WG4RE January Discussion Group: Topic TBA
Work Group for Racial Equity January Discussion Group: Topic TBA
Return later for discussion details and registration link.
No fee to attend. All are welcome.
WG4RE November Discussion Group: Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates dialogue around the murder of Charlie Kirk: The Ubiquity of Whiteness
Work Group for Racial Equity November Discussion Group:
Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates dialogue around the murder of Charlie Kirk: The Ubiquity of Whiteness
Host: Chris Dolin
In the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, Bernie Sanders said that Charlie Kirk was “a very smart and effective communicator and organizer and someone unafraid to get out into the world and engage the public.” Gavin Newsom on Kirk “I admired his passion and commitment to debate.” And Ezra Klein praised Charlie Kirk for “doing politics the right way” in a New York Times op-ed. If you’ve ever heard sound bytes from Charlie Kirk, you may wonder if any of them had actually ever heard him speak.
Ta-Nehisi Coates responded in a Vanity Fair piece -doing something no one else did, that is, actually quoting Charlie Kirk, and then Klein invited Coates to discuss their disagreement on Klein’s podcast.
Let’s talk about it….
What’s it like to read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ piece immediately following Ezra Klein’s piece? What sorts of feelings come up in your body as you read each? If you re-read each?
There are a lot of layers here, and in the podcast episode, they end up discussing more than just Klein’s NYT editorial piece. As you listen to each of them, think about how their lived experiences (or lack thereof) shape the lens through which they see and analyze and feel the world. What stands out to you about what each of them are saying and trying to communicate to each other and to us?
What aspects of whiteness/white supremacy culture do you notice?
These are listed in chronological order:
- Ezra Klein Opinion Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way
- Ta-Nehisi Coates Response in Vanity Fair – Charlie Kirk Redeemed: a Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause
- Video: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein Hash Out Their Charlie Kirk Disagreement
No fee to attend. All are welcome.
WG4RE October Discussion Group: New Worlds Rising: Focusing on the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Work Group for Racial Equity October Discussion Group:
New Worlds Rising: Focusing on the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Host: Virginia Seewaldt, PhD
In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, the Work Group for Racial Equity is celebrating the Indigenous People of the Americas. We invite you to prepare for the discussion group by watching the “New Worlds Rising” episode of the PBS documentary Series: Native America. You can watch it here, New Worlds Rising (you may have to create an account, but it is free to view on the website or through the PBS app). This episode documents the preservation of Native American life, history, and culture through acts of resistance, small and large. An interview with Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, Amy Goodman Interview with Leonard Peltier.
Although the aim of white supremacy is to engage in the erasure of Indigenous people using tactics such as referring to them in the past tense in history books and ignoring their contributions, in the very existence in the present, we can refuse to participate in the erasure of Indigenous people by actively staying informed and engaged with Indigenous history and what is occurring in present-day Indigenous communities.
Additional Resources
- This is an article about the attempt to erase indigenous history: Erasing Indigenous History Then and Now
- What Native Land Am I On?
- Beyond Land Acknowledgements
No fee to attend. All are welcome.
WG4RE September Discussion Group: Impact of ACEs and Racial Trauma on the People We Serve and Our Practice
Work Group for Racial Equity September Discussion Group: Impact of ACEs and Racial Trauma on the People We Serve and Our Practice
We will discuss the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Racial Trauma on our practice, our clients, and on ourselves as practitioners, and explore ways to enhance our approaches and interventions in alignment with anti-racist principles.
Hosts: April Harvin and Chris Dolin
Resources
Video
Articles
No fee to attend. All are welcome.
EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (Plenary)
Navigating Differences:
Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups
In today’s climate of cultural and social division, differences within groups can spark disconnection, tension, and misunderstanding. Yet, when approached with openness and reflection, these challenges can become powerful gateways to healing, connection, and growth.
Group work offers a vital space to transform conflict into curiosity and division into dialogue. As group leaders, we are called to hold complexity: encouraging authentic expression while honoring safety and boundaries. Through restorative practices and compassionate accountability, we create containers where members can explore hard truths, deepen relationships, and remain grounded in integrity and care.
Join us for the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society 2025 Annual Conference where together we will deepen our understanding of how group process supports movement through fear, repair of relational ruptures, and greater tolerance for difference. We will explore how cultivating empathy, active listening, and emotional honesty creates space for people to feel seen, heard, and understood, building a framework for both personal insight and collective transformation.
Conference Program
Click to view the Conference Program, with workshop descriptions and conference details.
Registration has ended: If you’ve registered already, check your email inbox for confirmation emails and instructions from jan@egps.org with subject lines starting “EGPS Conference IN-PERSON DAY” and/or “EGPS Conference ONLINE DAY” for relevant instructions.
A Decolonial Approach to Psychoanalytically Informed Developmental Theory, Case Formulation and Treatment
Daniel Jose Gaztambide, PsyD
Most approaches to relational therapy depend on some theory of development to inform how clinicians think about the patient’s difficulties, guiding case formulation and treatment. This focus, however, sometimes chafes with recent thinking on the role of sociocultural and political factors in psychotherapy. This presentation will bridge this gap through a theory and research-grounded review of the decolonial psychoanalytic perspective, offering pragmatic tools for thinking about the relational/developmental and social/political as a matter of course.
Proposals Due: Expanding the Social Justice Frame in Group Work and Group Psychotherapy GROUP Journal Special Issue
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.
EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (In-Person Day)
Navigating Differences:
Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups
In today’s climate of cultural and social division, differences within groups can spark disconnection, tension, and misunderstanding. Yet, when approached with openness and reflection, these challenges can become powerful gateways to healing, connection, and growth.
Group work offers a vital space to transform conflict into curiosity and division into dialogue. As group leaders, we are called to hold complexity: encouraging authentic expression while honoring safety and boundaries. Through restorative practices and compassionate accountability, we create containers where members can explore hard truths, deepen relationships, and remain grounded in integrity and care.
Join us for the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society 2025 Annual Conference where together we will deepen our understanding of how group process supports movement through fear, repair of relational ruptures, and greater tolerance for difference. We will explore how cultivating empathy, active listening, and emotional honesty creates space for people to feel seen, heard, and understood, building a framework for both personal insight and collective transformation.
Conference Program
Click to view the Conference Program, with workshop descriptions and conference details.
Registration has ended: If you’ve registered already, check your email inbox for confirmation emails and instructions from jan@egps.org with subject lines starting “EGPS Conference IN-PERSON DAY” and/or “EGPS Conference ONLINE DAY” for relevant instructions.
EGPS Annual Conference – Navigating Differences: Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups (Live Online Day)
Navigating Differences:
Authenticity, Self Expression and Restorative Practices in Groups
In today’s climate of cultural and social division, differences within groups can spark disconnection, tension, and misunderstanding. Yet, when approached with openness and reflection, these challenges can become powerful gateways to healing, connection, and growth.
Group work offers a vital space to transform conflict into curiosity and division into dialogue. As group leaders, we are called to hold complexity: encouraging authentic expression while honoring safety and boundaries. Through restorative practices and compassionate accountability, we create containers where members can explore hard truths, deepen relationships, and remain grounded in integrity and care.
Join us for the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society 2025 Annual Conference where together we will deepen our understanding of how group process supports movement through fear, repair of relational ruptures, and greater tolerance for difference. We will explore how cultivating empathy, active listening, and emotional honesty creates space for people to feel seen, heard, and understood, building a framework for both personal insight and collective transformation.
Conference Program
Click to view the Conference Program, with workshop descriptions and conference details.
Registration has ended: If you’ve registered already, check your email inbox for confirmation emails and instructions from jan@egps.org with subject lines starting “EGPS Conference IN-PERSON DAY” and/or “EGPS Conference ONLINE DAY” for relevant instructions.
Deadline Extended – EGPS Training Program in Group Psychotherapy Applications due August 31
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 31st, 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.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Co-Deans of Admissions
Claire Julian, ClaireMJulian@gmail.com
Ashley Leeds, LCSW, ashley@leedspsychotherapy.com, 917-900-2083
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.
EGPS WG4RE – “White Racial Identity Development and How Whiteness Harms White People”
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