When

Friday, June 9, 2023 from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM EDT
Add to Calendar 

Where

THIS IS AN ONLINE EVENT 

Contact

Aida Cabecinha 
Toronto Institute of Group Studies 
 admin@tigs.co 

leaders Building Group Therapists Responsiveness to Microaggressions 

Facilitated by:

Noelle Lefforge PhD, ABPP and Aziza Belcher- Platt PhD 

 June 9, 2023 

10:30 - 4:30 pm ET Online

Recent events, including recognition of the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on communities of color and increased national attention toward violence against marginalized peoples have heightened a call to action. Navigating topics of race and other marginalized identities, identity-based injustices and identity-based microaggressions is imperative for us as group practitioners to build cohesion in the group as a social microcosm.Culturally responsive leaders have an ethical obligation to respond to microaggressions, particularly as they occur in group psychotherapy; therefore, training in therapeutic approaches to microaggressions is necessary. We will utilize an established training model consisting of didactic training, role-play and modeling, and an experiential fishbowl-style group exercise to improve practitioners’ abilities to recognize and effectively respond to microaggressions as they occur in group psychotherapy. We will also discuss and address potential barriers to developing this competency. This presentation will explore the nature and ruptures of racial and intersectional microaggressions that transpire in therapy groups. Suggestions for group therapists and leaders to address microaggressions to repair group cohesion will be offered.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:

  1. Identify microaggressions in group therapy requiring therapeutic response.
  2. Explain the potential harm of nonresponse to microaggressions in group psychotherapy.
  3. Describe challenges and barriers to training therapists to respond to microaggressions.
  4. Recognize the occurrence of microaggressions and describe their impact on the target, bystanders, and perpetrator.
  5. Identify direct and indirect ways of responding to microaggressions.
  6. Apply strategies to illuminate and address miscommunication, metacommunication, and malintention.
  7. Distinguish between antitherapeutic, nontherapeutic, and therapeutic to microaggressions.

 

 


Dr. Aziza A. B. Platt is a licensed psychologist providing culturally-responsive individual and group psychotherapy, family therapy, and psychological assessment. She treats various concerns and specializes in racial-cultural issues, trauma, and grief. She was inspired to get into mental health to contribute to efforts to make therapy more acceptable, accessible, and affordable particularly for marginalized communities. Social justice and liberation are an indelible part of her work. 


Noelle Lefforge, Ph.D. ABPP,  is the director of theprofessional psychology clinic at University of Denver's Graduate School of Professional Psychology. She is active in teaching, mentorship, clinical service delivery, research and interprofessional education. She has extensive expertise in group psychotherapy, community mental health, suicidality, and diversity issues in professional psychology. Dr. Lefforge is board certified in group psychotherapy and serves in leadership roles in the Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy, the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), the American Board of Group Psychology (ABGP), and has held leadership positions within the Nevada Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association. 
She has published on responding to microaggressions in The International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, and most recently on the specialized practice of group psychotherapy in the American Journal of Psychotherapy. 
 
 Fees:  $165.00 Ca