67th Annual Conference

Friday, February 26

Morning Workshops

10:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.

Workshop 45

Knowing and Being Known: Considerations for the Use of Self

Chair:

Robin Good, Ph.D., CGP, FAGPA, Faculty, EGPS Group Therapy Training Program, New York, New York

How do group therapists use themselves to know what is going on in the group? A review of important concepts and literature kicks off this workshop.  Via the fishbowl, observers help study an experiential group in which the leader's inner experience is made explicit and, when possible, channeled into relevant interventions.

demonstration-didactic-experiential-sharing of work experiences

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Describe potential positive and negative clinical  repercussions of the therapist's self-disclosure in the group.

2. Explain the characteristics of groups that keep participation active and members emotionally present.

3. Discuss the distinction between deliberate and inadvertent self-disclosure by the therapist.

Course References:

Aaron, L. (1996). A meeting of minds: mutuality in psychoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.

Wachtel, P.(1986).On the limits of therapeutic neutrality. Contemp. Psychoanal.,22: 60-70.

Cohen, B. D. and Schermer, V. L.(2001). Therapist self disclosure in group psychotherapy from an intersubjective and self psychological standpoint. Group: the Journal of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society, 25 (1/2), June, 2001 pp.41 57.