Institute : The Challenge of Group Cohesion: Cultivating Enduring Unity in Therapy Groups

AGPS Institute

The Challenge of Group Cohesion: Cultivating Enduring Unity in Therapy Groups

Facilitated by: 

Pierre Choucroun, PhD, CGP, LPC-S

A cohesive, long-term group provides an opportunity to study the ways participants form and maintain intimate relationships. It also offers the unique opportunity to study how group members create and maintain distance in their lives. Letting go of distancing behaviors requires a group that is so committed, it feels like a healthy family. In that environment, new ways of relating occur and a wider range of feelings is welcomed into the room. In a cohesive group, members internalize their relationships with one another and with the leader, taking their group experiences with them out into the world. This kind of cohesion must be nourished and protected, despite the disruptions, resistances, and ruptures that are a normal part of group life.

While groups may begin with enthusiasm, over time, obstacles to intimacy will occur. This Institute will focus on techniques that therapists can use to strengthen cohesion over the lifespan of a group and to address unproductive or destructive behaviors that interfere with this process.

About the Presenter: 

Pierre Choucroun, PhD, LPC-S, CGP is a certified group therapist and has been in practice for over twenty years. He is an active member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and was the president of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society. Pierre began his career providing individual, family, and group therapy to bereaved families, people facing end-of-life issues, and court-mandated populations.

In 2012 he earned a PhD in counselor education and supervision, with a research focus on couple counseling. Pierre currently focuses on long term psychoanalytic work with groups and individuals. He has additional specializations in working with patient defenses and with high-conflict families. Pierre leads and co-leads ongoing therapy groups and training groups.

What Are Group Institutes?

Institutes are a highly experiential form of small group teaching led by experienced instructors. They are intended to develop therapy skills relevant to leading groups. They often offer a chance to explore a particular theme in greater depth or to experience a different theoretical approach. Institutes are primarily designed for mental health professionals who have clinical psychotherapy experience. While institutes are not therapy, they are process-oriented and it is expected that they may stir feelings spanning the whole range of human experience. Members agree to attend the entire group, to participate actively, and to respect the confidentiality of the other members. The secure environment of these small groups allows for rich cognitive and deep emotional learning about group process and oneself, not to mention a chance for personal and professional renewal.

Objectives:

 Attendees will be able to:

1: Discuss the benefits of joining resistances in modern analytic group

2: Define bridging and develop an appreciation for its role in group cohesion

3: List three treatment destructive behaviors that can interfere with cohesion in the group

4: Incorporate two prognostic interventions into group treatment.

Schedule:

Friday

Process 3:00pm - 4:30pm 

15 minute break 

Process 4:45pm - 6:15pm 

Saturday

Process 9:00am - 10:30am

15 minute break 

Process 10:45am - 12:15pm

45 minute lunch break 

Process 1:00pm - 2:30pm

15 minute break

Discussion 2:45pm-3:15pm

Location given at registration. The location is wheelchair accessible.

8 CEUs available for social workers, LPCs, LMFTs, and psychologists.