AGPS Annual Conference 'The Integrated Group Leader: Mindful Leadership Usi...
Fri Nov 15, 1:30 PM - Sat Nov 16, 5:30 PM

As the central figure in the group, the leader regulates the group’s collective nervous system. With so many emotions, projections, and transferences in group, it is easy for the leader to disintegrate and become more of a member than a leader. This can happen through over-identifying, over-empathizing, or becoming dysregulated with countertransference. What can a group leader do to stay grounded enough to anchor the group? How can a group leader both make space for the group’s emotional turbulence and contain it when needed?

By integrating an Internal Family Systems (IFS) model with a modern group approach, this conference invites participants to work through resistances that inhibit mindful group leadership. Modern bridging and joining techniques combined with IFS interventions, such as unblending protectors and updating parts, will be demonstrated in a group process format. Participants will learn to work with their own defenses and habitual reactions while staying open-hearted and curious enough to navigate difficult relational moments. Through both didactic and experiential learning, we will explore how group leaders can model an integrated intrapsychic system by acknowledging and working with their own parts as