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Proposals Due: Expanding the Social Justice Frame in Group Work and Group Psychotherapy GROUP Journal Special Issue

October 15, 2025/in /by Joseph Hovey

Expanding the Social Justice Frame in Group Work and Group Psychotherapy: This special issue of GROUP invites group psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, group work activists, and scholars from around the world to contribute literature that centers social justice within therapeutic groups and organizations. “Therapeutic” refers to group work that addresses interpersonal and systemic harm with the intention of fostering a healing experience.

See the Call for Proposals by selecting the “Click here” button. Prospective authors may submit abstracts of up to 500 words to Christine Schmidt, Guest Editor, by October 15, 2025.

https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-06-19 00:33:132025-06-19 00:33:13Proposals Due: Expanding the Social Justice Frame in Group Work and Group Psychotherapy GROUP Journal Special Issue

EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (In-Person)

November 15, 2025/in /by Joseph Hovey
The EGPS Conference Committee is excited to again offer a vibrant virtual conference day AND an in-person conference day in New York City. These two modalities are both separate and connected, and we invite all who are able to join us for both unique parts of this event.

Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups

Join us in being a part of an inspiring gathering of group leaders and all those passionate about group work! We invite you to submit a proposal for our 2025 Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society Annual Conference as we explore the theme “Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups.” In a time of deep social and cultural division, differences in groups can create tension, disconnection, and isolation. By fostering authentic expressions of thoughts, feelings and experiences, groups can transform these challenges into opportunities for connection, healing, meaning and growth. Our Annual Conference will explore how fear and panic hinder authentic self-expression, how misunderstandings can feel like interpersonal ruptures resulting in harm and disconnection, and how group work provides an opportunity to value differences while increasing tolerance for missattunements. Together we will grapple with essential, complex questions: How do we navigate the line between engaging in difficult conversations and causing harm? How can we encourage authentic self-expression while honoring the boundaries of others? Our groups can help members cultivate meaningful connections within a framework that preserves safety, integrity, and personal autonomy. We welcome proposals that also explore how groups deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, allowing us to navigate differences with greater awareness and intention, and that examine how group dynamics shape our choices—how we engage with one another, practice restoration and accountability, contribute to our communities, and connect with the world around us.
https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-05-29 20:01:072025-06-03 15:58:27EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (In-Person)

EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (Online)

November 14, 2025/in /by Joseph Hovey
The EGPS Conference Committee is excited to again offer a vibrant virtual conference day AND an in-person conference day in New York City. These two modalities are both separate and connected, and we invite all who are able to join us for both unique parts of this event.

Navigating Differences:
Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups

Join us in being a part of an inspiring gathering of group leaders and all those passionate about group work! We invite you to submit a proposal for our 2025 Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society Annual Conference as we explore the theme “Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups.”

In a time of deep social and cultural division, differences in groups can create tension, disconnection, and isolation. By fostering authentic expressions of thoughts, feelings and experiences, groups can transform these challenges into opportunities for connection, healing, meaning and growth.

Our Annual Conference will explore how fear and panic hinder authentic self-expression, how misunderstandings can feel like interpersonal ruptures resulting in harm and disconnection, and how group work provides an opportunity to value differences while increasing tolerance for missattunements. Together we will grapple with essential, complex questions: How do we navigate the line between engaging in difficult conversations and causing harm? How can we encourage authentic self-expression while honoring the boundaries of others? Our groups can help members cultivate meaningful connections within a framework that preserves safety, integrity, and personal autonomy.

We welcome proposals that also explore how groups deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, allowing us to navigate differences with greater awareness and intention, and that examine how group dynamics shape our choices—how we engage with one another, practice restoration and accountability, contribute to our communities, and connect with the world around us.

https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-05-29 19:59:242025-05-29 20:03:23EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (Online)

EGPS Training Program in Group Psychotherapy Application Deadline

August 1, 2025/in Training Program/by Joseph Hovey

GROUP THERAPY IS HEALING IN COMMUNITY!

At a time of increasing need for relationships and community, Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society offers a Training Program in Group Psychotherapy that is designed to accommodate therapists and group leaders in clinics, agencies, and private practice. The program consists of three weekly components: Group Consultation, Didactic Instruction, and Experiential Group. The Training Program addresses racial and social justice issues in group work of all kinds.


Just some of the areas covered:

  • Early Group Development
  • Phases of Group Development
  • Othering in Groups
  • Systems of Power and Inequaliity
  • Racial Dynamics in Groups
  • Racial Affinity Groups
  • Non-Verbal Communication in Group Work
  • Embodied Ethics
  • Leader Interventions with Patients Experienced as Difficult
  • Transference and Countertransference

Trainees receive didactic instruction as well as guidance and consultation in how to begin and facilitate their own groups. For those who are already running groups, participating in this program will help you understand the processes and dynamics occurring among your group members and address challenges with clarity. Trainees will also participate in an “Experiential” process group to have the in-vivo experience of being a group member.
The program meets weekly from September through June on Zoom. The Didactic and Experiential Group Components meet on Wednesdays from 7:15 – 10:00 PM ET. The dates and times for the Consultation Group component of the program will be determined.

The Training Program Faculty is composed of senior members of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society and the American Group Psychotherapy Association.

A certificate is awarded upon completion of the program. The Training Program, with an option for additional consultation, is designed so that qualified applicants can use the educational and supervisory components toward inclusion in the International Board of Certification for Group Psychotherapy.

Faculty members consult with our Dean of Curriculum as they prepare their courses; meet annually with an expert in intersectionality, and are encouraged to engage in ongoing racial literacy and anti-oppression training.

Each trainee will be paired with a mentor who has group experience to help you get your very own group up and running!


Trainees will learn to:
  • Facilitate intimate connections & difficult discussions
  • Recognize the impact of systemic oppression on group dynamics
  • Experience and study one’s own social location and how the aspects of identity, power and privilege play out in groups
Experience the Power of Group Work:
  • Increasing feelings of connection and decreases feelings of isolation
  • Fostering relationships and noticing obstacles to intimacy
  • Being part of a larger whole & recognize one’s impact
  • Supporting and helping & being supported and helped.

Rolling Admissions until August 1st, 2025: Submit your application immediately to be considered for the upcoming September, 2025 – June, 2026 class!

Tuition $5,900

Need based partial scholarships are available through the J. Dustin Nichols Scholarship Fund.

A Reparations rate is available to cover partial tuition for Indigenous applicants and applicants of the African diaspora to enhance educational opportunities that have been historically denied.


CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION FORM

 


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Co-Deans of Admissions
Claire Julian, ClaireMJulian@gmail.com
Ashley Leeds, LCSW, ashley@leedspsychotherapy.com,  917-900-2083
From a former trainee: “The EGPS Training Program approaches group therapy from a whole range of theoretical perspectives. There’s not ‘just one way’ to run groups”
The EGPS Training Program in Group Psychotherapy was the recipient of an “Award for Outstanding Contributions in Education and Training in the Field of Group Psychotherapy” presented by the International Board for Certification of Group Psychotherapists.

EGPS Training Program Mission and Vision Statements

Mission: The EGPS Training Program is committed to providing training in group theory and processes that recognizes significant aspects of personal identity. The program seeks to facilitate understanding of the impact of systemic and institutional oppression on individuals and groups; and to counteract racism and white supremacy through teaching of anti-oppressive approaches to group work, and through the process of administering the program. The program promotes racial literacy through anti-racism training, and the incorporation of diverse racial and cultural perspectives through our faculty and curriculum. We are committed to racial justice through the provision of reparations funding for Black and Indigenous trainees.
Vision: Recognizing that traditional group psychotherapy has been defined by western white dominant patriarchal culture, we envision group healing that draws on a greater variety of cultural practices and approaches to healing that seeks to not only to address the needs of individuals but of the greater society.
https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-05-29 19:56:392025-07-09 18:48:48EGPS Training Program in Group Psychotherapy Application Deadline

EGPS WG4RE – “White Racial Identity Development and How Whiteness Harms White People”

June 17, 2025/in /by Joseph Hovey
EGPS Work Group for Racial Equity

The EGPS Work Group for Racial Equity meets monthly to discuss relevant books, films, podcasts, and articles. Further information can be found on the EGPS website at www.egps.org.

Join us! We are a “drop in group.” You are invited to participate whenever you can. Connect via a Zoom link on the third Tuesday evening of the month. To receive the link to join the  monthly meeting, each month you will need to click on the “registration link” listed below. Once you have “registered” the Zoom link will automatically be sent to you.  (There is NO fee for attending these monthly Discussion Groups.)

EGPS Work Group for Racial Equity
Discussion Group
TUESDAY, June 17, 2025

8:30 – 9:45 PM
(eastern time)

On Zoom
(information to join the meeting is below)

White Racial Identity Development and How Whiteness Harms White People

Facilitated by Dr. Virginia Seewaldt

Since 2020, we have seen both a surge in anti-racism efforts and an intense backlash against them. As institutions retreat under political and cultural pressure, we’re called to reflect more deeply on whiteness, white racial identity, and the less visible ways white supremacy harms white people too.

This collection of readings and podcasts for this month’s discussion group explores how white identity develops, how white supremacy distorts white people’s sense of self and community, and how anti-racism work can lead to personal (and ultimately collective) liberation. While white people benefit materially from systemic racism, they also pay hidden emotional, relational, and moral costs. White supremacy isolates, numbs, and constrains. In contrast, anti-racism opens the door to empathy, clarity, connection, and integrity. Most white people don’t even know what they are missing in this regard, and how much more capacity for humanity is available to them.

Join us as we come together in community to discuss this topic with openness, humility, and a shared commitment to learning and growth.

10 ways white supremacy wounds white people: A tale of mutuality (article)

Teaching While White Podcast Interview with Dr. Janet Helms ( podcast: 31 minutes)

White Racial Identity and Anti-Racist Education: A Catalyst for Change (article)

Why talking about race is especially hard for White people (article)

Francesca Maxime Interview with Dr. Janet Helms (podcast: 1 hour 6 minutes)

To attend this free discussion you must register with the link below to receive access.

Click Here to Sign-Up to receive the link for this Discussion

To attend this FREE discussion, you much click the above link and complete the ‘registration form.’ After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the discussion.

EGPS Work Group for Racial Equity (WG4RE) Mission Statement
The Work Group for Racial Equity of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society aims to initiate opportunities for members to examine how racism is embedded in individuals’ unconscious, in groups, and in our organization. Utilizing a collaborative process, the work group supports EGPS efforts to integrate awareness about race and racism in professional events and presentations.
The Work Group also seeks to enhance members’ understanding of the impact of institutional racism on their work, encourages members’ examination of internalized racial oppression, and works with the Board of Directors to strengthen our racial equity lens.
Healing from racial injustice is a result of learning and struggling together. We hope all members will join EGPS in this work.
Upcoming Discussion:
All upcoming discussions will be held on  Zoom on
Tuesday evenings from 8:30 – 9:45 PM

Healing from racial injustice is a result of learning and struggling together. We hope you will join EGPS in this important work.

For more information, please contact the Co-Chairs of the Work Group For Racial Equity:
Chris Dolin, LCSW, chrisdolin21@gmail.com
or
April Harvin, LCSW,  aprilharvin.lcsw@gmail.com

If you would like to join our email list click here
https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-05-29 19:52:412025-05-29 19:54:28EGPS WG4RE – “White Racial Identity Development and How Whiteness Harms White People”

EGPS GROUP Journal Fireside Chat with Author Christine Schmidt

June 6, 2025/in Group Journal/by Joseph Hovey
Join us for the next Fireside Chat, featuring recent EGPS President, Christine Schmidt, LCSW, CGP, as we celebrate her latest article in the spring issue of GROUP! On Friday, June 6, 2025, 12:00 Noon – 1:30 PM, we will discuss Christine’s upcoming article: “Confronting whiteness in short-term learning groups: How co-constructed group agreements encourage anti-racist emotional and intellectual learning.” The article is a thought-provoking piece that encourages group leaders to utilize a foundational element of group work, the group agreement, as an educational tool for anti-oppressive work. Additionally, we will discuss Christine’s current group work, writing process, and any future projects that she may have on the horizon. Abstract: Whiteness is ubiquitous in groups that convene in a culture permeated by white supremacy. Whiteness thwarts learning in short-term psychoeducational learning groups and is bound to be enacted repeatedly. Whiteness will reconstitute itself until it is identified, interrupted, and the group is restored to collaborative learning. Co-constructed, living group agreements, rather than traditional group contracts, offer facilitators of short-term learning groups a tool to address racial enactments and transform the white space to an anti-oppressive learning space. This article explains the benefits and provides a framework, examples, and suggestions for facilitators who seek to co-construct group agreements as an alternative to traditional group contracts. The article focuses on short-term psychoeducational learning groups but may also be applicable to other group constructs.
This is a free event open to all EGPS members and non-members. We ask that you kindly register by Thursday, June 5th to receive the Zoom link.

Register here to receive the Zoom link.

https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg 0 0 Joseph Hovey https://egps.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EGPS-big-logo.jpg Joseph Hovey2025-05-29 19:25:152025-06-03 16:01:43EGPS GROUP Journal Fireside Chat with Author Christine Schmidt

Upcoming Events

Aug 1
All day

EGPS Training Program in Group Psychotherapy Application Deadline

Oct 15
All day

Proposals Due: Expanding the Social Justice Frame in Group Work and Group Psychotherapy GROUP Journal Special Issue

Nov 14
All day

EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (Online)

Nov 15
All day

EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (In-Person)

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