risks and the ways that openness can be at Group Through the Lens of Attachment. sance with attendance doubling at its two most abused. Also, excessive, misplaced, or voyeuristic AGPS’s 2012 programming will end with its recent conferences. These conferences bring openness may itself be abusive. The biggest bound- annual party on November 10 at the home of together interested professionals from the Ohio, Jan Morris, PhD, CGP. ary violation is probably the enactment of a sexual Kentucky, and Indiana region. relationship by members outside the group, and this The Group Psychotherapy Association of can include a relationship between therapist and The Westchester Group Psychotherapy Los Angeles (GPALA) honored Nancy Fawcett, client. All these examples require an ethical stance. Society sponsored two special workshops: MFT, CGP, at its annual summer garden party The therapist must be prepared to take a position Bernard Frankel, PhD, ABPP, LCSW, BCD, FAGPA, for her long-term dedication to group therapy in presented on Couples Therapy: A Generic Design and hopefully a fair position that protects the group Los Angeles. Among the programs scheduled and Gloria Batkin Kahn, EdD, ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, members and him or herself. Most professional asso- for fall are Treating Addiction in Group Therapy presented on Group Psychotherapy as a Training ciations like AGPA have guidelines in these areas, and The Group Unseen: Bion’s Perspective of Ground for Effective Management of Conflict. and it is important that therapists are familiar with the Unconscious Group Process. In October, On December 14, Peter Taylor, PhD, SEP, CGP, these guidelines. GPALA offered a one-day training program FAGPA, will present The Threat Response Cycle: on Integrating Art Therapy into your Group Understanding and Supporting Effective Survival HF: Presenting at AGPA’s 2013 Annual Meeting Psychotherapy Practice: An Introduction for Responses in Group. The location for these in New Orleans is exciting for the organization. Clinicians, presented by Jane Schulman, ATR, workshops is the Westchester Medical Center What is your desire for attendees of your Special LMFT, and Gail Goldstein, ATR, LMFT. Justin in Valhalla, New York. Hecht, PhD, CGP, presented the Fall Conference Institute? Becoming Who We Are In Groups: A Jungian MN: I find that I learn something different in each Approach to Group Psychotherapy. Please note: Affiliate Societies may submit situation, especially about sexuality, which is such news and updates on their activities to The Illinois Group Psychotherapy Society Tammy Brown, MSSW, CGP, Editor of the a complex subject. I am aware that it is a complex (IGPS) hosted a gathering in the Chicago Affiliate Society News column, by e-mail to: subject for me, as it is for most others. I appreciate area to promote social networking and com- [email protected]. attendees’ openness and willingness to go on a jour- munication of ideas relating to current groups, ney rather than expecting fixed ways of seeing and training opportunities, as well as feedback on doing things. Sexuality is about diversity, and I hope that we can join in a celebration of diversity.•