The Breakfast Club, a pillar of the rich heritage of NSGP, invites members and non-members to gather together on designated Sunday mornings to be unabashedly inquisitive about group therapy with seasoned practitioners and educators who are passionate about what they do.

The Breakfast Club is seeking committee members and people who are interested in presenting. Please be in touch with

Ann Keren Neman Kantor at annkeren.nk@gmail.com or with Penny Moore at penelope.moore@gmail.com.

Our 2020-2021 season is ending with one last terrific presentation. There are only a few spots remaining. Please register.

Sunday, April 25, 2021
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm via Zoom Meeting
Creating a Professional Will Presented by Debra Filiurin, LMHC, CGP

Creating a professional will is a requirement for ethical practice. In the event of a medical emergency or sudden death, it is essential. This presentation will help identify your individual needs, create a plan to execute your wishes, and equip you to get the process started.

A link to join will be emailed to registrants prior to the event. Limited to 20 participants, so register today!

These one-hour gatherings hosted by Past President of NSGP Ann Koplow, LICSW, CGP are on Zoom every other Saturday at noon, include a new co-facilitator each time, and create a space for NSGP members to drop in and speak easily about whatever they choose. The schedule is listed on the NSGP website and reminders are posted on the ListServ

In 2020, the Practice Development Committee said good-bye to member Judi Garland, Psy.D., who left to spend time on specialized training. You all know Judi as the writer of wonderful articles about our events that appeared in the NSGP newsletter. Her writing skills and fun spirit are already missed!

Remaining PD Committee members Christine Boie, CNS, Joyce Collier, LICSW, Amy Matias, Ph.D., and Co-chairs, Oona Metz, LICSW, and Barbara Schmitz, LMHC, have been busy planning events for the 2020-2021 year. We managed one outdoor, masked, very socially-distanced meeting in September before retreating to meeting via Zoom every other month.

We recently hosted a sold-out event featuring a demonstration group and discussion with internationally-renowned group leader, Ronnie Levine, Ph.D., entitled “Developing Immediacy in the Zoom Room”. We hope you will join us for our next event, listed below!

Warmly,

Oona Metz, LICSW, CGP, FAGPA
Barbara Schmitz, LMHC
Practice Development Committee Co-chairs

THE PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF NSGP PRESENTS:

FROM "ON THE ZOOM" TO "IN THE ROOM”: CONSIDERING A RETURN TO IN PERSON THERAPY With Amy Matias, PhD, LICSW, CGP and Oona Metz, LICSW, CGP

As we approach a time when more people will be vaccinated, many of us are considering a return to in-person therapy. Please join us for a discussion of who, when, where, and how much hand sanitizer to buy. Some of the topics we will cover include:

Office space 
Waiting room
Cleaning
Masks
Consent/Confidentiality
Air filtration

Our intention is to create an open, non-judgmental space to share thoughts and ideas with other therapists who are considering a return to in-person work. 

Limit: 25 people 
Cost: $40 members, $50 nonmembers
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 4 - 5:30 pm
Register at nsgp.wildapricot.org

About the facilitators:

Oona Metz walked an average of 3.1 miles a day during the pandemic. If she had walked it all at once she would have made it to Huntsville, Alabama. She also became a jigsaw puzzle fanatic and developed tasty gluten-free recipes in her spare time.

Amy Matias has an office in Harvard Square, where she likes to commute on her bike. During Covid, she has been baking delicious treats, watching sci-fi, and chasing rabbits with her newly rescued Covid dog.  

“What’s that?” you ask.  Read on…

The NSGP Consultation Benefit is free to all members in good standing of NSGP.  It entitles you to one hour of free consultation per calendar year with an expert in group psychotherapy.  

Topics are as varied as our practices and now include the many challenges of online groups.   The only topics that are not appropriate are emergency situations.   Consults can be by video, phone or face-to-face. 

“What a deal!” you say.  Indeed!  

Email Christine Boie CNS christineboie65@gmail.com and she will facilitate and ensure a time-sensitive consultation with one of our experts. 

For more information visit the NSGP Annual Conference page here

NSGP’s Board of Directors and the Conference Committee are extremely grateful and honored to present NSGP’s 40th Annual Conference entitled Equity, Inclusion and Diversity: Bridging Differences In Times Of Crisis.

As relevant as ever, we will be addressing topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion, both in ourselves and in our professional lives. We face challenges of systemic and institutionalized racism, xenophobia, and homophobia throughout society. As good stewards of our respective professions, it is imperative that we continue to challenge our own internal biases that keep those structural inequities in place. It is increasingly urgent for the clients we serve and the society in which we live.

The Conference Committee has worked with thoughtful deliberation to offer a variety of events that highlight specific issues related to diversity we might face as therapists, teachers, group leaders, and students of all professions. Our workshops, special institutes, plenary discussion, and a demonstration group will speak to issues of racism, objectification, victimization, and white fragility. For some, these discussions might feel challenging, but we hope to come together to find effective ways to confront barriers to diversity and inclusion that must start within ourselves, then move to our communities of practice, and the larger society. We see this conference as a continuation of ongoing conversations within NSGP, its leadership, and the broader community.

The Friday Evening Special Presentation on June 18th from 7-9 pm will feature Gary Bailey, DHL, MSW, ACSW. He is a well-regarded speaker and professor at Simmons University. He will lead us in conversation entitled “Anti-Racist Clinical Care at the Intersections of Two Pandemics.” The Demonstration Group on June 27th will be held by co-leaders Dr. Kavita Avula and Dr. Marcus Hummings entitled "The Trauma of Marginalized Experience: Dismantling Oppression in Therapy Groups." Both of these powerful events serve as bookends to two weekends of intellectual and personal growth.

Over the last six decades, it has been our commitment to NSGP and all its members to put on a conference that is meaningful, educational, and professionally and personally impactful. As our awareness deepens, our organization evolves: our goal is to create brave working spaces where these conversations can take place. In these difficult times, we appreciate your willingness to engage in a topic many lack the courage to explore.

We all look forward to seeing you in June. Register Today!! 

The Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy Foundation (NSGPF) is delighted to announce scholarship opportunities for the NSGP June Conference. Both the NSGP Foundation and NSGP are committed to the development of students, early career mental health professionals, and its members in need of financial support who have an interest in expanding their knowledge and skills in group psychotherapy.

Currently there are three Foundation scholarship funds. The Michelle McGrath LGBTQIA+ Scholarship is intended for clinicians and students who work with the LGBTQ+ community. The Debora Carmichael Scholarship for Working Parents is a scholarship offered for therapists who are working parents. The Walker Shields Scholarship Fund is a new fund for those clinicians who are passionate about group work and will fund a clinician’s Experience Group. 

For those who qualify, scholarships help to defray the cost of the annual conference in June. For more information, you may email Oona Metz at oonametzlicsw@gmail.com  or go to the NSGP Scholarship page here.

In addition to NSGP Foundation scholarships, NSGP has additional general scholarships as well as an Equity Rate this year. Please see the NSGP website for more details.

Marsha was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NSGP Foundation.

The NSGP Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee (formerly known as Diversity & Inclusion Committee) offers free weekly virtual check-ins open to the community, both domestically and internationally. Every week we meet to explore our narratives, looking at how our identities and cultural backgrounds influence our responses to current events, including the COVID pandemic and political unrest. We meet on Zoom on Thursdays, 12 - 12:45 pm EST. We have attendees joining us from various parts of the United States, as well as across the globe. The NSGP DEI Committee started offering this forum in March 2020 when the pandemic hit. The current plan is to continue until at least the end of May 2021. You can join for one or as many check-ins as you want. If you are interested in attending, please email nsgpdi@gmail.com.

Purpose: A group of peers who benefit from white privilege coming together to examine their own internalized racism in order to create a safe, equitable, and more just world for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Our intention is to provide a reflective space, in which we come together in caring to share our truth, work beyond self-gain, and stay committed to asking questions to promote social justice and lifelong change.  

Statement: We acknowledge that this will be hard and uncomfortable work. We commit to staying engaged with the process because we are driven by our values of equality and social justice. To do this work, we will hold conversations that lead to “wise decisions and actions” and uphold the principle of “a leader in every chair.” We will come together as peers, not experts, and we will share our experiences equally, without hierarchy.  

Who: A group of 10 people (max), open to NSGP Members and Non-Members.  

Hosts: DEI Committee Members Amy Matias, PhD., LICSW, CGP, and Joel Krieg, LICSW, CGP

What: A meeting to work together through the workbook, Me & White Supremacy, by Layla Saad, using The Circle Way (http://www.thecircleway.net/booklets) as a structure for the group. (Participants will need to obtain a copy of Me & White Supremacy and purchase the Me & White Supremacy Workbook.)

When: Mondays 11:00 am to 12:30 pm for 9 sessions starting April 5 and ending June 14, 2021. The group will not meet on April 12 or May 31. 

Click Here to Sign up (first come first served): NSGP Anti-racism Group Circle Sign up

About the Hosts:

Amy Matias is a psychotherapist with 16 years experience and has a private practice in Cambridge. Amy has been an active member of NSGP for over 10 years. She  also has been a presenter at AGPA and NSGP as well as an experienced group leader at NSGP. Amy has served on the Newsletter Committee and the Board, and is currently serving on the Practice Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees. 

Joel Krieg is a psychotherapist who has been in private practice for over 10 years. He considers NSGP his professional home and is committed to examining and dismantling white supremacy within NSGP. Joel has served on the Board and the Breakfast Club, Training, Scholarship, and Nominating committees. He is currently a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

As you may know by now, NSGP began conducting a series of Town Halls. The idea for the series of Town Halls came from a year filled with social and political upheaval that has impacted us all. The ways we relate and learn as a community have inevitably been changed by 2020. We believe this shift in perspective is an opportunity to look at how NSGP functions and what it provides to us, the membership. We ask the question: as we change, how will NSGP change along with us? How do we want to engage as a community, what would we like from our organization, and in what ways do we want to learn, grow, and socialize?

The first Town Hall was on January 23rd and began with the larger picture of how we transition after a year of crisis into being an organization that is more responsive to and reflective of the times we live in. The Town Hall was hosted by Eleanor Counselman, Ed.D, and Theresa Bullock-Cohen, LICSW, and was structured around some of the principles of The Circle Way by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea. Approximately 30 people across NSGP attended this event. Some of the key takeaways included: a call for NSGP to think boldly about change and recognize that this takes time; to take a look at ourselves--what makes new members not get more involved?; and to identify and grow consensus as to the conversations we need to have to move forward. Attendees reflected that they were appreciative and grateful for the town halls and liked seeing ideas build over the course of the discussion.

The second Town Hall was on March 7th. We were led by Amy Matias, LICSW and Lise Motherwell PhD, also using the structure of The Circle Way. In this Town Hall we were interested in getting into what people valued about our organization. Two questions were posed: “post-COVID, what would you save from NSGP if it were near destruction?” and “what is the hook that gets people into NSGP and what is the glue that keeps them coming back?” By far, the most common theme was connection: a sense of belonging, community, and a shared sense of values. People spoke of the desire for experiential learning, expanding to a larger range of professionals (e.g. nursing, OT, PT, etc) and definitely coming back together in person!

The next Town Hall hopes to continue building on these first two Town Halls as we continue to re-imagine NSGP. NSGP’s Board of Directors encourages everyone to attend and have your voice heard! SAVE THE DATE for the last Town Hall on May 8th, 11 am to 12:30 pm.

Jenn DeSouza, LICSW, CGP
Jeff Brand, Psy.D., CGP
Guy Croteau, LICSW, CGP