2020 E-Learning
presented by the Institute Committee
The Institute Committee offers these online group trainings in May and June for professional therapists and students in training programs. Sessions will be held on Zoom. Contact d.ireneweathers@hgps.org for help with registration and for information on scholarships (partial or full, available as needed on request).
Modern Analytic Training Group
with group leaders Melissa Beason-Smith, PhD, MEd, CGP and Paul LePhuoc, PhD, CGP
Saturday, May 9
3 Sessions Saturday: 9-10:30 am, 10:45-12:15 pm (break for lunch), 2-3:30 pm
$120 non-members | $100 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
The modern analytic training group provides a setting where the professional ego of the therapist is attended to in a nurturing and cultivating manner. This is a unique hybrid of process and consultation during which issues related to countertransference, family of origin, and competition are explored. Special attention will be given to increasing clinical effectiveness with the goal of building fee-for-service practices and establishing the lifelong process of deepening one’s self-awareness.
This group will not be recorded. 4.5 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Reading: Training Group Therapists Through the Study of Countertransferences by Louis R. Ormont (Link to download will be sent with registration confirmation.)
Paul LePhuoc, PhD, CGP
Paul LePhuoc is a licensed psychologist and a Certified Group Psychotherapist in Houston, TX., where he maintains a full-time private practice and leads two longterm ongoing analytic therapy groups. He is also Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a former board member of the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society and the International Board for the Certification of Group Psychotherapists. He has led training groups in St. Petersberg, Russia through the Center for Group Studies. He received his PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Melissa Beason-Smith, PhD, Med, CGP
Melissa Beason-Smith is a psychologist in private practice. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Houston with an emphasis in trauma. She completed her internship and a trauma fellowship at the Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center. Melissa is currently completing training in modern analytic group psychotherapy with the Center for Group Studies in New York City.Register below.
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*This training is full. Registration is closed.*
Psychodynamic Group
with group leaders Jamie Cool, LCSW, CGP and Audrey Ryman-Watson, LCSW, CGP
Sunday, May 24
3 Sessions: 10-11:30 am, 12:30-2 pm, 3-4:30 pm
$120 non-members | $100 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
At a time when feelings of grief, uncertainty and isolation are rampant for clients and clinicians, psychodynamic process groups provide a vehicle to connect with others in important and healing ways. This online training group offers a unique chance for clinicians to experience first-hand the power of group dynamics; including emotional attunement, intimacy, belonging, insight, greater self-understanding, corrective emotional and relational experiences and the instillation of hope.
Clinicians will simultaneously increase their skills in conducting therapy groups through didactic and consultation opportunities. Navigating the terrain of process groups, including online platforms, through personal experience can increase the comfort and confidence to use an effective and powerful healing tool with one’s clients.
This group will not be recorded. 4.5 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Jamie Cool, LCSW, CGP
Jamie Cool, LCSW, CGP is a licensed therapist with a private practice in Houston, TX. Her therapy practice includes individuals, couples, families and weekly groups. Before private practice, she worked with individuals and families struggling with relationship and recovery issues at The Council on Recovery and led experientially-focused groups with survivors of domestic violence. She is especially interested in the intersection of interpersonal neurobiology, early attachment experiences and relational disturbances. She utilizes her studies and training in humanistic, Jungian and existential therapies, psychodrama, and The Lucid Body to cultivate a holistic and relational approach to the therapeutic journey.
Audrey Ryman-Watson, LCSW, CGP
Audrey received her Master of Social Work Degree at The University of Houston, while receiving psychotherapy training at the Baylor Psychiatry Clinic. Upon graduation, Audrey also completed a two-year postgraduate Psychodynamic Psychotherapy fellowship at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies in Houston. In addition to being a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Audrey is also a Certified Group Psychotherapist.
Prior to transitioning into private practice, Audrey worked at the Center for Recovering Families, a division of The Council on Recovery, serving as both a primary therapist and Coordinator of Treatment Services. Currently, Audrey is a clinical adjunct professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Audrey has also served as a board member of the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society and on The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies Alumni Group.
Audrey’s interests include working with individuals, couples, groups and families. Audrey primarily use a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic informed approach as well as dialectical, cognitive, attachment, and family systems models of treatment. Audrey has concentrated expertise in addressing the issues of co-occurring disorders, addiction, personality disorders, and interpersonal relationship struggles.
Register below.
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Therapist’s Loss: Clinician Survivors of Suicide
with Aaron H. Fink, MD, CGP, FAGPA
Friday, May 29
2 Sessions Friday: 10:30 am-12 noon and 1-2:30 pm
$80 non-members | $70 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
Unfortunately, losing a patient to suicide is a common experience (1 in 5 clinicians). This traumatic experience has a profound personal and professional impact on the clinician that is typically poorly addressed because of multiple factors. We will address this too often neglected topic by interweaving experiential and didactic material.
This group will not be recorded. 3 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Aaron H. Fink, MD, CGP, FAGPA
Aaron H. Fink, MD, CGP, FAGPA is a child, adolescent, adult and sports psychiatrist in private practice. He chairs the HGPS Community Outreach Committee. He is a Past President of HGPS (1997-1999, 2011-2013) and of the Houston Psychiatric Society. He was Co-Chair of AGPA’s Child and Adolescent SIG and initiated the idea of HGPS having its own SIG’s.
He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and at McGovern Medical School. At Baylor, he coordinates the group therapy training program and co-leads the residency training group.
Register below.
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Psychodynamic Group
with group leaders Nanine Ewing, PhD, BC-DMT, LMFT, CGP, FAGPA and Robert Hilliker, LCSW-S, LCDC, Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Ethos Behavioral Health Group
Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6
1 Session Friday: 10:30 am-12 pm
2 Sessions Saturday: 10:30 am-12 pm and 1-3 pm
$130 non-members | $110 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
This psychodynamic process group will provide participants an environment in which to obtain, expand, and retain their skills in conducting group therapy using a psychodynamic model. Participants will move through three phases of group norms: boundaries, goals, and defenses. There will be a 90 minute group on Friday, a 90 minute group on Saturday, and a final 2 hour session on Saturday with one hour of process and one hour of consultation and didactic.
This group will not be recorded. 5 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Nanine Ewing, PhD, FAGPA, GGP, BC-DMT
Nanine Ewing, PhD, FAGPA, GGP, BC-DMT is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Houston, Texas for the past 37 years. She is a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and a Certified Group Psychotherapist and a Dance Movement Therapist. She has spoken nationally and internationally on the subjects of nonverbal communication, Jungian theory, Group process, Group dynamics, Psyche and Soma, Countertransference, the Anti-group, and many other topics. She teaches in an alternate training route for dance movement therapists in Embodied Neurobiology for advanced clinical training at Experiential Therapies in Austin, Texas. She has a private practice in Houston, Texas and runs two groups a week for clinicians and private clients. She does consultations for therapists individually and in group. Her in depth individual work is with a Jungian orientation focusing on dream work and symbolic work in the body and psyche. She has a PhD in clinical psychology and a Masters in counseling psychology and is a Certified Adlerian and has studied hypnotherapy to the consultant level. She believes deeply in the work of the therapist’s inner life and has been committed to her own therapy and analysis for the entire spectrum of her clinical work and dedicates herself to encouraging other clinicians to do the same.
Robert Hilliker, LCSW-S, LCDC, Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Ethos Behavioral Health Group
Robert’s 17 years in the field of addiction and mental health encompass private practice, clinical supervision, the creation and management of clinical programming, and the co-founding of The Lovett Center in 2014 and Ethos Behavioral Health Group in 2019.
Throughout his educational and professional careers, Robert has gained valuable experience and impactful recognitions. He earned his Master’s degree from the University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work, which went on to honor him as a 50 for 50 Alumni in 2019 for embodying the college’s social justice vision. Robert’s education includes a fellowship at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies and a Postgraduate Social Work Fellowship at The Menninger Clinic, while his resume includes long standing leadership positions at The Daring Way, The Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston and The Menninger Clinic. At the latter, he earned a Menninger Clinic Pillar Award for Integrity for his work in the Professionals in Crisis Program, an honor meant to recognize those who best exemplify Menninger’s core values: excellence, teamwork, hope, integrity and caring. The Houston Business Journal named Robert a 40 Under 40 Class of 2018 Honoree.
Register below.
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Adventures of the Mind: Bringing Mentalizing to Life
with Jennifer Markey, PhD, MEd, CGP
Thursdays June 18 and 25
2 Sessions: Thursdays 7-8:30 pm
$80 non-members | $70 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
Come join us as we creatively explore our minds! This group will take participants on an experiential tour of mentalizing. Through a series of experiential exercises, we will demystify the concept of mentalizing and give participants some ideas of integrating mentalizing into their group practice.
This group will not be recorded. 3 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Jennifer Markey, PhD, MEd, CGP
Jennifer is a Licensed Psychologist in private practice. She received her Masters in Education in Risk and Prevention from Harvard University School of Education. She went on to receive her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Suffolk University. Jennifer brings a wealth of clinical and research training experiences to her practice, including 3 years of post-doctoral training on the Professionals in Crisis unit at the Menninger Clinic, APA-approved internship training through Baylor College of Medicine (Depelchin Children’s Center, Ben Taub Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic), and additional research and training experiences at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA), Edith Nourse Veteran’s Administration Hospital (Bedford, MA), Tufts University Counseling Center (Medford, Massachusetts), McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA), Manville School at the Judge Baker Children’s Center (Boston, MA), and The Boston Children’s Hospital (Boston, MA). Jennifer completed 3 years of post-graduate training — Studies in Psychoanalytic Thinking — at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies (Houston). She has advanced training and experience in the area of group psychotherapy: 1) previously serving as an Advisory Board Member (2016-2018) and currently serving on the Training and Education Committee for the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society, co-teaching the Principles in Group Psychotherapy Course to Houston-area clinicians, and 3) co-teaching the Didactic Group Psychotherapy Seminar for second year Psychiatry Residents at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Register below.
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The Use of Psychodramatic Techniques in Process Group
with Sue Barnum, LPCC (NM), CGP, TEP and Jana Rosenbaum, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA
Saturday, June 20
2 Sessions Saturday: Saturday 10 am-12:30 noon and 1:30-4 pm
$130 non-members | $110 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 10
Traditional process group therapy is indeed effective but can take a long time for group members to develop authenticity, boldness, intimacy, and readiness to deal with issues. We will explore simple yet empowering psychodramatic techniques that help group members “turn corners” in their work without disturbing the group’s psychodynamic process.
Reading material will be provided for this group. Please read before training begins.
This group will not be recorded. s desktop or laptop computer is recommended for participants in this group, rather than a phone or tablet. 4.5 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Sue Barnum, LPCC (NM), CGP, TEP
Sue is a 35-year member of HGPS. She spent 20+ years in private practice in Houston, running six groups, including a psychodrama training group. She was on the Board of HGPS for six years. She has partially retired and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she uses her skills in working with Creativity for Peace, which brings Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls to peace camp in Santa Fe each summer. She also sits on the Board of that organization. She continues to teach her beloved psychodramatic techniques in process group at AGPA and HGPS, as well in other places to which she is invited. She and Evie Lotze, PhD, co-authored a book on that subject in 2013 entitled Therapist’s Creativity Handbook: Introducing Action and Play into Process Groups.
Jana Rosenbaum, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA
Jana Rosenbaum has been practicing psychotherapy since 1993 and is currently in private practice in Houston. Her advanced training includes psychodynamic psychotherapy, ACT, trauma-informed yoga, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Emotionally Focused Therapy, mindfulness, psychodrama, and group psychotherapy. She works in a relational style with a focus on the mind-body connection.
Register below.
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Online Psychotherapy, Effective Group Process in the Digital Age
with group leaders Drew Krieger, DSW, MBA, LCSW, LCDC and Richard Newman, LPC, LCSW, LMFT, LCDC, CGP, FAGPA
Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27
2 Sessions Friday: 10:30 am-12 noon and 1-2:30 pm
1 Session Saturday: 10:30 am-12 noon
$120 non-members | $100 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 8
The exploration of emotions in process groups often invites overcontrolled and sometimes undercontrolled emotions. When participating in and managing these states, both leaders and participants are often confronted with complex dynamics that can prove even more challenging to address in online environments: weakened social filters, online norms, technology failures breaking group continuity, the tendency to be distracted by multitasking or online notifications, privacy issues in the clients’ environments, etc., to name a few. This experiential psychodynamic group will form, norm and storm, while exploring and addressing interpersonal issues and process in group, online. Participants will learn how to facilitate effective online group process, and deal with the unique challenges this format creates.
This group will not be recorded. 4.5 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Drew Krieger, DSW, MBA, LCSW, LCDC
Andrew Krieger is a private practice psychotherapist and mental health executive with extensive experience in technology, group therapy, clinical program design and development and addiction. Dr. Krieger’s private practice is in Bellaire, Texas and he is the CEO of Contemporary Medicine Associates and Co-Founder of PsychTrac, Inc. He has also held clinical positions at some of the leading treatment programs in Texas and has served in executive roles in top companies across multiple industries. Dr. Krieger received his Masters of Clinical Social Work and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Houston; he received his Doctorate degree in Social Work, with a mental health technology focus of study, at the University of Southern California in April of 2020.
Richard Newman, LPC, LCSW, LMFT, LCDC, CGP, FAGPA
Richard Newman is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, a Social Worker, a Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor, and a Chemical Dependency Counselor who has been treating clients for over forty years. He is a Certified Group Psychotherapist, a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). He has experience with inpatient, agency, and outpatient practice from a clinical, a supervisory, and an administrative viewpoint. He specializes in working with children and adolescents, and, in doing so, he does considerable family and marital therapy work. He has led groups for children, adolescents, adults, and marital couples over his clinical career, and he has participated in teaching the AGPA Principles Course.
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Grief in the Time of Corona: Helping Trauma Survivors with their Grief and Loss
with Noblet Davidson, LCSW, CGP and Terry Fassihi, PhD, FAED, CEDS-S Friday and Saturday, July 31 and August 1.
1 Session Friday: 10:30 am-12 noon1 Session Saturday: 10:30 am-12 noon$80 non-members | $70 HGPS members | $25 special student rate
Limit 15
Face to Face is now Screen to Screen. What have we lost in the age of Corona? How do we confront this global trauma and massive grief we are experiencing with our clients? Where is the Kleenex when we both need it? What else is in short supply? We all are in the midst of coping with both trauma and grief, and there are difficult things we need to talk about, including our fees and other obstacles to care. We will look at these issues in the context of attachment trauma and how that impacts our ability to cope. We will explain how we help patients find a balance in dealing with loss and finding a path forward through building a narrative that honors loss and clarifies meaning. The group will begin with teaching, but will be mostly experiential, with opportunities to discuss what we are dealing with now.
This group will not be recorded. 3 continuing education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, and LPC. Certificates will be emailed on completion of an evaluation survey emailed to participants at the conclusion of the group.
Noblet Davidson, LCSW, CGP
Noblet Davidson, LCSW is clinical director of enCOURAGE Trauma Center, an intensive outpatient program to support patients in outpatient therapy for trauma. She has been a clinical social worker for 14 years and has a private practice in the Rice Village area. She earned her Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work in 2006 and has worked with individuals with mental illness in outpatient, residential, and inpatient settings. She worked at the Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston with individuals with co-occurring disorders and at The Menninger Clinic in Houston for almost 5 years working on the Hope Unit with individuals with depression, anxiety, addictions, and personality disorders. She has expertise and specialization in trauma-focused treatment, addictions work, cognitive behavior therapy and psychodynamic therapy. She provides individual, couples, and family psychotherapy to individuals with a history of trauma, mood and personality disorders.
Terry Fassihi, PhD, FAED, CEDS-S
Terry Fassihi, PhD is executive director of enCOURAGE Trauma Center, an intensive outpatient program to support patients in outpatient therapy for trauma. She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Tulsa and undergraduate studies at Stanford University. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including the Veteran’s Hospital in Houston, the National Health Service in England, the Menninger Clinic, also here in Houston, and in the Intensive Outpatient and Partial Hospitalization programs of Houston Eating Disorders Center, which she founded in 2010. In 2015, Houston Eating Disorders Center became part of the Eating Recovery Center programs.
As an intern at the VA, She learned about trauma and the pervasive effects it had on our veterans. Subsequent work in a variety of settings showed her that trauma was rarely fully addressed in treatment. As an eating disorders specialist, she came to realize that full recovery from eating disorders requires working on past traumas.
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2020 HGPS Institute Committee
HGPS thanks the Institute Committee. The Institute would not be possible without the work of the Institute Committee members.
Click here to see this year’s Committee.
Guy Bender, LPC
Ann Marie Buckley, LCSW
Tom Carter, PhD, MTh, MA, LPC, CGP
Linda Chase, LCSW, CGP
Jamie Cool, LCSW, CGP
Travis Courville, LCSW, CGP, FAGPA
Charisse Ferrer, LPC
Sarah Gallup, MS, LPC-I
Brandy Gibson, LMSW
Mara Gittess, LPC
Elyssa Fink Gottheim, LCSW, CGP
Cindy Hearne, PhD, CGP
Gregory Kaplan, MA student
Michele Lees, MA, BC-DMT, LPC
Ty David Lerman, MA, LCP-S
Kat Nazaroff, LCSW, LCDC, CDWF
Richard Newman, MEd, LPC-S, LMFT-S, LCSW, LCDC, CGP, FAGPA
Harvey Rosenstock, MD
Erika Sosa, LMSW, LCDC
Leticia White, LCSW
Special Student Rate and Scholarships
HGPS is pleased to offer current students a special rate of $25 per group or presentation. HGPS is offering scholarships on the basis of financial need for E Learning events. If you would like to request a partial or full scholarship, contact Dorothy Weathers at d.ireneweathers@hgps.org.
Agency Registration
Agencies are welcome to E Learning events and receive a 25% discount when three or more people from an agency register. For more information, contact Dorothy Weathers at d.ireneweathers@hgps.org.
If you are unable to register online, please contact Dorothy Weathers at d.ireneweathers@hgps.org.