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HGPS 2021 Virtual Institute

with Keynote Speaker Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA and Ethics Presenter Jane Okech, PhD, NCC

Member Registration
Non-Member Registration
Student Registration

Download the mail-in registration form

Join us for this year’s Institute and Ethics Training!  The 2021 Institute will be held virtually via Zoom. Up to 21.5 Continuing Education hours are available for Psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, LPC, and CGP licenses/certifications, including 3 ethics hours for those attending the ethics presentation. CME hours are available for most Institute 2021 events. Check them individually. Use the buttons above to register. Each presentation and group has a ticket, which can be purchased in an “a la carte” style. Participants can create their own Institute experience. Reminders with links will be sent for each presentation and group. Please see the schedule below for dates and times of all Institute events. Scroll down the page for information about Scholarships and Agency/Group Discounts. HGPS offers this annual event with gratitude to the Institute Sponsors and Annual Fund Contributors who make these events possible. Questions? Need help with registration? Contact [email protected].

ADDED NOTE:

In coordination with the Institute Committee, on April 30, May 1, May 7, and May 8, the HGPS Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee (REDI) is offering safe and supportive drop in spaces for discussing and processing racial bias and trauma – and any questions related to racial discrimination and awareness.   All Institute faculty and attendees of groups, keynote, and ethics presentation are welcome.  There will be groups for BIPOC (black Indigenous and people of color) Institute attendees, and groups for White Institute attendees.  

Meeting Times for All Groups:

  • Friday, 4/30/2021 6:00-6:30 pm
  • Saturday, 5/1/2021 2:45 pm-3:15 pm
  • Friday, 5/7/2021 3:45 pm-4:15 pm
  • Saturday, 5/8/2021 2:00 pm-2:30 pm

Check your email for group links if you are interested in attending or contact [email protected]

Schedule of Events

Click here for the Schedule of Events

Friday, March 5
9:00 am-12:00 pm
Examining Whiteness for Institute Faculty –Yoder/Slater

Thursday, April 15: Ethics
5:00-8:00 pm
Ethics Presentation with Jane Okech, PhD
Ethical Considerations for Effective Interracial Group Psychotherapy Practice

Friday, April 16: Keynote
1:00 pm – 5:30 pm
HGPS Institute Keynote with Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA
Emotional Availability in Group: Expanding the Capacity for Intimacy in Group Members and Leaders

Saturday, April 17: Keynote
9:00 am – 1:15 pm
HGPS Institute Keynote with Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA
Emotional Availability in Group: Expanding the Capacity for Intimacy in Group Members and Leaders

Friday, April 30: Process Groups, Special Interest Groups, Consultation

9:00-10:00 am
Large Group-Faculty and Consultants

10:30 am -12:00 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 1 – Newman/Krieger (Session 1 of 3)
Psychodynamic Process Group 2 – The Group Experience in a Digital World – Ewing/Hilliker (Session 1 of 3)
SIG Conducting Virtual Group Therapy – Harrison (Session 1 of 1)
SIG Emotionally Focused Couples Group Intensive – Puster/Spiller (Session 1 of 1)

12:15-12:45 pm
Small Groups with Faculty/Consultants

2:00-3:30 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 1 – Newman/Krieger (Session 2 of 3)
Psychodynamic Process Group 2 – The Group Experience in a Digital World – Ewing/Hilliker (Session 2 of 3)

2:00-5:00 pm
SIG Mentalizing-Based Art Therapy – Moore (Session 1 of 1)
SIG “You’re into what?!?” An Introduction to the Sexual Attitudes Reassessment – Brown (Session 1 of 1)

4:00-5:30 pm
SIG Humanizing Self and Others: Mentalizing to Better Understand Racial Bias and Racial Trauma in Groups – Markey/Pinto (Session 1 of 3) RESCHEDULED to May 14, 4:30 pm-6:00 pm & Saturday, May 15, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm & 2:00 pm-3:30 pm

5:15-5:45 pm
Small Groups with Faculty/Consultants

Saturday, May 1: Process Groups, Special Interest Groups, Consultation

10:30 am-12:00 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 1 – Newman/Krieger (Session 3 of 3)
Psychodynamic Process Group 2 – The Group Experience in a Digital World – Ewing/Hilliker (Session 3 of 3)
SIG Humanizing Self and Others: Mentalizing to Better Understand Racial Bias and Racial Trauma in Groups – Markey/Pinto (Session 2 of 3)

12:15-12:45 pm
Small Groups with Faculty and Consultants

1:00-2:30 pm
SIG Humanizing Self and Others: Mentalizing to Better Understand Racial Bias and Racial Trauma in Groups – Markey/Pinto (Session 3 of 3)

Friday, May 7th: Process Group & Consultation
10:30 am-12:00 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 3 – LePhuoc/Beason-Smith (Session 1 of 3)

2:00-3:30 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 3 – LePhuoc/Beason-Smith (Session 2 of 3)

3:45-4:15 pm
Small Groups with Faculty and Consultants

Saturday, May 8: Process Group & Consultation
10:30 am-12:00 pm
Psychodynamic Process Group 3 – LePhuoc/Beason-Smith (Session 3 of 3)

12:30-1:40 pm
Large Group-Faculty and Consultants

May 14 &15

SIG Humanizing Self and Others: Mentalizing to Better Understand Racial Bias and Racial Trauma in Groups – Markey/Pinto RESCHEDULED to May 14, 4:30 pm-6:00 pm & Saturday, May 15, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm & 2:00 pm-3:30 pm

Institute 2021 Keynote Speaker Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA

Jeffrey-Hudson

Emotional Availability in Group: Expanding the Capacity for Intimacy in Group Members and Leaders
Date: Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17

Click here to read more

Emotional Availability in Group:  Expanding the Capacity for Intimacy in Group Members and Leaders
Date: Friday April 16 (1:00 pm-5:30 pm) and Saturday April 17 (9:00 am-1:15 pm)
Price: $160 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
8 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

As psychotherapists we routinely work with our patient’s availability for emotional engagement.  Our success depends, in part, on our own emotional availability.  During this workshop we will examine both the openness and resistance to emotional involvement in groups.  We will discuss common sources of resistance for both members and leaders.  As we deepen our understanding of resistance, we can more readily welcome both positive and negative transferences.  Additionally, we will explore Modern Psychoanalytic approaches to working with resistance, such as joining, emotional communication, and contact functioning.

Jeffrey S. Hudson, MEd, LPC, CGP, FAGPA

Jeff Hudson’s clinical practice is guided by a belief that our clients can unconsciously know what we are open to experiencing emotionally and what we are reluctant to experience. He is a strong proponent of group membership as a component of a therapist’s professional and personal growth. 

Jeff is a group psychotherapist in private practice in Austin, Texas. He is a former President of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society and has served two terms on its Board of Directors. Jeff served as a Board Member of the Group Foundation for Advancing Mental Health from 2006-2020, including two terms as Vice Chairman of the Board. He is also a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). In 2007, Jeff co-founded AGPA’s first local fund-raising committee to provide scholarships to the AGPA Annual Meeting.  

A frequent presenter on group treatment at the local and national level, Jeff maintains an active group practice that includes both solo and co-leadership of therapy and training groups.  Two of his ongoing training groups meet in Nashville, Tennessee.

Thursday Evening Ethics Workshop with Jane Okech, PhD, NCC

Ethical Considerations for Effective Interracial Group Psychotherapy Practice
Date: Thursday, April 15

Click here to read more

Ethical Considerations for Effective Interracial Group Psychotherapy Practice
Date: Thursday, April 15 (5:00-8:00 pm)
Price: $60 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
3 Ethics CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

This 3-hour workshop will provide a focused overview of the intersection between ethical standards of group psychotherapy practice and effective responses to interracial dynamics in groups. The core goal of the workshop is to enhance participants’ practice as culturally responsive group psychotherapists with specific attention to interracial effectiveness. To meet this objective, the presenter will examine evidence-based practices that have been demonstrated to be effective when working with clients of diverse racial backgrounds and identities in groups. To achieve these objectives, discussion will focus on, (a) providing an overview of core ethical standards for culturally responsive group psychotherapy practice, (b) examining the application process and impact of current ethical standards pertaining to culturally responsive group psychotherapy, (c) an overview of issues pertaining to power, privilege, and positioning in the group therapeutic relationship and their clinical implications, and (d) expanding participants’ knowledge and awareness of their own racial backgrounds, worldviews, and impact on their ethical decision making processes, diversity, and multicultural competences, and group psychotherapy practice in general. Case Study based discussions will be utilized to increase understanding of content and to advance the goals of this workshop.

Jane Okech, PhD, NCC

Dr. Jane Okech is a Professor of Counselor Education and Supervision, and Chair of the Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences at the University of Vermont. She holds a Bachelor of Education Degree from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from the United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Counseling from Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA. Her deep and rich intercultural personal and professional experiences have left an indelible imprint on her worldview and on her work as a counselor, educator, and researcher. Her scholarship primarily focuses on the advancement of proficiencies in the practice of group psychotherapy and clinical supervision with diverse populations. Her scholarship examines counseling micro and advanced skill acquisition processes, and their contributions to the development of complex relational dynamics that advance the efficacy of the therapeutic process in individual and group contexts. Dr. Okech also examines models of clinical supervision and the development of core supervision intervention proficiencies across various domains of clinical practice. Associated aspects of this scholarship foci is its intersection with professional ethics and standards of practice. Her body of work has received multiple professional accolades including recognition with the 2017 “Article of the Year” award by the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) and Dr. Okech’s election to Fellow status by ASGW in 2018. She is currently serving as Associate Editor for the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.

REGISTER FOR ETHICS ONLY

Psychodynamic Process Groups

Date: Friday and Saturday, April 30 and May 1, or Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8

These small groups provide participants an environment in which to obtain, expand, and retain their skills in conducting group therapy using a psychodynamic model.  In three 90-minute sessions, participants will move through three phases of group norms: boundaries, goals, and defenses. 2 of the groups are for therapists with 10+ years experience.

Click here for full Psychodynamic Process Group Info

Psychodynamic Group 1–Cancelled

With group leaders Richard L. Newman, MEd, LPC-S, LMFT-S, LCSW, LCDC, NCC, CCMHC, CGP, FAGPA and Drew Krieger, LCSW, LCDC, PhD

Dates: April 30 (10:30 am-12:00 pm & 2:00-3:00 pm) and May 1 (10:30 am-12:00 pm)
Price: $90 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
4.5 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

This is a learning-by-doing group. It will focus on the emotional availability theme advanced by the keynote speaker. The leaders will facilitate the forming of connections, generating a sense of safety, and both modulating and containing the affective expressions of the group members.

Psychodynamic Group 2 -The Group Experience in a Digital World

With group leaders Nanine Ewing, PhD, BC-DMT, LMFT, CGP, FAGPA and Robert Hilliker, LCSW-S, LCDC

Dates: April 30 (10:30 am-12:00 pm & 2:00-3:30 pm) and May 1 (10:30 am-12:00 pm)
Price: $90 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
4.5 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

The landscape of group process is changing rapidly around us, and the digital format may very well extend far beyond ‘covid times’. The process group learning format is organized around the idea that the best way for therapists to gain technical skills in treatment is to become the patient, and experience all the feelings that come with that exquisitely vulnerable process. As Hanna Levenson wrote “patients don’t need an explanation, they need an experience.” Similarly, the best process for honing our skills as group therapists is not by reading about group therapy, but instead by immersing yourself in the group experience as a member. So, join Nanine Ewing and Robert Hilliker in a digital experience of process group, in order to learn techniques and processes for holding space in an online group.

Psychodynamic Group 3

With group leaders Paul LePhuoc, PhD, CGP and Melissa Beason-Smith, PhD, MEd, CGP

Dates: May 7 (10:30 am-12:00 pm & 2:00-3:30 pm) and May 8 (10:30 am-12:00 pm)
Price: $90 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
4.5 CE &CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

The modern analytic training group provides a setting where the professional ego of the therapist is attending 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.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Date: Friday and Saturday, April 30 and May 1

These groups offer intensive learning about specific theories and approaches in group treatment.  Registrants can pursue current interests in greater depth or integrate new approaches and methods into their work.  Most of the special interest groups have experiential components. There are short 1 session groups, 3 hour workshop format groups, and a 3 session group over 2 days.

Click here for SIG Info

Conducting Virtual Group Therapy

With Kimberly Harrison, PhD

Date: April 30 (10:30 am-12:00 pm)
Price: $30 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
1.5 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

This session will present hands-on learning techniques for conducting group therapy via the Zoom platform. Topics will include ways to engage each group member, how to creatively use Zoom tools for more effective interaction with all ages, ethical considerations, and ways to conceptualize group rules and informed consent germane to the virtual environment.

“You’re into what?!?” An Introduction to the Sexual Attitudes Reassessment

With Christopher Frier Brown, LCSW

Date: April 30 (2:00-5:00 pm)
Price: $60 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
3 CE hours | All levels of group therapy experience

Sex therapy has been split off from psychotherapy in the US. We do our clients a disservice if we never ask the simple question, “Are there any sexual health issues you’d like to discuss with me?” We clinicians sometimes avoid asking because we ourselves haven’t done the inner work of confronting our shame, biases, or “yucks” about sex. Enter the SAR. The Sexual Attitudes Reassessment.

Humanizing Self and Others: Mentalizing to Better Understand Racial Bias and Racial Trauma in Groups

With Jennifer Markey, PhD, MEd, CGP and Sarah Pinto Gallego, MSW

Dates: April 30 (4:00 pm-5:30 pm) & May 1 (10:30 am-12:00 pm & 1:00 pm-2:30 pm)
Change of Date: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this group is being delayed to Friday, May 14, 4:30 pm-6:00 pm & Saturday, May 15, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm & 2:00 pm-3:30 pm

  • Friday, May 14, 2021 4:30 pm -6 pm 
  • Saturday, May 15, 2021 12:00 pm-1:30 pm
  • Saturday, May 15. 2021 2:00 pm-3:30 pm


Contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
Price: $90 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
4.5 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

Let us bravely explore our racial conditioning through a series of creative mentalizing experiences. We will demystify concepts of mentalizing to help look at our assumptions and recognize ways these assumptions show up in ourselves and in our groups. From this foundation, we will explore racial identity development, working to understand our own stages of development and that of our patients. As we move further through this landscape, we will examine the intersection between pre-mentalizing states and stages of racial identity and use this insight to further our understanding of ourselves, our patients, and our groups as a whole. Participants will leave with exercises to use in a range of groups and a newfound self-awareness to assist in identifying and exploring bias and discrimination in their groups.

Mentalizing-Based Art Therapy

With Kula Moore, MA, LPC, ATR-C

Date: April 30 (2:00 pm-5:00 pm)
Price: $60 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
3 CE & CME hours |All levels of group therapy experience

The program will provide clinicians with an introduction to mentalizing-based art therapy, with specific focus on group interventions. Participants will engage in an experiential art therapy process and practice discussing artwork from a mentalizing stance.

Emotionally Focused Couples Group Intensive

With Michelle Puster LPC and Laura C. Spiller, PhD

Date: April 30 (10:30 am-12:00 pm)
Price: $30 | Member Discount 15% & Student Discount 75%
1.5 CE & CME hours | All levels of group therapy experience

Using a combination of didactic and experiential material, we will introduce participants to the EFT attachment theory framework. For adult love, the attachment to an intimate partner is the emotional bond that provides security and soothes anxiety. Attachment theory suggests that negative interactions between couples arise when the security of the couples’ emotional bond is threatened. In distressed relationships, the key issue is a lack of accessibility and responsiveness to emotional cues leading to disconnection. The workshop will provide a therapeutic roadmap for EFT with couples, focusing on the central role of emotion as the primary mechanism of change in EFT. Participants will learn the therapeutic goals and key change elements of EFT. We will demonstrate how the therapist helps couples understand and deepen their emotional experience to create corrective experiences that allow for new responses. We will introduce Hold Me Tight Couples Workshops/Intensives and how we integrate the above model into a small group of couples. We will demonstrate how we create a safe, validating, and normalizing experience where couples learn they are not alone in their struggles. We will also provide information on the EFT communities in Texas and EFT training opportunities in the state.

Scholarships

HGPS is dedicated to educating and supporting those who practice group psychotherapy. In furtherance of that goal, HGPS offers a variety of scholarships for the Annual Institute, including the new Our Voices Scholarship which is awarded to members of the BIPOC community and other marginalized communities as a validation of their contributions and lived experiences that too often get overlooked. Please submit scholarship applications by April 2nd.

Click here for more information and application form.  

Agency Registration

Agencies are welcome at the Institute and receive a standard 25% discount when three or more people from an agency register.  For more information, contact Dorothy Weathers at [email protected].

2021 HGPS Institute Faculty

HGPS thanks the 2021 Institute Faculty.  The Institute would not be possible without the work of the Institute Faculty.

Click here to see this year’s Faculty

melissa-beason-smith

Melissa Beason-Smith, MEd, PhD, 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.

christopher-frier-brown

Christopher Frier Brown, LCSW Christopher became a psychotherapist because therapy changed his life for the better. He’s a Clinical Social Worker and sex therapist in private practice. He’s licensed as an LCSW in Texas and Colorado. Christopher has worked in psychiatric hospitals, The Baylor Psychiatry Clinic, and The Menninger Clinic. He’s trained with John and Julie Gottman, Esther Perel, and has completed the Sexual Health Certificate Program at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Nanine Ewing, PhD, FAGPA, CGP, BC-DMT
Nanine Ewing, PhD, FAGPA, CGP, BC-DMT is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Houston.Texas for the past 33 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 3 groups a week for clinicians and private clients. She does in depth individual work with a Jungian orientation focusing on dream work and symbolic work in the body and psyche. Her clientele includes a large percentage of her fellow clinicians.

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.

kimberly-harrison

Kimberly B. Harrison, PhD
Dr. Kimberly B. Harrison is a clinical psychologist and founder of The Conative Group, in Houston, Texas. She works with children, adolescents, and adults though individual and group therapy. Dr. Harrison also conducts psychological evaluations, and works closely with schools and families on learning and attention issues. She also works extensively with individuals who have Asperger’s-type ASD. Recent groups, both virtual and in-person, include Young Adults with ASD, Art Therapy for  Elementary and Middle School Girls, Parents of Children with ADHD, and Workfromhomeschooling.

robert-hilliker

Robert Hilliker, LCSW-S, LCDC
Robert is driven by a deep commitment to serve others and is passionate about the subject of hope and despair in clinical treatment. His 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 its parent company Ethos Behavioral Health Group in 2018.

andrew-krieger

Andrew Krieger, DSW, MBA, LCSW, LCDC
Dr. Andrew Krieger is a private practice psychotherapist with extensive experience in business consulting, clinical program design and development, addiction treatment and group psychotherapy. He has held clinical positions at some of the leading addiction treatment programs in Texas and has served in executive roles in top companies across multiple industries. He received his Doctor of Social Work from the University of Southern California, and his Masters of Clinical Social Work and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Houston. Dr. Krieger has provided consulting services for over 25 years to both for-profit and non-profit organizations along a wide range of operational areas, including addiction treatment, business process refinement, public relations, practice development, marketing, business development and executive coaching. He has also worked for over 15 years with individuals and families as a private practice and group psychotherapist, specializing in addictive disorders, family therapy, group psychotherapy and process addictions.

paul-lephuoc

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 a 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 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.

jennifer-markey

Jennifer Markey, PhD, MEd, CGP
Jennifer Markey is a Licensed Psychologist in private practice and founder of the Petoskey Center Intensive Outpatient Program.. She received her Masters in Education in Risk and Prevention from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She went on to receive her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Suffolk University.  Jennifer is currently the co-chairperson of the Training and Education Committee for the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society.

kula-moore

Kula Moore, LPC-S, ATR-BC
Kula Moore is a Board Certified Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor. She is founder of Art Therapy Houston, a private practice providing art therapy services to people and organizations in Houston. Kula also practices art therapy at The Menninger Clinic, where she works primarily with the emerging adult population. She specializes in personality disorders and the young adult population. With extensive training in Mentalizing-Based Treatment, Moore co-developed a mentalizing-based art therapy group protocol and has presented this work at local national conferences and workshops. She is also a recent author of Mentalizing in Group Art Therapy: Interventions for Emerging Adults. Moore has served on the board of the South Texas Art Therapy Association and is also co-founder and illustrator at One Moore Book, publisher of multicultural educational stories for children of countries with low literacy rates and underrepresented cultures. She joyfully lives, works, paints, and plays in the great city of Houston.

richard-newman

Richard L. Newman, MEd, LPC-S, LMFT-S, LCSW, LCDC, NCC, CCMHC, 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 as a clinician, a supervisor, and an administrator. 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.

Sarah Pinto Gallego

Sarah Pinto Gallego, MSW
Sarah Pinto is a social worker and activist in the area of racial equity and works to help organizations create inclusive and authentic spaces. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Chinese and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Houston. She later received her Master’s of Social Work degree from the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston and trained as a GLOBE (Integrated Health) Fellow and Trauma Fellow. Sarah is the tri-chairperson of the Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society.

michelle-puster

Michelle Puster, MEd
As a therapist I meet each client where they are and apply appropriate therapies, methods, and strategies as needed. I am a Person Centered therapist, meaning I believe my clients are the experts in their lives. I use an empathic approach that empowers and motivates the client in the therapeutic process. I believe that each of my clients has the ability to reach their goals and their full potential. In couples therapy I use Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Method to help couples learn and understand the cycles in their conflicts and how to break free of damaging patterns in their relationships.

I am the owner of Katy Couples & Wellness Counseling: Providing Individual and Couples counseling.Other credentials: Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist and Supervisor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional.

anne-slater

Anne Slater, LCSW-S
I believe that we all have stories of power, privilege, and oppression that often go untold and therefore hinder understanding. When we take the time to slow down, listen, and acknowledge this context we open up the possibility of constructing new meaning. I love collaborating with people to expand their stories and build equitable relationships that provide the sense of belonging all humans need.

I received my Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Social Work and completed four years of training in couple and family therapy at The Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City. My experience ranges from working with adjudicated youth in Brooklyn’s under-served communities to directing clinical services for nonprofits to starting my own therapy practice, first in Brooklyn and now in Houston. In my practice, I supervise fellow therapists; work with individuals, couples, and families; and I co-facilitate a short-term process group with Amanda Yoder called Examining Whiteness for white people to confront internalized white supremacy and deepen their understanding of systemic racism.

laura-spiller

Laura C. Spiller, PhD
Dr. Laura Spiller is a psychologist who specializes in helping individuals and couples strengthen relationships and connect with those they care about. She completed her doctoral training in psychology at the University of Houston and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. For over 10 years, she was a professor who trained clinical psychology graduate students and conducted research on relationships. She is the owner of Heights Couples Therapy and co-owner of Wellness Collaborative, psychology practices in the Heights area of Houston.

amanda-yoder

Amanda Yoder, LCSW, CGP
“We are hurt in relationship, and we heal in relationship” is the core conviction of my therapeutic approach. From the time our earliest map of self-and-other forms in our families, religions and cultures, we see the world through the lens of our experience. It’s through relationships that our worldview expands and our sense-of-self matures, especially if we take time for inquiry and insight, and to integrate what we learn. I work from a social justice perspective, deeply attuning to the ways inequities around race, gender, and sexuality also inform our sense of self-and-other.

I specialize in group psychotherapy, and offer process groups for clinicians and adults in their 30s. I co-lead with Anne Slater a short-term process group called Examining Whiteness, in which white people confront internalized and systemic white supremacy. I teach and supervise clinicians in a variety of settings, and conduct group psychotherapy trainings upon request.

Grounded in psychoanalytic theory, I have studied at Smith College, Columbia University, The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, The Harvard Program in Refugee Studies, and currently, at the Institute for Clinical Social Work.

2021 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

Stefanie C. Barthmare, M.Ed., LPC-S
Guy Bender, LPC
Jamie Cool, LCSW, CGP
Tammy Fountain, LPC-S, CGP
Brandy Gibson, LMSW
Mara Gittess, LPC
Elyssa Fink Gottheim, LCSW, CGP
Gregory Kaplan, MA student
Michele Lees, MA, BC-DMT, LPC
Ty David Lerman, MA, LPC-S, CST
Kat Nazaroff, LCSW, LCDC, CDWF
Richard L. Newman, M.Ed., LPC-S, LMFT-S, LCSW, LCDC, NCC, CCMHC, CGP, FAGPA
Harvey A Rosenstock, M.D., LFAGPA, CGP
Leticia H. White, LCSW
Dan Workman, LMSW

Register for the 2021 HGPS Institute

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This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association, Center for Psychoanalytic Studies and Houston Psychoanalytic Society. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 21.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

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  • HGPS Harassment and Safety Policy
  • HGPS Diversity & Inclusion Statement
  • Stop Asian Hate
  • HGPS Safe Environment Conduct Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Contact HGPS

Houston Group Psychotherapy Society

PO Box 22866

Houston, TX 77227

713-668-2680 phone

[email protected]

About HGPS

Houston Group Psychotherapy Society is an affilate of AGPA.

Group listings are a public service of HGPS, and are led by members. Listings are provided for informational purposes only. HGPS does not warrant the appropriateness of any group for any particular individual. Please contact the therapist listed for each group for more detailed information. Inclusion in the listing does not imply an endorsement or statement of quality from HGPS.

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