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.
**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
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.
**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.
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
