Anti-Racism

DoSAA Virtual Self-Care Retreat

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The Division on South Asian Americans (DoSAA) of the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) is community of psychology students and professionals committed to influencing the numerous issues facing folks of South Asian descent in psychology and creating a forum to impact change for South Asian mental health.

DoSAA is holding our first-ever virtual self-care retreat! We frequently hear from folks about the multiple demands on them in their lives, as well as the difficulties of finding culturally respectful offerings.

This is a curated event for folks to take time for themselves and be in community with DoSAA. We have created a virtual program of breathwork, meditation, yoga, art therapy, and dance – specially for you to rest, rejuvenate, and slow down.

Facilitators of South Asian descent will center culture, decolonization, and togetherness in this event.

The event is not limited to folks of South Asian descent.

Please consider taking some time out of your weekend to do less, slow down, and practice self-care from a South Asian inspired lens with us.

More about DoSAA and to become a member: https://aapaonline.org/division-on-south-asian-americans

Purchase Tickets Here

Schedule:
10am to 10:30am PT:
– Welcome from DoSAA
10:30am to 11:30am PT:
– Guided meditation and Q&A with Kirat Randhawa of A Kind Rupture
11:30am to 12pm PT:
– Lunch + Social
12pm to 1:30pm PT:
– Rangoli art therapy with Kinjal Panchal, PsyD
1:45pm to 2:45pm PT:
– Yoga with Pardip Kaur of Kaur Healing
3pm to 4pm:
– Pranayama breathwork with Aparna Sadananda of Inner Stillness with Aparna
4:15pm to 5:15pm PT:
– Bollywood Fusion Dance + Music with Rose Dhaliwal, PsyD
5:15pm to 5:30pm PT:
– Closing with DoSAA

Purchase Tickets Here

About our facilitators:

Kirat Randhawa, A Kind Rupture: https://kiratrandhawa.com

Kirat is a New York City based contemplative guide, therapist-in-training, and inspired student of Tibetan Buddhism. Her personal journey and deep course of study has led her to craft a pathway to guide others in personal development, conscious exploration, transformational practices, and life’s shifts. Her training at Columbia University and The Nalanda Institute, and in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction lineage has allowed her to develop a multidimensional approach to support clients on their path toward greater alignment and joy.

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Rose Dhaliwal, PsyD, DoSAA Co-Chair and incoming DoSAA Chair

Dr. Dhaliwal (she/her) is located in the greater Los Angeles area. A native of the Bay Area (northern California), Dr. Dhaliwal has worked in community engagement, public relations, and policy advising before pursuing her mental health career. She is of Punjabi origin and grew up dancing in various South Asian dance styles, including Bhangra, Giddha, and Bollywood/Fusion, as well as Western dance styles, including Hip Hop, Jazz, and Latin. She enjoys borrowing from various dance styles to facilitate expression and highlight the joy of movement. As a child of immigrants, she believes in the importance of understanding how bicultural identity and intersecting identities inform and impact the lived experiences of communities of color. She is a big proponent of acknowledging and understanding diverse cultures. She currently serves as Co-Chair of DoSAA and has led the Summer Fellowship Program for the past 3 years.

Professionally, Dr. Dhaliwal completed her PsyD in Clinical Psychology at the University of La Verne and completed her APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at the Department of State Hospitals-Metropolitan in August 2023. Her research has focused on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, adverse childhood experiences, and the experiences of transgender and gender-expansive young women involved in legal systems. Dr. Dhaliwal works with patients who are adjudicated incompetent to stand trial in a forensic psychiatric unit.

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Kinjal Panchal, Psy.D, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and DoSAA member

Dr. Panchal focuses on a biopsychosocial model of therapy. Rooted in eastern psychology, she identifies as a Vedic therapist and brings a strong collaborative and relational approach to therapy built upon a body and mind connection. Dr. Panchal has a background in Art therapy and visual communication which she utilizes to highlight an individual’s strengths and recognizes that an individual’s mental health is tied to their environment, family, biology, and social systems along with their own self-identity. By integrating nonverbal and visual techniques to release internal individual’s identity and connection to the unconscious affective processing she believes that a more comprehensive type of healing can take place, both in therapy and self-care.

Dr. Panchal has particular expertise and interest in working with depression, anxiety, identity development, sexual dysfunction, and complex trauma alongside a specialty in multicultural psychology, theory, and advocacy work within communities of color. She provides individual, couples, and family therapy services as well as a wide range of neuropsychological assessments.

Dr. Panchal earned her Doctor of Clinical Psychology with a minor in Diversity Studies from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, and she is currently an adjunct professor of multicultural psychology and psychological assessment at ISPP. She finds comfort and passion in all forms of creativity from food culture, dance and art.

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Pardip Kaur, Kaur Healing: https://kaurhealing.com

Meet Pardip Kaur, a certified Yoga and Meditation instructor, whose guiding light stems from a profound belief in the harmonious union of mind, body, and soul. She leads her students on a path of self-discovery, using ancient yogic practices to cultivate mindfulness, inner peace, and physical well-being. Her teachings resonate not only on the yoga mat but also in the intricate web of life, fostering balance, serenity, and well-being. She received her Applied Compassion Training from Stanford University’s altruism research program (CCARE) and has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. Pardip believes that Yoga is not about landing a specific pose or flow, it’s about the journey you take every time you step onto the mat and close your eyes to commit to becoming a better human than you were the day before. The kinder we are to our bodies as they come into alignment, the happier we will be.

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Aparna Sadananda, PhD, Inner Stillness: https://www.innerstillnesswithaparna.com

Aparna is a yoga teacher (E-RYT 200 and RPYT) with 10000+ hrs of experience teaching yoga and meditation in the studio, private and corporate settings in Washington DC. Her yoga offerings include beginner-friendly yoga, prenatal and postnatal yoga, chair yoga, restorative yoga, Ayurveda, yoga philosophy, energy healing (Reiki), and meditations. Inspired by her own journey as an evolving yogi, a toddler’s mom, a neuroscience researcher, and a visual artist, her classes emphasize strengthening the mind-breath-body connection. Her mission is to make yoga accessible and empower people through fitness and creativity, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, and ability levels.

She currently leads meditation classes and family-based mindfulness workshops for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. She is also the meditation trainer for art-based meditations at The Phillips Collection. She is a senior teacher and one of the leading trainers at Yoga District’s teacher training since 2017. A visual artist in Indian folk art, she holds a Ph.D. in cellular neuroscience from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India in 2013.

Purchase Tickets Here

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: Exploring Intergenerational Dynamics in Group

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Welcome to the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society (NCGPS) 26th Biennial Training Institute! We are pleased to have 2 Institute Leaders along with Small Group Leaders to explore this timely content. The event will be offered virtually over a two day period.

REGISTER HERE

**Why is this topic important?**
Within recent years there has been a great emphasis placed on the ways society views and talks about their generational differences. The field of psychology is not immune to those generational dynamics, especially as it relates to dynamics within groups. It is time that therapists view the ways that intergenerational dynamics appear in group spaces if we are to help society navigate the cultural changes that are happening today.

**Key Points**
1. Participants will be able to identify the five different generational categories and how those categories will impact group dynamics.
2. Participants will get a chance to learn and discuss the way in which intersection identities appear within intergenerational spaces.
3. Participants will learn how to navigate intergenerational dynamics as they appear within their own small process groups.
4. Participants will explore how ageism will appear within intergenerational group dynamics and how to manage ageism/bias within groups.
5. Participants will explore how sociological, cultural, and political dynamics influence intergenerational spaces.

**Learning Objectives**
1. Participants will be able to name five different generational categories that may be seen in a group dynamics.
2. Participants will be able to define ageism and apply it bi-directionally within a group context.
3. Participants will be able to identify how intersectionality appears within intergenerational spaces.
4. Participants will be able to identify three potential intergenerational conflicts that can arise in group dynamics.
5. Participants will identify two intergenerational dynamics within large group spaces.
6. Participants will be able to explain the impact of intergenerational dynamics within relationships of client-group, co-facilitators, and/or supervisor-supervisee.
7. Participants will explain the intergenerational patterns that can accrue within the developmental progression through the career stages

REGISTER HERE

The content is attentive to the broad range of identities served by group psychotherapy, reflective of the goal within AGPA and it’s affiliates of being attentive to strong clinical content that infuses Diversity Equity and Inclusion of marginalized identities as well as diverse identities. Please review our NCGPS Professional Conduct Agreement which conveys how we endeavor to foster an environment, as well as share responsibility for attention to creating a healthy learning environment.

We continue to endeavor to bring content and adjust operations and clinical offerings to attend to this and are grateful for NCGPS community members and the larger community support in these efforts. We welcome you to join in the journey as we continue the labor.

With appreciation from the Institute Co-Directors and Institute Committee:
Latoyia Griffin, Shanon Sitkin, Paul Cox, Caty Brennan, Karla Amanda Brown

**What is the format of the Institute?**
Presentation will be given via PowerPoint, small group discussion, large process group demonstration, and experiential small process group.

The Training Institute is a one-and-a-half day program in during which each participant also maintains the same small group membership for those periods of small process group. The Institute provides an opportunity for 9.5 hours of intensive experiential learning as well as theoretical discussions relevant to the experience. The group sessions cannot be considered to be psychotherapy The leader’s role is that of teacher, rather than therapist, it is anticipated that there will be considerable interpersonal and intrapersonal learning. Small Group Leaders have been selected from across AGPA and it’s Affiliates for their demonstrated expertise in clinical group psychotherapy, experiential training, and attention to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of marginalized identities as well as a range of identities in the group therapy process. Small group leaders will meet individually and as a staff with Institute Leaders, Institute Co-Directors, members of the Institute Committee to review the progress of their groups.

REGISTER HERE

**Meet our Institute Leaders**
Dr. Shemika Brooks (she/her/hers) is a Maryland Licensed and PSYPACT authorized Psychologist, a Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP), and a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). She dedicates herself to providing trauma-informed integrative care to individuals holding BIPOC and all other identities through the lens of cultural humility. Dr. Brooks works to aid professionals and organizations in developing anti-racist, social justice-oriented, equitable practices, such as through a weekly Racial Consciousness-Focused Consultation Group for White Clinicians. In addition to private practice and consultation work, Dr. Brooks has been the Group Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center for over five years. She was one of the founding chairs of the Anti-Racism Task Force (now Anti-Racism Committee) and continues to be a Board member for the Mid Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society (MAGPS), is one of the Chairpersons of the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Special Interest Group (RED SIG) for AGPA, a member of the AGPA Board of Directors, and is involved in a host of other organization and community activities.

Dr. Jackie Darby (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Group Psychotherapist. She is the owner of The Unconscious Shift, which is a mental health agency focusing on providing culturally-informed wellness education to community organizations. Dr. Darby is a contributing editor to the 2020 book, Black Millenials: Ambition, Identity, & Activism and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Purdue Global University. She currently serves on both the Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Board and the American Group Psychotherapy Association Foundation Board. Her clinical interests include: dependency concerns, body image concerns (specifically the effects of colorism), interpersonal trauma, and the effects of systemic oppression on individuals.

REGISTER HERE

Day 1

8:30am – 9:00am Welcome & Introduction
9:00am – 10:00am Plenary 1 – “Age Ain’t Nothin But a Number”: Defining the Biological Generations
10:00am – 10:15am Break
10:15am – 11:30am Small Group 1
11:30am – 11:45am Break
11:45am -12:45pm Plenary 2 – We’ve Always Done it This Way: Age and Leadership Styles
12:45pm – 2:45pm *Lunch
2:45pm – 4:00pm Plenary 3 – [Insert Identity Here]: Age and Intersectionality
4:00pm – 4:15pm Break
4:45 – 5:30 pm Small Group 2

 

Day 2

8:30am – 9:00am Welcome
9:00am – 10:00am Plenary 4 – Bringing in Yourself: From Subtitle to Title
10:00am – 10:15am Break
10:15am – 11:30am Small Group 3
11:30am – 11:45am Small Group Debrief
11:45am – 12:00pm Break
12:00pm – 1:15pm Plenary 5 – Me, Myself, and Age: Large Process Group and Debrief
1:15pm – 1:30pm End of Conference Wrap up

Untying The Strings of Racism with Vincent Malik Dehili, PhD, CGP

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You are invited to the Summer 2022 Virtual Community Meeting of the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society (NCGPS).

This coming Sunday, July 17th from 1pm – 2:30pm Pacific, NCGPS will host Vincent Malik Dehili, PhD, CGP who will lead us in a discussion about doing away with the one-size-fits-all approach in favor of living and connecting from the fullness of ourselves in group psychotherapy.

Register today for Untying The Strings of Racism.

~ The Board of Directors

Group theories, like most nascent constructs within our modern context, have the threads of Eurocentric values woven throughout their fabric. This is most easily seen in how many seminal books and articles for group theories did not include any identity factors during the time in which they were published. This erasure of identity in our discourse reinforced the concept that race, among other intersections, is not important to consider or to be mindful of when approaching group therapy interventions (MacNair – Semands, 2007). This leads to a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching group theories and ignores the metaphorical third parent that influences our view of self and others, the socio-cultural context in which we are raised (Neville et al., 2021). When identity is erased, group theories tighten the threads of White supremacy, which keep all of us bounded and pulled apart from being with each other’s experiences, pushing us to reinforce the constructs of objectivity, perfectionism, individualism, qualifications, binary emotions, productivity over humanity, worshiping the written word, defensiveness, fear of open conflict, power hoarding, and urgency. This discussion will propose methods to raise consciousness on individualism and emotional binaries by shifting towards practices of interbeing and emotional equanimity.

Link to article with references

Schedule:

  • Welcome (10 min)
  • Presentation (50 min)
  • Community Discussion (30 min)

Presenter Bio:

Vincent Malik Dehili, PhD, CGP, is Group Coordinator and Licensed Psychologist at North Carolina State University. Vinny has a passion for bringing diversity consciousness and anti-racism practices to group therapy, serving in various roles within American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) as the Consultation Coordinator with the College Counseling Special Interest Group, Co-Chair of the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Special Interest Group, and Co-Chair for the Diversity and Equity Task Force. Vinny leads several training groups for therapists in his private practice to allow others to grow personally and professionally through experiential training while providing a plethora of free psycho-educational content through his Non-Yalom Group theory seminar series which is used to increase the diversity of thought and methods groups can be viewed while honoring clients socio-cultural context. He serves as current Vice President of the Florida Group Psychotherapy Society, is the current Program Chair for Division 49 – Group Psychology is a co-chair for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the American College Counseling Association and was recently elected as Vice President of the Group Speciality Council of APA in an effort to standardize quality group training across internship sites within psychology. Vinny’s research and writing endeavors currently include raising diversity consciousness in group theories and validating tabletop role-playing as an efficacious therapeutic modality for interpersonal growth.