67th Annual Conference

Saturday, February 27

Session 314

To Speak Or Not To Speak: Is That The Question?: A Trans-Atlantic Dialogue About The Therapist In The Group

Presented in cooperation with the Institute of Group Analysis, London & Group Analytic Society

Chair:

John Schlapobersky, B.A., M.S.W., MembInst.G., Senior Lecturer, Birkbeck College, London University, London, England

Panelists:

Phyllis F. Cohen, Ph.D., Psy.D., CGP, FAGPA, Chairperson, Advisory Council and Psychoanalytic Department, The Blanton-Peale Institute, New York, New York
Howard D. Kibel, M.D., CGP, DFAGPA, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York
Molyn Leszcz, M.D., FRCPC, CGP, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Professor of Psychiatry & Head, Group Psychotherapy, Mount Sinai Hospital & University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

We focus this year on the therapist’s conduct in the group. Two leading clinicians - representing North America’s Interpersonal and Europe’s Group-Analytic models - demonstrate their methods with contributions from the Chair and Discussant and participation from the audience who join in a role-play. Both models engage with the here & now of the group. The Interpersonal establishes the therapist’s presence through reflective questioning; the Group-analytic through free-floating discussion. Exploration will allow comparison of technique in: leadership; transference/counter-transference; relational dynamics; symbolic meaning; interpretation; & questions of growth & change.

Learning Objectives:
The attendee will be able to:
1) Evaluate how the Interpersonal model of group therapy in North America compares with the Group Analytic Model in Europe on key points of technique.
2) Address leadership issues in group therapy when applying the Group Analytic Model, by using the dual principle of the conductor as both therapist & group member.
3) Attune their interventions appropriately by focusing on relational dynamics in group therapy when applying the Interpersonal Model.
4) Integrate these differences in the framing of a personal working method, especially in the understanding and use of transference and counter-transference.

Course References:
Cohen, Phyllis F. (2007). “Past Time”: Anniversary Reactions That Can Confound the Group Analyst. International Journal for Group Psychotherapy. Volume 57, Number 2.

Schlapobersky, J. (1995) The Language of the Group: Monologue, Dialogue and Discourse in Group Analysis. In The Psyche and The Social World, Eds., D. Brown & L. Zinkin. Routledge, London.

Stein, A. and Kibel, H.D. (1984) A group dynamic - peer interaction approach to group psychotherapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 34:315-333.

Yalom, ID, Leszcz, M. (2005) Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 5th ed., Basic Books NY.