A Day with Dr. Jerry Gans
Cosponsored with the San Antonio Group Psychotherapy Society (SAGPS)
Morning Session: Recognizing Shame and Acknowledging Courage in Group Psychotherapy
Afternoon Session: Money Matters in Psychotherapy: A Very Rich Topic
Workshop Fees
- Members of SAGPS and SASPS : $110.00
- Non-members: $140.00
- Student Members: $30.00
- Non-member students: $45.00
Join or renew your membership to SASPS now for maximum value.
6 Professional Continuing Education credits are available for psychologists, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. Category II CME available for physicians.
Need-based scholarships are available for students. To apply, send an email to Dr. Ashley Powell at apowell@bexar.org
Workshop Descriptions and Objectives
Recognizing Shame and Acknowledging Courage in Group Psychotherapy
Shame is a global feeling that involves a painful sense of diminishment in one’s eyes and the eyes of others. A behind-the-scenes feeling that exerts its effects indirectly, shame exists on a continuum from awkwardness to humiliation. Courage involves the ability to face ones fears and painful feelings - like shame - without any guarantee of a positive outcome. Dynamics of shame and courage in both group members and the leader will be discussed. Dr. Gans will illuminate various aspects of shame and courage through lecture, a demonstration group, and discussion with the audience.
Objectives:
As a result of attending this event, participants will be able to:
- Name four group defenses against shame;
- Discuss how an emphasis on loss and failure avoids the feeling of shame;
- List the 3 components of Brightman’s “narcissistic triad";
- Discuss why courageous responses can not be inferred by simply observing behavior;
- Compare and contrast leader competency and leader courage.
Money Matters in Psychotherapy: A Very Rich Topic
Are you satisfied with the way you deal with your patients’ unpaid bills? Do you have difficulty stating your missed session and cancellation policies or setting your fee? Do you consider dealing with money more of an administrative matter than a therapeutic one? Do you deal with the relational aspects of financial transactions? When your patients hand you a check, do you look at the check in front of them and if not, why not? Have you ever thought about the dynamics of money in your family of origin and its effect on how you deal with financial matters with your patients? Financial transactions in psychotherapy carry important parts of both the patient and the psychotherapist into the therapy relationship. There are a multitude of defenses that are utilized within the relationship that has important relevance to the therapeutic outcome. The participants through lecture as well as small and large group interaction will explore the relative value of these questions and considerations.
Objectives
As a result of attending this talk, participants will be able to:
- List three reasons why the topic of money is a difficult one for patients and three reasons why the topic is a difficult one for therapists;
- Describe one situation from their childhood that makes money an uncomfortable or comfortable topic to deal with;
- Cite 4 things the therapist is NOT getting paid to do;
- Name 5 possible meanings that a withheld payment could have;
- List 4 possible options that the therapist has when a patient in therapy is realistically no longer able to afford the original fee.
Biography
Jerry Gans has been married for 51 years and has three daughters and two grandchildren. A few of his passions are playing tennis, reading fiction, and raising dahlias. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Jerry is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, part-time, at Harvard Medical School, and an Assistant in Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He ran the Training-group (T-group) for the psychiatric residents at the MGH-McLean combined residency program for 20 years. The residents named him teacher of the year in 2003. He is a supervisor and faculty member at Psychoanalytic Couples and Family Institute of New England. He has supervised at seven training centers in the greater Boston area. The author of over 55 refereed articles, book chapters, book reviews and newspaper articles, Jerry has published widely on group and individual psychotherapy, psychological aspects of physical rehabilitation, liaison psychiatry, and psychotherapy and literature. His book, Difficult Topics in Group Psychotherapy: My Journey from Shame to Courage, was published by Karnac Books of London in 2010. Jerry has lectured, supervised, presented workshops and run demonstration groups locally, nationally and internationally on a variety of group psychotherapy topics. Jerry has a private practice in Wellesley, MA.
