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• New Member and Scholarship Recipient Happy Hour

  • When
    Friday, April 07, 2023
  •  
    5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
  • Location
    Lazarus Brewing 4803 Airport Blvd
  • Spaces left
    58

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  Join us for a fun-filled Happy Hour at Lazarus Brewing Co. on April 7th! Sip on handcrafted beers and enjoy delicious snacks, while getting to know your fellow members, NEW members and scholarship recipients. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to unwind and have a blast with a fantastic group of people. Let's cheers to good times and great company!

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• Spring Workshop: Where Do My Feelings End and Theirs Begin? Using All of Our Countertransference to Understand and Guide Our Groups

  • When
    Friday, April 14, 2023
  •  
    2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    Doubletree Hotel 1617 N. IH 35, Austin, TX 78702
  • Spaces left
    31

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  Where Do My Feelings End and Theirs Begin? Using All of Our Countertransference to Understand and Guide Our Groups

  
  

  
  

  Dave Kaplowitz, LMFT, CGP

  
  

  Event Description

  Countertransference has been named and studied since Freud first identified the phenomenon. Much has been discussed and written about the topic including how group leaders respond to the powerful inductions that can occur. There is a broad range of opinions among group leaders about the importance of the emotions they experience in their work. 

  A willingness to feel is the gateway to metabolizing the difficult emotions that leaders encounter and to use those induced feelings constructively. This workshop will address how to identify emotions in ourselves and toward others, and how to use these emotions as leaders. We will examine how our own thoughts and feelings become entwined with those of our group members. There will be a mix of didactic and experiential learning including a demo group and a large group discussion.

  Workshop Objectives:

  The participant will be able to:

  1. Name the four core emotions.

  2. Explain the difference between emotions inside and those toward others.

  3. Identify common reasons for countertransference resistance.

  4. Describe three ways group leaders can use their emotions in the moment to formulate interventions.

  3 CEUs available for Social Workers, LPCs, LMFTs, and Psychologists

  About the presenter:
  

  Dave Kaplowitz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Group Psychotherapist. He has a private practice in Austin where he works with individuals, couples, families, and groups helping people have more fulfilling lives. Dave is a Past-President of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society and is a regular on the faculty of AGPA Connect. He is passionate about his continuing professional development and has completed the Weekend Training Program at the Center for Group Studies in New York City. He enjoys the relaxed pace of Texas Hill Country living as well as expressing his musical creativity through singing and playing guitar.

  
  

  
  

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• Staying Centered While Going to the Extremes: Working with Teenagers in Group Therapy

  • Start
    Friday, April 28, 2023
  •  
    2:00 PM
  • End
    Saturday, April 29, 2023
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Location provided upon registration
  • Spaces left
    7

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  Registration Opens March 17

  Facilitated by: Kristen Wicke, LPC, CGP and Monrovia Van Hoose, LCSW, CGP

  Event Description:

  If you provide therapy to adolescents, or if you have considered serving this population but felt hesitant, this institute is for you. Teenagers in our community are experiencing a heightened incidence of mental health issues. Many factors contribute to the rise, including the pandemic, adverse effects of social media, backlash to expanding acceptance of diversity in gender and sexuality, proliferation of substance use, and social isolation.  In this institute, we will address the benefits and challenges of providing group therapy to teenagers, along with special concerns of which the clinician should be aware.  This training will have a brief didactic component, but the weekend will be a primarily experiential group process. Using the collective wisdom and experience of participants, we will work through common themes and issues when leading adolescent groups. At the end of the weekend we will debrief and have a question and answer session about the group process.   

  
  

  About the Presenters: 

  Monrovia specialized in tweens, teens, and young adults from 2007 – 2022. Through trial, error, and lots of training, she learned how to navigate parents, risky behaviors, and the wild, wonderful changes that facilitate the emergence from childhood into adult independence. She is now branching out into the role of trainer and teacher for therapists who feel called to work with this exhilarating cohort of humans.

  
  

  Kristen has been providing group therapy to adolescents since 2016.  She enjoys the blazing world of adolescence with all of its impulsiveness and vehement loving and hating.  She has pieced together an approach to working with teenagers in groups from regular consultation and trainings through the American Group Psychotherapy Association, Austin Group Psychotherapy Society and the Center for Group Studies. Noting the lack of specific training on working with adolescents in ongoing interpersonal process groups, Kristen seeks to fill this gap and inspire more therapists to start their own teen 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.

  Schedule:

  Friday April 28th 2:00-5:00 pm

  2:00 Introductions and opening remarks

  3:15 Break

  3:30 Process group

  5:00 End

  Saturday April 29th 9:00 am- 4:00 pm

  9:00 Opening exercise

  10:00 Break

  10:15 Process group

  11:45 Lunch break

  1:15 Process group

  2:45 Break

  3:00 Reflective discussion / Q&A

  3:45 Survey

  4:00 End

  Objectives:

  Participants will be able to:

  1. Identify the developmental tasks of adolescence.

  2. Learn techniques for building rapport with teens and bridging between teens in group therapy.

  3. Discuss ways of communicating with parents – when to include them, when to set boundaries with them, how to manage triangulation and induction between parent(s), the client, and the clinician.

  4. Explore common transference and countertransference experiences when working with teens.

  5. Ethics – discuss ways to navigate risky behaviors, especially in regards to involving parents and/or breaking confidentiality.

  
  

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

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• Friday Night Conversation Exploring Clinical Retirement: The Good Goodbye

  • When
    Friday, May 12, 2023
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    West Austin (Location disclosed to registrants only)
  • Spaces left
    18

  Save the Date!

  Friday Night Conversation: Exploring Clinical Retirement: The Good Goodbye

  Hosted by:  Lisa Mersky, LCSW, CGP

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Event Description  A personal account of Lisa Mersky's thoughts about preparing to retire from her clinical practice, and her experiences throughout and after retirement.

  Information about the Presenter Lisa Mersky retired December 2022 from a 37 year private practice of individual, group and couples psychotherapy in Austin, Texas. She was one of the founding members of AGPS. Her retirement goal is to get rid of her unwanted superpower of always knowing what time it is, and to detach from living by the clock. In the meantime, she is pursuing her creative interests of writing poetry and making mixed-media art, and trying to learn how not to be busy!

  Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will evaluate where they are at in the developmental life span of their clinical practice.

  2. Participants will begin to formulate a framework of how to end a clinical practice.

  In person event. Location given at registration.

  Charge: There is no charge for this event.
  

  
  

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