Topic of the Study Days
According to the EGATIN Standards one of the parts of the tripartite structure of group analytic training is personal therapy in a small group which may take place in a mixed patient/trainee or trainee-only group. Every potential group analyst is going through his or her personal treatment in the group duringtheir studies in the GA course.
The candidate coming to study psychotherapy is already a professional in the mental health field having an experience working with patients or clients individually and/or in groups. The trainees in the therapy groups are all colleagues, meeting at least in the training course and they may also be connected as professionals in the field.
On the other hand, group analyst, conducting a small group can be also involved in other activities connected to the training program (as supervisor, theory teacher, administrative person, etc.). The group analyst at the same time is also a colleague to his group members - as they are not just patients, but fellow professionals.
Different settings for the trainees to have their personal therapy are chosen in different countries and at different times - in the trainee-only group or in the therapist's work place with the patients' group out of the train ingsetting.
EGATIN Study Days in Vilnius invites you to explore specific challenges and advantages created by personal therapy in a small group as part of group analytic training. These and other questions can lead us in our enquiryabout roles and boundaries:
- How the therapeutic experience differs in different settings (block therapy, continuous trainee group, inclusion in the patients' group) for both trainee and group analyst?
- How the therapeutic process of the trainee is interconnected with their learning process in the training? In which ways personal therapy in the small group can assist, rival with or impede training?
- How it is to have colleagues as patients and colleagues as fellow group members?
- What are the effects of having several roles in the training program while being a small group conductor?
