Friday Lunchtime Program: Back to Basics: What We Need to Know to Facilitate Any Group Presented by Lois Friedlander, LMFT, CGP

Friday, October 10, 2014

BACK TO BASICS: What We Need to Know to Facilitate Any Group 

Presented by Lois Friedlander, LMFT, CGP 

This presentation will include an introduction, an overview, and/or a refresher for any therapist interested in group work. First, we will be introduced to important aspects of starting up a basic group, including (1) the many different types of groups, and (2) the selection, screening, and preparation of clients. As Lois Friedlander focuses on group facilitation, she will address therapeutic group factors and share methods for maximizing them, instead of being hindered by them. Finally, she will outline common dilemmas and pitfalls that arise in group work and provide us with strategies and tools for handling them to the advantage of our clients and treatment.

The format of the presentation will be intensive and interactive, and will include information that can be easily applied. The presentation will also include didactics, experiential exercises, discussion and Q & A. In this presentation, Lois Friedlander's objective is to shed light on what we, as therapists, can do to make our groups a more meaningful, productive, and satisfying experience - not only for our clients, but also for ourselves.

Lois Friedlander is a licensed MFT and Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP). For over 30 years in the Bay Area, Lois has lead and facilitated many groups in various settings, including: schools, hospitals, research departments, and private practice. For 15 years, she was member of the core clinical staff of the Group Psychotherapy Program in the UCSF Psychiatry Department. In her private practices in San Francisco and Mill Valley, she offers workshops, trainings, consultation, and supervision in addition to seeing individuals, couples, and groups (primarily with adolescent girls and young women in transition). She currently supervises on groups at UCSF and Community Institute for Psychotherapy (CIP) in the Eating Disorders Program.

As adjunct faculty, Lois Friedlander teaches in the EXA Department at CIIS, integrating group principles with expressive arts. As Associate Professor of the Clinical Faculty at UCSF, she provides training in the School of Medicine. Also, as faculty member of the Northern California Group Psychotherapy Society (NCGPS), she provides Core Course Training for Certification as a Group Psychotherapist with the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). One of her primary interests is facilitating a weekly Interpersonally Focused Therapy Group based on the work of Irvin Yalom, who has been her supervisor and consultant. To learn more about her work and services visit www.loismft.com.