PROGRAM

**********Sessions listed by day and time in sequence**********

Thursday September 12, 7:00-8:30 PM East Room

THE ROLE OF EMBODIMENT – AN EXPERIMENTAL MINDFULLNESS

WORKSHOP

Angel Hu
Angel is an Organizational Psychologist based in New York City. Outside of work,
she spends most of her time engaging in the study and practice of mindfulness
and meditation, exploring and socializing the philosophy of life. In 2018 alone, she
attended at least one meditation retreat per month. Angel graduated with a
Bachelor’s in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a
Master’s in Social-Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia
University. Angel is a member of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social
Systems.

Anne Legendy
Anne has been an active member of the center since 2010. She teaches as
adjunct faculty at NYU and works in private practice with individuals and couples
in Manhattan and Brooklyn. She is a member of the A.K. Rice Institute for the
Study of Social Systems. Anne received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology
from New York University and completed her postdoc at the William Alanson
White Institute. She holds a B.A. from Brown University in Psychology and Art
History.

Abstract
In the here and now, the mind and the body are interconnected. By building an
awareness for a sense of embodiment, we may better access the collective
unconscious in the here and now. This workshop offers a tool to develop
awareness for embodiment. Participants will go through a guided body scan
exercise and mindfulness activity in this session.

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 Description

“If this group was a creature, it would have a really big head but no body.”

This consultation from a staff in a Small Study Group at the Dover Conference in
2017 continues to resonate with me. Who are we if we do not have bodies? Our
physicality is an integral part of vitality. Yet, we are living in an age where our
bodies become increasingly detached from ourselves. As practitioners in this field,
we are more comfortable analyzing feelings, rather than directly experiencing the
present moment with our whole selves. So, what would happen if we were to bring
our bodies into the room?

There is a misconception that logical reasoning derived by brain activity is the

most reliable way to inform us of our experiences. However, centuries of
philosophical wisdom of the self and contemporary neuroscience corroborate the
fact that our whole bodies function as a interconnected web, integrating and
processing information from what is within us (i.e. our feelings, thoughts,
perceptions), with that which is external (i.e. others, the group, the system).
“Embodied” is defined as “to give a concrete form to; express, personify, or
exemplify in concrete form”[1]. By practicing mindfulness, we can uncover a sense
of embodiment and investigate the roles that we take on in groups.

The purpose of this experiential workshop is to invite people to explore the role of
the physical body in-group work, mindfully reconnect with our bodies, and
acknowledge our instincts. By integrating the thinking and feeling parts of
ourselves through mental stillness and quietude, we cultivate a sense of bodily
intelligence, and become increasingly aware of the intricacies of group-as-a-
whole.

Preliminary Design:
• 15 minutes introduction
• 45 minutes of body scan exercise
• 15 minutes social meditation in dyads
• 15 minutes of awareness of breath
• 30 minutes of reflection plenary

Value-add to the AKRI Dialogues:

• +Experiential understanding of the Preliminary Core Competencies as listed in
the AKRI Training and Certification Program Application
• +Aspects of our history that reflect utilization of our work outside of conferences
that might have had social or institutional impact
• +Creative experiential events that help the community gain insight into itself and
embrace aspects of play as part of good work

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 Friday September 13

7:00-7:45 AM West Room – Dreams & Reflections

7:00-7:45 AM East Room – Open Space

7:45-8:30 AM– Conference Room A – Breakfast with the board

Friday 9:00-10:30 AM West Room

Opening Plenary Panel & Discussion– Women In Leadership

Friday 10:45 AM-12:00 PM West Room

WHEN EXPECTING HONESTY IS RECKLESS: ALL OUR HANDS ARE DIRTY IN

THE DEBASED POLITICS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC INSTITUTES DOMINATED BY
BASIC ASSUMPTION GROUP FUNCTIONING

David M Brooks PhD

Abstract
When expecting honesty is reckless: An agar of Sartrean mauvaise
foi (“bad faith”) for debased politics in psychoanalytic institutes
dominated by basic assumption group functioning

Hannah Arendt (Truth and Politics, 1967) argues that the dignity of politics is truth.
If a working group’s politics is characterized by the use of power to seek and
extend truth(+K oriented authority), then the debased politics of basic assumption
groups (Bion,1961) is to bend or distort truth to serve the extension of power and
“bad faith” (-Koriented authority). This formulation is clearly at work in our national
politics, social media, advertising, etc. The paper will show it is also a useful
heuristic for examining the debased politics of a psychoanalytic institute, which is
struggling to evolve itself out of a patrimony of dependency basic assumption
group functioning (a fallen patriarchal legacy plaguing psychoanalytic institutes
worldwide.)

The author presents three detailed vignettes, which disclose the operation of toxic
ambivalence towards +K oriented authority, grown in an agar of Sartrean “bad
faith”. Toxic ambivalence (need and hate-of-need) is characterized by the group-
as-awhole projection of a powerful double-bind into a leader, which can have
disabling effects on his or her ability to assume proper authority (in the +K

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direction). On one hand, the double-bind demands the +K oriented leader
subjugate/subordinate him or her frame of mind to the corrupting underlying
system (-K oriented authority), installing a -K frame of mind to neutralize Will into
passive dependency. On the other, honest expression (+K) is inhibited by
anxieties such as that of retribution (“to be honest right now might be reckless”). In
order for toxic ambivalence to grow it needs a matrix of distorted truth claims (an
agar of “bad faith” rationalizations and justifications), which support the group’s
evasion of self-authorization and joint responsibility for group life within a politics of
dignity and truth – the possibility of living together in what some want to call an
“ethics of care for all” (Sowa, 2019). Instead, a culture of “back seat driving”and
scapegoating of +K authority predominates. “Good will” and passion to be an
active part of institute life dries up; a demoralized and fear-driven culture has set
in.
Options for intervention to disrupt and transform will be considered.

Friday 10:45 AM-12:00 PM East Room

HOW DOES A FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Tanya Lewis PhD & Barbara Williams EdD

Insight for Community Impact (ICI) in Toronto, Ontario is an initiative to explore

how Tavistock group relations methodologies might contribute to the development
of knowledge and skills in individuals working in non-profit or public sector
organizations with commitments to social justice.

Over the past five years, ICI has grown to a network of approximately sixty people,
linked to the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society with a core group of 10 practitioners
intent on learning the theory and on developing and applying their skills. The work
in Toronto has been well supported by Jim Krantz, Danny Kennedy, Fabio D’Apice
and John Wilkes. In the practitioner learning programs, unlike many group relation
learnings in the Tavistock paradigm, where people tend not to have such on-going
relationships, in Toronto, many members have professional and personal working
relationships with one another.

Learning together given this complexity has been fascinating. ICI events have
included: a five day conference several years ago, small study group training,
development for staff roles, and now an annual two and a half day event focused
on exploring differences. Participants in small group training take part in the two
and a half day workshop according to their developing skills and abilities. Much of
this work depends on sustaining relationships in order to build community and
withstanding some of the hatreds that arise in the work and toward it of learning
together.

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The ICI work has led to adaptations of the Tavistock conference model as well as
the training of staff to consult to these events. Some of these adaptations include:
the development of affiliations based on commitments to social justice and a
curious regard for difference; story telling as part of the two and a half day event;
identifying and working on a dilemma focused on questions of difference; the
impact of participants and conference staff in overlapping relationships with one
another.

This presentation will invite discussion on the process of founding a Tavistock

group relations informed educational initiative focused on the promotion of social
justice with its overlapping relationships between participants and its adaptations
to the model. Given AKRI’s 50-year history and its own innovation, input will be
encouraged on what is rich in the adaptations and what requires more careful
attention.

Friday 10:45 AM-12:00 PM Conference Room D

SOCIAL SYSTEMS, SPATIALITY, TECHNOLOGY AND POSITIVE

DISINTEGRATION

Presenter Name: Clive Hazell

This presentation will bring together the four domains in the title insofar as it will
offer a model of the ways in which unconscious dynamics of groups are affected
by and are expressed through technology, spatiality and positive disintegration. By
applying Heidegger’s ideas concerning technology and Dabrowski’s theory of
positive disintegration to theoretical geography and group relations theories, one
arrives at what might be some novel and timely explanations of social dynamics.
In addition, one is lead to some modest proposals as to coping with rapid socio-
technical changes.

Friday 12:00-1:00 PM Conference Room A

Open Lunch with the board

Friday 1:00-2:15 PM West Room

WHAT I LEARNED AND HOW I LEARNED IT: A PHOTO ARRAY OF GRC

EXPERIENCES

PANEL: Suma Jacob, Victoria Te You Moore, Evangeline Sarda,

Jeanne Woon

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This panel includes AKRI members of Asian descent who will consider and
discuss the history of their participation in GRCs, focusing on a few important
events that crystallized significant learning for each of them. There will also be a
brief historical rendering of the role of Asian-Americans in the US, which may
provide a lens to compare and contrast the individual experiences of panel
members. By pooling together a collage of individual experiences and looking at
what is reflected back, the panel will consider the similarities and differences of
their collective experience and attempt to illuminate the Asian/Asian-American role
in AKRI. The panel explores the idea that social identities are less about identity
and identity politics and more about the formal and informal roles we are asked to
take up on behalf of organizations, and considers what role the social identity of
Asian/Asian-American contains for AKRI, for their back home organizations, and
possibly for the US.

Friday 1:00-2:15 PM East Room

UNDERSTANDING NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLACE-BASED INITIATIVES

THROUGH THE LENS OF GROUP RELATIONS

Allison Pinto, Ph.D.

Neighborhoods are social networks and environments that influence and are
influenced by the well being of the people who reside within them. They are
fundamental units of civic life and have the potential to initiate and lead broad
scale social change. They are also the geography of focus of place-based
initiatives, which refers to a cross-sector approach to comprehensive community
change designed to catalyze collective transformation through a preliminary focus
on particular neighborhoods. How can Group Relations theory and practice be
used to understand neighborhoods and place-based initiatives as social
systems? How can the science and practice of neighborhoods and place-based
initiatives reciprocally inform the continued evolution of Group Relations? These
questions are actively being explored through neighborhood-oriented, place-based
efforts now underway in Florida.

This presentation will apply the Group Relations concept of group-as-a-whole to

understanding the dynamics of neighborhoods and associated place-based
initiatives. It will also explore ways in which a focus on boundaries associated
with time, turf, task, resources, and role can be helpful in understanding
neighborhoods and neighborhood-oriented community change efforts.

Enriching the theory and practice of Group Relations with concepts and methods
associated with the science and practice of neighborhoods, and place-based
initiatives more specifically, will be considered as well. Neighborhoods are more

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like voluntary associations than formal institutions, so what are the implications for
understanding and addressing power and authority at the community scale? What
are the implications for communities as whole systems when residents take up
their role and agency as neighbors, in contrast to the roles of consumer, student,
or service recipient? Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, Cognitive
Edge story modeling, Dynamic Social Network Analysis and Agent-Based
Modeling can be used to visualize patterns of thriving and suffering within and
across neighborhoods, revealing positive deviance as well as disparities. How
might these technologies and methods of analysis be used to clarify and explore
unconscious group dynamics in the field of Group Relations?

This presentation will also share preliminary plans for a Group Relations
conference designed to explore the dynamics and related functioning of
neighborhoods and place-based initiatives, with a particular focus on the
neighborhood and city in which the conference is held. Considerations and
implications for group relations practitioners, neighborhood residents, fellow
community members, and place-based practitioners will be highlighted.

Friday 2:30-3:45 PM West Room

FINDING A PLACE TO STAND:

DEVELOPING SELF REFLECTIVE INSTITUTIONS, LEADERS AND CITIZENS

Presenter: Edward R. Shapiro, M.D.

This presentation, derived from my recently published book, traces a

psychological pathway from family membership to joining society as a citizen. I
have unusual opportunities, undergirded by my AKRI experiences, to learn that
our institutions, our access to society, have untapped capacities to help us
develop our citizen voices. Using my experience in a range of roles and settings
from psychoanalysis to family treatment, from group relations to studying voters,
from institutional membership to the leadership of a unique psychodynamic
hospital, I will attempt to demonstrate how focused attention on our experiences in
roles, an understanding of systems psychodynamics, and a reorientation of our
institutional leaders can help bring us out into the world with clearer perspectives
as citizens. Facing the swirl of global, technological, and political transformation
and the correspondingly weakened citizen voice, I have been struck by the
difficulty of finding a place to stand and speak with the possibility of joining with
others about things that actually matter. Society is too vast for any of us as
individuals to see much more than our projections into it. Can we perceive more if
we find a way to look at society collaboratively? Is there any way to clarify the
psychological steps toward becoming a citizen? And if so, what is the appropriate
context?

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 Friday 2:30-3:45 PM East Room

ON BECOMING A DIRECTOR – REFLECTIONS ON THE PROCESS:

A FISHBOWL DISCUSSION

Director Development & Search Committee: Laurie Nisco, Chair; Lenny Levis; &
Nancy Wilson

(Committee member Carl Mack was unable to attend)

Invited fishbowl participants: Zachary Green, Charla Hayden, Patricia Kummel, &
Mary McRae

This presentation will provide an opportunity for dialogue in a fishbowl format, with
participants moving in and out of the inner circle. Four people with experience
directing, named above, were invited to hold seats and anchor the discussion for
the duration of the fishbowl. Questions will be posed to the invited participants
related to their journey to become a director and their development as a director
over time, including obstacles, struggles, learning and growth. Attendees are
invited to move in and out of the fishbowl to engage in dialogue about the process
of becoming a director and taking on the role, perhaps sharing their own
experiences in the director role, or raising questions about this role that is the
focus of so many projections. This will be followed by a full-group discussion.

The purpose of this presentation is:

• To provide learning about the role of director and the process of becoming
a director
• To increase interest in the role of director, and to increase the likelihood
that individuals would consider taking on this role in the future
• To reflect on the process of director development to be better able to make
plans for the training and development of the next generation of directors

Friday 4:15-6:30 PM East Room

PLENARY AKRI at 50
Recent transformations in Governance and Leadership;
A collaborative discussion in two parts

PART ONE- 4:15-5:20

THE A K RICE INSTITUTE, PHASE III

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In collaboration with the AKRI Presidents’ Group and Affiliates Representatives,
members of the Affiliate Relations Committee will present its work to bring to
fruition fully functional relationships between AKRI and the Affiliates and to bring
affiliate representation to the AKRI Board over the past 4 years. Aspects of AKRI’s
organizational history will provide context for this project. Significant system
dynamics encountered throughout the process will be a prominent focus.
Abundant time will be reserved for questions and open discussion.

PART TWO- 5:25-6:30

FOSTERING SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONS WITHIN AKRI
AFFILIATE CENTERS

This panel of past and current AKRI Affiliate presidents will come together to
explore our collective past and visions for the future, both as individual Centers
and as AKRI Affiliates. With a particular focus on understanding the components
of successful leadership transitions, we will enlist group relations theories and
audience engagement so as to mine the collective AKRI experience and the
wisdom therein.

Our ultimate goal is collaborative learning. Panel participants (leadership selected

by each of the Centers) will work before the Dialogues event to share their
experiences with one another and agree on the themes to be shared during the
Dialogues. During the event, in addition to sharing insights, there will be time for
dialogue and discussion with the audience, including invitation for members and
leaders from all centers who may want to contribute to the discussion.

End of Day

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 Saturday September 14

7:00-7:45 AM West Room – Dreams & Reflections

7:00-7:45 AM East Room – Open Space

7:45-8:30 AM– Dining Room Back Area

Training & Certification AKRI Members’ Meeting

The Training and Certification Committee welcomes all AKRI members to a
meeting about the Training & Certification process. In order to keep refining the
process we are eager to hear about peoples’ experiences, observations,
questions and concerns about the program. In addition we will be available to
answer any questions about the T&C program.

Saturday 8:30-9:45 AM West Room

RETHINKING TAVISTOCK: ENACTMENT, THE ANALYTIC THIRD AND THE

IMPLICATIONS FOR GROUP RELATIONS

Gregory S. Rizzolo Ph.D.is a faculty member at the Institute for Clinical Social
Work. His work has appeared in Psychoanalytic Psychology, the Psychoanalytic
Study of the Child and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He
is also the author of The Critique of Regression (Routledge, 2019). He maintains a
private practice in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in Chicago.

The psychoanalytic exploration of group relations requires an orientation to the

intersubjective nature of mental life.[1]

The Tavistock model of group relations provides a preliminary framework for

thinking intersubjectively about the nature of experiences in groups. However, this
model continues to depend on the questionable metaphor of the isolated mind as
a container of reified mental contents, which can be passed around by means of
projective identification. Furthermore, it continues to invoke the notion of a neutral
analyst or consultant with privileged insight into the group's unconscious fantasy
life. Through a critical discussion of this approach, this presentation attempts to
begin a dialogue about intersubjectivity and its implications for the study and
practice of group relations. The presenter argues that an intersubjective approach
requires one to look not at how reified mental contents are being moved around
within a given group, but rather at how intersubjective experiences can be
cocreated by the group members and their conference consultants. He focuses on
how enactments between all of these participants can lead to a transformation of
self and other through the experience of mutual subjugation and the emergence of

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a shared third space. In addition, he introduces the concept of the alien group self,
a shared identity that the group can form to accommodate to the mindset of its
consultants.

[1]AUTH (2012)

Saturday 8:30-9:45 AM East Room

DIRECTING DECISIONS

Patricia Kummel, Suma Jacob, Leonard Levis, Evangeline Sarda,

Barney Straus

There are hundreds of considerations and decisions involved in directing a Group

Relations conference. Are the decisions we make about design, staffing, themes,
location and other matters - and the manner in which we make them - shifting as a
new generation of Directors takes up the role and as the world around us
changes?

Saturday 10:00-11:15 AM West Room

STRAIGHT OUT OF CARSON: PUTTING THE ART IN BART

PRESENTERS: Laura Dorsey-Elson, Jaime Romo, Tara Victor,

Angelica Rivera & Jack Lampl

California State University, Dominguez Hills students who attended

and/or were staff on the conference will also be invited to participate

FORMAT: Presentation Followed by Whole Group Discussion

In 2016, 2018 (Directed by Dr. Laura Dorsey-Elson) and 2019 (Directed by Rev.
Dr. Jaime Romo), three group relations conferences were held on the campus of
California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a four-year public university
located in south central Los Angeles and among the most ethnically-diverse
universities in the United States with a student population that is 64.3 percent
Hispanic/Latino; 13.4 percent Black/African American, 8.5 percent White, 10.2
percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 0.1 percent American Indian, and 3.1 percent
two or more races. Immigrant and visa students on this campus represent 100
countries.

In addition to gathering pre- and post-conference survey data on learning

outcomes, student/alumni/civic engagement as well as experiences in diverse
populations, these conferences investigated the utility of including alternative

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forms of creative expression to facilitate the primary task of member learning
about authority relations, boundaries, role and task from a psychodynamic-
systems perspective.

We propose to present these quantitative and qualitative data and to tie the data
of our experience (from our respective roles) to the challenges and considerations
of incorporating group relations conferences in today’s increasingly diverse public
university context.

Saturday 10:00-11:15 AM East Room

A TRANSLATION OF A GROUP RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE TO MEDICAL

EDUCATION AND CONSULTATION: THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICE &
LEADERSHIP MODEL

Presenter:

Ernest Frugé, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology Section
Professor, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Baylor College of Medicine
Director, Psychosocial Division
Texas Children's Cancer & Hematology Centers
Houston, Texas, USA
www.txch.org/fruge
www.reflectivepracticeleadership.org

The group relations perspective emerged in the early 20thcentury as part of a

larger shift in sciences towards more systemic views of biological, psychological
and social processes. The experienced-based and transformational insights of
Wilfred Bion, formed in the crucibles of two wars, led to a medical application -
more specifically a clinical trial (the “Northfield Experiments”) of an alternative
method of treating shell shock and battle fatigue. This clinical trial and its
translations into military and industrial applications was an important part of the
foundation for what is now referred to as the Tavistock tradition of group relations
theory and practice.

The later work of Michael and Enid Balint, also based at the Tavistock Institute,
with primary care physicians - can also be seen as a successful translation of this
fundamental perspective to the practice of medicine. To this day, Balint groups
have an enduring role in medical education around the world. Like the translations
of Bion’s original clinical trial to other types of work, the principles underlying Balint

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groups have been generalized to professional development activities for
organizational consultants across a variety of settings.

Group relations conference designs have also been applied to medical education
and general organizational development.1,2,3,4However, these efforts are
relatively rare and difficult to sustain over time. It is also noteworthy that these
efforts have typically been hosted in sectors of academic medicine that are
already aligned with the psychosocial facets of medicine. For example, a Google
search of the websites of the top ten research and top ten primary care medical
schools (as rated by U.S. News and World Report) for terms such as Balint and
reflective practice yield most “hits” (if any) in two predictable locations: psychiatry
and family medicine. A search for the term “group relations” in the same set of
websites will likely retrieve few if any results, most having no connection to the
Tavistock tradition. This presentation will describe a translation of the group
relations perspective for medical education that has demonstrated utility and long-
term institutional sustainability outside of the predictable sectors mentioned
above.

The basic method, titled “Reflective Practice & Leadership”, was originally
developed in 1996 as a part of the core curriculum for a fellowship in Pediatric
Hematology/Oncology and has continued.5,6 Since that time, variations of the
basic method have been successfully applied to a variety of medical
subspecialties with learners at different stages of professional development from
medical students to practicing physicians and across a variety of institutions. The
methods have also recently been proven to be feasible and effective in an
application to graduate medical education across cultures (e.g., Sub-Saharan
Africa). In addition, there is anecdotal evidence that successful implementation of
these methods can create opportunities for consultation to broader challenges of
organizational function, design and strategic planning.

Throughout their training, physicians are encouraged to employ a disciplined,

scientific approach to the analysis of complex biomedical problems that follows the
classic hypothetico-deductive procedure. It is interesting to note that as physicians
develop expertise they often move towards pattern recognition and only “resort” to
hypothesis formation and testing when the data does not fit expected pattern. This
approach can be influenced by unconscious or semi-conscious personal and
organizational factors (e.g. time/production pressures) raising the risk of error,
particularly in diagnosis, and thus risk to treatment efficacy and patient safety.

In contrast to training in biomedical reasoning, physician have proportionately very

little if any formal education in a disciplined approach to reasoning through the
psychological and social aspects of their work – including factors such as their
own or others’ emotions, role, group and inter-group relations and institutional
context. The success of the Reflective Practice & Leadership method and

13
 applications appears to hinge in part on two things: 1) applying a hypothetico-
deductive clinical reasoning procedure to psychological and social data in case-
based discussions, and 2) ensuring that the disciplined analysis, including the
examination of emotions and role, is tied, when possible, to the development of
plans for alternative strategic actions (leadership). The presentation will review a
variety of applications and outcome measures that include impacts on practice as
well as physician well being and collegial relations. The presentation will also be
interactive with the aim of engaging participants in critique of the proposed model
and exploration of possible modifications to increase utility and generalizability.

1. Heimburger, E.M. & Baxter, R.F. The group relations conference as a

supplemental training experience for physicians and other health
professionals. Journal of Personality and Social Systems. 1979, Vol. 2, pp 43-52.

2. Lomax, J.W. & Webb, L.J. Differential of A.K. Rice and national training
laboratory experiential conferences for psychiatry residents. Journal of
Psychiatric Education. 1984, Vol. 7, pp 274-286.

3. Menninger, R.W. A retrospective view of a hospital-wide group relations training

program: Costs, consequences, and conclusions. Human Relations. 1985, Vol.
38 (4), pp 323-339.

4. Benson, M.C., Lundgren, J. & West, K. Psychiatric residency training in the

dynamics of groups and organizations. Journal of Psychiatric Education. 1988,
Vol. 12 (2), pp 102-110.

5. Frugé, E.& Horowitz, M.Leadership dimensions of the physician’s role:

A transitional approach to training in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
In G. Amado & L. Vansina (Eds.)The Transitional Approach in Action:
The Harold Bridger Transitional Vol. II, London: Karnac, 2005.Series.

6. Frugé, E., Mahoney, D.H., Poplack, D.G. & Horowitz, M.E. Leadership: "They
Never Taught Me This in Medical School". Journal of Pediatric
Hematology/Oncology, 2010, 32, No. 4, 304-308.

7. Patel, V.L., Arocha, J.F.& Kaufman, D.R. Expertise and tacit knowledge in
medicine. In R. J. Sternberg & J. A. Horvath (Eds.), Tacit knowledge in
professional practice: Researcher and practitioner perspectives. Mahwah, NJ,
US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. 1999

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 Saturday 10:00-11:15 AM Conference Room D

TRANSMODAL CONTINUOUS ONLINE GROUP

Robert Hsiung, MD, DFAPA, Chicago

Jeffrey D. Roth, MD, CGP, FAGPA, FASAM, FAKRI, Chicago
Vincenzo Sinisi, MA, CGP, Cape Town
Joseph E. Wise, MD, CGP, New York City
Anne Frank Lindhardt, MD, Copenhagen

Our lives are increasingly virtual / disembodied / unreal as we

increasingly interact not directly, but on our devices; not in person,
but by text and video. In the distant future, maybe not at the
100th anniversary in 2069, but in 2069 our experiences may be primarily virtual,
but right now / in this transitional period, our virtual / disembodied
and real / embodied experiences impact each other. But how exactly?

The Transmodal Continuous Online Group (TCOG) is a large group

experience with layered degrees of virtuality / reality. We start with
asynchronous (not real-time) text on the Slack online platform, add
real-time video on the Zoom online platform, meet in person at the
Dialogues, return to text + video, and finish as we began, with only our
words:

Online groups eliminate the need to be in the same place at the same
time. Participation in the text and video modalities is possible from
anywhere in the world, so they are open to those who do not come to
Chicago. The TCOG also begins before and ends after the events in
Chicago. TCOG members use their own computers or smartphones for the
text and video. Computers are preferred for the video. The text and
video software allow participants to use pseudonyms and avatars. The
text software automatically records messages, and that history is
available to participants. Technical sophistication is not required. The
TCOG starts with an orientation phase during which members learn to use
the software.

The TCOG is a creative experiential design evolving from the text-only

COG our team has been developing for over a decade. The TCOG provides a
self-directed experiential learning opportunity that can deepen
appreciation of asynchronous text, real-time video, in-person, and
interactional group dynamics.

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 1. Orientation phase Text Only Sep 06-08
2. Experiential phase Sep 09-18
a. Text Continuous
b. Video 7:00-07:45 am Central Sep 13, 14, 15
c. In-person 10-11:15 am Central Sep 14
3. Review and application phase Sep 19-20
Text-only
4. Departure phase Sep 20-21
Text-only

There is no charge to register for the TCOG. Questions may be directed

to Robert Hsiung . To register, email both him and also
the AKRI 50th Anniversary Committee.

Registrants will receive instructions on how to join.

Saturday 11:30 AM-12:45 PM West Room

TRAUMA IS TRAUMA IS TRAUMA: USING OUR LEARNING ABOUT TRAUMA

IN CONFERENCES TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO WORK WITH TRAUMA IN
ORGANIZATIONS

Presenters: To include some but not necessarily all of the conference

staff: Patricia Kummel, JD, PhD; Earl T. Braxton, PhD; Janice
Wagner, LICSW; Raymond Lewis, Jr. MSW; Katherine Harding, PsyD;
Frank Dwyer, MA, MPA, M.St., MSW, D. Crim (Candidate); Richard A.
Lewis, PhD, MBA; Mo Sook Park, EdM; Diandre Watkins, BA; Minnie
Tao, LPC.

In the final 15 minutes of the final Large Study Group (which was also the final
here and now event) of the conference, the Artistic Director of the conference
entered the LSG and sat in the center of the spiral, violating a boundary that had
been specifically and repeatedly set even before the conference began. The
trauma of that experience, and the staff’s inability to find a way to process it, came
at the end of an already trauma-filled conference, and threw staff and at least
some of the membership into an emotional state that continued long after the
actual conference had ended. Various processing attempts were made by email
and phone discussions, including 3 or 4 formal debriefing opportunities that were
scheduled with the membership and staff.

We will discuss our learning about trauma and its impact on our ability to function
as a staff and connect it to the impact of trauma in organizations and the

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importance of learning how to recognize and address it directly in the moment or
as soon thereafter as possible.

Video will be shown of relevant parts of the conference, including the final incident
and the closing plenary, which followed immediately thereafter.

Saturday 11:30 AM-12:45 PM East Room

TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION: THE ROLE OF GRC's IN GRADUATE

MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

Authors: Rebecca Abell, PsyD; Sarah Hedlund, PhD; Joseph Schmidt,

PsyD

Abstract: Historically, graduate training for mental health professionals included

participation in a group relations conference (GRC), T-group, or another
opportunity to study group dynamics as they occur. However, this practice that
was a standard part of mental health training in the past has become unique to
only a few training programs across the United States. This significant decline
suggests that there is less interest in or support for this type of learning. In this
paper we will explore possible reasons for the near extinction of this facet of
mental health training at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and
societal levels. We will also discuss the benefits of including this type of learning in
graduate training for mental health professionals by exploring the impact of this
practice on individual learning, cohort processes, and overall training based on
experiences with facilitating an annual GRC for first year students in a doctoral
psychology program.

Saturday 12:45-1:30 PM– Conference Room A

Training & Certification Mentors’ Lunch Meeting

The Training and Certification Committee welcomes all mentors to a meeting to

discuss issues pertaining to the certification process. Mentorship is a linchpin of
the development process and we are eager to discuss ways in which this aspect
of the T&C program could be strengthened.

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 Saturday 1:30-3:00 PM West Room

GROUP RELATIONS IN CHINA:

A CROSS-CULTURAL NARRATIVE OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2014-2019

Presenters: Seth Harkins, EdD; Rui Lu, Xiaohua Lu, PhD; Jeffrey
Roth, MD; and Xumie Wang, MD, PhD.

Proposal: Group Relations In China: A Cross-cultural Narrative of Organizational

Development 2014 – 2019examines the lived experiences of staff in six group
relations conferences over the past five years. These conferences were:

• Beijing Group Relations Conference 2014: Authority and Leadership and

Recovery from Mental Illness and Addiction;
• Hong Kong Group Relations Conference 2016: Authority and Leadership and
Recovery from Mental Illness and Addiction;
• Beijing Group Relations Conference 2016: Authority and Leadership and
Recovery from Mental Illness and Addiction;
• Beijing Small Study Group Training Conference 2017;
• Beijing Group Relations Conference 2018: Authority, Leadership and Group and
Organizational Dynamics;
• Shanghai Large Study Group Training Conference 2019

The presentation is based on a longitudinal, qualitative investigation currently in

progress that builds on and extends Beijing Group Relations Conference 2014:
Cross-cultural Learning and Implications for the Future and the 2016 AKRI
Dialogues presentation Hong Kong and Beijing Group Relations Conferences
2016: Cross-cultural Learning and Implications.[1] The conferences held during
this period were significant for five reasons.

-They were situated in an international geopolitical context in which China and

the United States are more interdependent than at any point in world history.
-They were national conferences, drawing membership from across Mainland
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
-They addressed significant public health challenges of recovery from mental
illness and addiction.
-They employed cultural interpretation to facilitate cross-cultural communication
and transitioned to bilingual modes without cultural interpretation.
-Training events were implemented to support the development of a group
relations infrastructure in China.

This presentation examines the exceptional possibilities for bridging differences

and fostering mutual understanding through the Tavistock Method. With a

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 foundation training and practice in psychoanalytic group psychotherapy since the
1980s, Group relations in China has been evolving since 2010, when Husseyn
Ozdemir conducted the first group relations conference in China.[2] Since then,
Jeffrey Roth, MD, directed three group relations conferences in Beijing and one in
Hong Kong. Also, since 2016 Tavistock China and OPUS have conducted
conferences in Chengdu and Shanghai Additionally, the Taipei GRC was held in
August 2018. The presentation describes, analyzes, and interprets the
organizational development of group relations conferences in China directed by
Dr. Roth and the incorporation of the China American Society for the Study of
Groups and Organizations (CASSGO). The core organizing question for this
inquiry is: What has been the historical and lived experience of group relations
development from 2014 to 2019? This presentation addresses four additionally
related questions:

1. -What has been the lived experience of staff and member regarding their learning
about authority, leadership, and overt/covert dynamics in groups and
organizations?
2. -How has this learning contributed to the organizational infrastructure for group
relations in China?
3. -How has this learning been applied in the personal, professional, and
communities lives of group relations participants?
4. -What are the implications for the future of group relations in China, cross-cultural
learning?

The presentation will:

1. -Present applicable stage theories: a) developmental psychosocial stage theory;

b) organizational development theory; c) innovation stage theory; and d) trust
theory.
2. -Present the evolution of group relations in China since 2010.
3. -Present the lived experiences of GRC participants in the roles of director,
assistant director for administration, consultants, cultural interpreter, and
member.
4. -Present Q-sort data from GRC staffs from three conferences.
5. Present the application of learning to personal, professional, and community
experience.
6. -Discuss the implications for cross-cultural learning and the future development
of group relations on China.

This presentation is based on qualitative research informed by the research

traditions of phenomenology, ethnography, and narratology, and multiple data
sources including: document artifacts, interviews. Q-Sort surveys, and
contemporaneous field notes.

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 [1]Harkins, S., Anonymous, Huang, X, Jacob, S., Kennedy, D., Moore, V.T. Y,
Robertson, J., Roth, J.D., & Woon, J. (2018). Beijing group relations conference
2014: Cross-cultural learning and implications for the future. In E. Aram, C. Archer,
R. Kelly, G. Strauss, & J. Triest (Eds.), Doing the business of group relations
conferences: Exploring the discourses. London: Routledge; Harkins, S., Jacob, S.,
Kennedy, D., Moore, V., Yang, F., Lu, R., Huang, X., & Wang, Y. (2016). Hong
Kong and Beijing Group Relations Conferences 2016: Cross-cultural Learning and
Implications, AKRICE Dialogues, September 16, 2016.
[2]Ozdemir, H. (2015). Exploring group relations in China: Challenges, risks, and
impact. In Aram, Baxter & Nutkevick (Eds), Group relations work: Exploring the
impact and relevance within and beyond its network. London: Karnac, pp. 101-
124

Saturday 1:30-3:00 PM East Room

LOOKING BACKWARD, MOVING FORWARD: CRITICAL LEARNING FROM

THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
WORKING WITH DIFFERENCECONFERENCE SERIES

Facilitator/Participants: Mary B. McRae, Sarah J. Brazaitis, Zachary

Green & Medria Connolly

A Fishbowl group discussion of people who took us various roles in the

NYU Working with Differences Conference Series. The focus of the discussion
will be on the intersectionality of social identities and roles as related to
conference themes, design, and the authority of conference leadership and
various roles taken in conference development and implementation.

The Working with Differences Series spanned more than a decade from 1999 to
2011 and consisted of a yearly weekend conference offered each spring, with a
diverse membership ranging from 30-95 members. The conference themes
focused on differences that exist in the world around us, including race, ethnicity,
culture, social class, religion, and sexual orientation. The World Event Design
grew out of the series. The purpose of the World Event was multifold and included
the following goals:

• -To build awareness of differences, visible and invisible, that exist within and
among us;
• -To increase our understanding of the relationship between differences and the
exercise of authority and leadership;
• -To use our awareness and understanding of differences toward personal and
organizational transformation and to drive world change

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The design of this seminar will entail an introduction, a Fishbowl Discussion of 10-
12 participants with two empty chairs, 1 for those who attended a conference, but
not a part of the Fishbowl, and 1 for observers who did not participate in any of the
conferences. These will be rotating chairs that will provide opportunities for
those who participated but were not officially invited and observers who have
questions or comments during the Fishbowl discussion. There will be time allowed
at end for review of the experience by the group as a whole. The four
facilitator/participants are those on the original conference planning team.

Participants who have held roles in conferences such as director, associate

director, administrator, various consultant roles, and member: Kathy White,
Howard Friedman, Kelley Hershman, Sheri-Ann Cowie, Anne Onoue, Sarah
Rosenbaum, Frank Marrocco, Matthew Graciano, Autumn Knight.

Saturday 3:15-4:30 PM West Room

Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC)

GROUP WORK IN A PSYCHOANALTIC INSTITUTE: 15 YEARS ON

Angela Sowa PsyD MFT Personal and Supervising Analyst Group

process consultant

A psychoanalytic organization is indeed complex -- a weave of training analysts,

supervisors, faculty, candidates, graduates, and other community members. Each
of these positions holds levels of responsibility not just toward individuals, but also
toward the group-as-a-whole, wherein ‘care for the other’ should not be taken for
granted, but explicitly nourished.

In 2005, the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California incorporated

experiential group process into its four-year seminar training. Since then,
candidates became analysts and analysts became leaders of an institute that
valued awareness of group dynamics. Eventually, this led to tectonic shifts in the
way the institute handled the aftermath of two serious ethics violations by senior
analysts.

The paper is in two parts: Part I summarizes the development of the first
experiential group process sequence within a psychoanalytic training program.
The four-year sequence follows a Tavistock model with modifications for inclusion
in an ongoing training program. The author will also speculate why – despite its
success - pockets of resistance to group study persist within individual members
and isolated groups.

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Part II describes a several year effort that attended to members and to groups
within the institute in the aftermath of ethical violations. This included interventions
for specific groups, and at times, facilitation from senior AKRI consultants. The
project’s intent was to systematically debrief members and then to repair fractured
group relations within and among various groups and constituencies. The raw data
from the de-briefing interviews offered a window into the specific dynamics that
deeply disturb group functioning. The author will explore the most important
conclusion of the study: a violation of one is a violation of many. Abrogation of the
‘ethics of care’ by a member(s) reverberates out concentrically seriously disturbing
group relations and functioning.

Saturday 3:15-4:30 PM East Room

OUR DIVIDED WORLD, OUR DIVIDED SELVES: BUILDING BRIDGES FROM

OUR MICROCOSM:

LEARNINGS FROM A DECADE OF GROUP RELATIONS CONFERENCES

AT TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

By Dr. Sarah Brazaitis, Associate Professor of Practice, Teachers

College, Columbia University and Dr. Eliat Aram, CEO, The Tavistock
Institute

This paper will discuss the past 10+ years of learning from group relations
conferences at Teachers College, Columbia University (TC). Three conferences a
year are designed and implemented at TC and more recently co-sponsored by
Teachers College and The Tavistock Institute. The conference membership
consists of diverse students and professionals including a contingent of military
officers from the United States Military Academy at West Point, executives in
corporate and not-for-profit organizations from around the world, numerous
students from China, India, and South America (among other countries) and
students from the across the U.S. from diverse backgrounds. Although our world
has always been divided by politics, economics, race, ethnicity, religion and more,
these divides seem keenly acute and dangerous in 2019. Each author will present
learning from our shared group relations work at Teachers College and will speak
from her perspective as faculty, program and/or conference director. We will
discuss how those who attend our group relations conferences bring their learning
into the world in a wide variety of contexts. Further, we will actively engage our
audience with discussion questions regarding how our learning might guide paths
forward to building bridges locally, nationally and globally.

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 Saturday 4:45-6:15 PM East Room

KEYNOTE – Beverly Malone

A Journey of Leadership: A.K. Rice and the World of Work

Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN began her nursing career with a first degree in
nursing from the University of Cincinnati in 1970. She combined further study with
clinical practice, a master's in psychiatric nursing and she received her doctorate in
clinical psychology in 1981.

Her career has mixed policy, education, administration and clinical practice. Dr. Malone
has worked as a surgical staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, director of nursing, and
assistant administrator of nursing. During the 1980s she was Dean of the School of
Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In 1996, she was
elected for two terms as President of the American Nurses Association (ANA),
representing 180,000 nurses in the USA. She became Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Health within the US Department of Health and Human Services, the highest position so
far held by any nurse in the US government.

Dr. Malone was general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the United
Kingdom's largest professional union of nurses with more than 390,000 members, from
June 2001 to January 2007. Dr. Malone was also a member of the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE). She represented the RCN, the European
Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN), the Commonwealth Nurses Federation, and
the International Council of Nurses with the RCN president.

In February 2007, Dr. Malone took up her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the
National League for Nursing in New York. Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the NLN
is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering
faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing
research grants, and public policy initiatives to 38,500 individual and 1,300 institutional
members.

Saturday 7:00 PM Celebration and Dinner at Galway Arms

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 Sunday September 15

7:00-7:45 AM West Room – Dreams & Reflections

7:00-7:45 AM East Room – Open Space

7:45-8:30 AM – Dining Room Back Area

Training & Certification AKRI Members’ Meeting

The Training and Certification Committee welcomes all AKRI members to a
meeting about the Training & Certification process. In order to keep refining the
process we are eager to hear about peoples’ experiences, observations,
questions and concerns about the program. In addition we will be available to
answer any questions about the T&C program.

Sunday 8:30-9:45 AM West Room

BACK TO THE FUTURE: OR, WHERE ARE GROUP RELATIONS

CONFERENCES HEADED IN OUR TIMES?

Discussion Leader:

Charla Hayden, MA, AKRI and GREX Member since 1973, conference
administrator and director of many residential conferences and weekend
conferences, staff to many other conferences, one originator of the Training and
Certification Program and the Whole Systems Consulting Program, and mentor of
several certified conference consultants.

PURPOSE
We come from an AKRI generation that learned about Group Relations
conference work in the early 1970’s, in California and in New York. We were
trained in what we think of as the basic framework for Group Relations that
involves learning about leadership, authority, and group process in the “here-and-
now.” The elements of this point of view are captured in A. K. Rice’s book,
Learning for

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Leadership, which describes conference construction and experience in exquisite
detail. Rice represents the purpose and ethos of Group Relations as the study of
leadership, authority, and group process through the lenses of systems and
psychodynamic theories. We think that the primary task: to study leadership,
authority, and group process responsibility, provides invaluable opportunities for
understanding the world of human interaction and our personal participation in it.

We are now confounded to observe that most current-day conferences focus on

elements of individual and group identity. Therefore, our proposed session is
designed to foster discussion that deepens all participants’ perspectives, including
our own, about why American conferences have moved sideways from the original
subjects of leadership, authority and group process responsibility and toward the
dynamics surrounding personal and group identities: genetic, socioeconomic,
sexual orientation – and possibly religious practice, and nationality.

We do not intend to defend a bias supporting the classic conference framework –

we do intend to create a context where deeper understanding of why conference
design and implementation have shifted over the last few decades and whether
and why significant learning has been enhanced, faded, or refocused over time.

APPROACH
After a brief discussion of what we are hoping to explore and understand during
the session, we will launch into a series of questions for discussion, such as:

> Are identity-focused conferences an answer or a question?

> Do identity-focused conferences hold a pre-determined set of ideas that are

assumed to be true? If so, what will be learned that is not already known? And if
already known, why do these conferences?

> Do such conferences enact the exercise of authority rather than examine it?

> How does this relate to determining a narrative where issues of power and
dominance are spoken to but within the context of a bounded interpretive frame?

> Are identity descriptions/explanations for the exercise of power a social defense
against anxiety, and if so, why did they develop and under what socio-political
conditions?

> Did earlier conferences neglect the significant issues surrounding personal and
group identity?

> Do these later conferences tend to enact a particular basic assumption

framework?

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> Do these conferences represent a need to focus control in a world too
frightening for a wider examination?

> Have we lost the potential for using the conference as microcosm – to
understand the metaphors available to describe external “reality”?

> Are conference narratives being defined in advance by a conference focus,

rather than being discovered? And if so, why?

> Do identity conferences forecast some kind of a return to authoritarianism, a way

to manage experience?

Near the close of the session, a summary of the discussion will be put together
through verbal and written feedback, with a view toward answering the question,
“What next?”

Sunday 8:30-9:45 AM East Room

LEADERSHIP, BETRAYAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY

Presenter: Jim Krantz

Description:
This presentation builds on the insight first developed by Tavistock researchers,
particularly Isabel Menzies and Wilfred Bion, that institutions do more than simply
serve the purposes for which they are established. They embody ideals and
values of society. Through institutions and the roles in them, people find meaning
and purpose as well.

Here, some of the dimensions of maintaining deep connection with our roles and
institutions are explored, including challenges of leadership that arise in this
context and the role of betrayal.

The initial focus of this argument builds on the insights and experiences of Wesley
Carr, an important thinker in the Tavistock tradition who died this past
year. Wesley was a person of enormous intelligence, generous spirit and
unyielding principal. His work illuminates some of the critical issues facing
institutions today, particularly the critical importance of institutional integrity.

Where there is institutional integrity, people through their roles are more likely to
be confident of their authority to make sense of their experiences and to find their
own deeper social purposes. Without integrity, institutions leave people with
cynicism and disconnection. The challenge for leaders who are faced with
protecting institutional integrity is a great one indeed under today’s conditions.

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Sunday 10:00 AM-12:00 PM East Room

Closing Plenary

Sunday 12:15-3:00 PM Dining Room

Working Lunch

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