Presented by Professor Fumin Fan, DivisionofGroupCounselingandGroupTherapy,

China Association for Mental Health with

Guest Director: Jeffrey D. Roth, MD

Associate Conference Director: Jeanne Woon, PhD

Associate Director for Administration: Winnie Fei, MA

Assistant Directors for Administration: Xiaohua Lu, Ph.D.

Xueming Liang, MPA

Victoria Te You Moore, BA

 

May 21-25, 2014
University of Chicago Center in Beijing

 

Organizers:

 

To lead people, follow behind them...As for the best leaders, people do not notice their existence.The next best,people honor and praise.The next, people fear; and the next, people hate....When the best leader's work is done, people say, “We did it ourselves!"
-- Lao Zi (6th Century B.C.)

 

 

OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL SPONSORS

University of Chicago, Department of Psychiatry

Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University

Institute of Mental Health, Beijing Medical University

China Association of Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment

China American Psychoanalytic Alliance

American Psychiatric Association

American Society of Addiction Medicine

International Society of Addiction Medicine

 

RATIONALE & AIMS: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

Effective leadership and the meaningful exercise of authority require more than intellectual and technical understanding. The Group Relations model in the Tavistock tradition provides a well-defined context within which to examine group-level forces and dynamics as they occurinthehere-and-now. As people work in groups, families and other social systems, their participation takes on many different meanings—influencing thoughts, feelings and action. The confluence of individual meanings powerfully affects the identities, roles and authority we take on in groups, schools, organizations, institutions, communities and society.

Membersof a group relations conference have the opportunity to directly experience:

w How people join and engage in group work, delegate and resist authority, and develop roles and reputations.

w How people contribute to and obstruct getting the group’s work accomplished.

w How members of a group exercise authority, power and influence both as leaders and as followers.

w Group collusion in the creation and enabling of adaptive and maladaptive roles.

 

In applying the learning from group relations conferences, having two or more people from the same organization attend the conference together is often useful.

 

CONFERENCE STAFF ROLES

· Act collectively in managing the event

· Take responsibility and authority to provide the boundary conditions to engage in the primary task of the conference

· Play specific directorial, managerial and consultant roles

· Offer interpretations and working hypotheses about what is happening in the here-and-now events

· Contribute in whatever ways they believe will advance the work

 

STRUCTURE & METHOD

 

ThisConferenceisdesignedforindividualswhowishtostudytheexerciseof authority at the group and organizational levels.While members often learn about their own reactions to exercising and encountering authority, the conference staff will not focus on individual personalities.

The Conference is organized as a sequence of group and inter-group interactions. Events include experiences in:

w Small Study Group—examines the life of an eight- to twelve- member group as it unfolds in the here-and-now. A consultant assists the group with the task.

w Large Study Group—consists of all Conference members with a team of consultants and meets to study its own behavior in the here-and-now in a situation in which face-to-face interaction is problematic or impossible.

w InstitutionalEvent—members form their own groups to interact with other member groups and with staff. The primary task of the IE is to study authority, leadership, and overt/covert processes at the level of the entire system as groups evolve and interact in the here-and-now.

w Review /Application Group-- consists of five to ten members with one or more consultants.This event provides opportunities for members to reflect on their experiences and roles in the different conference events and relate them to their work roles in community and institutional settings.

w OpenTwelveStepMeetings— Members and staff attend either a Gamblers/Workaholics Anonymous or Codependents Anonymous meeting. This provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the dynamics of a Twelve Step group with other groups in the conference that have different tasks and methods.

w Taiji Event—Members and staff participate in Taiji together.This provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the dynamics of a non-verbal traditional Chinese large group activity with other groups in the conference that have different tasks and methods.

Please note:The conference is designed to provide an integrated experience.Learning occurs not only during individual conference events but also from their sequence and relationship to one another; therefore, membership entails a commitment to attend all events.

 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

 

 

REGISTRATION

Membership:Enrollment will be limited to 60 members; early registration is advised. 50 positions will be reserved for members from China, and 10 positions for members from outside of China.

Payment of Fees:Members applying from China may register for 2000 CNY, payable to the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. Members from outside of China may register for $600 (US), payable using Paypal at the conference e-mail address or at the conference web site. The registration deadline is April 15, 2014.

WithdrawalsandCancellations: WithdrawalsafterApril30,2014willnotberefundedunlessthepositionisfilledbysomeoneonthe waiting list.

 

ReferenceLetter:Experiential learning can sometimes be stressful. Therefore, individuals who are ill or experiencing a period of significant personal difficulty should forego attendance at this time. In addition to the completed Conference Registration Form, available at the conference web site, each applicant must provide a letter of reference from someone who can vouch for his or her capacity to participate in an intensive learning experience. The applicant is responsible for seeing that this letter is submitted before April 15, 2014. Letters should be sent via e-mail to the conference e-mail address.

 

Lodging:Out of town members may wish to stay at a hotel a few blocks distance from the conference site. Please contact the associate director for administration at the conference e-mail address for more information.

 

Photography:A photographer will be present at the Plenary Conference Opening Ceremony and/or the Social Hour at the conference closing to photograph the conference staff and members for the University of Chicago Center in Beijing and its web site.Please contact the associate director for administration at the conference e-mail address if you would prefer not to appear in any of the group photographs or not to have your contact information shared with conference sponsors.

 

AUTHORITY FOR THE CONFERENCE

The principles and methods of this Conference originated at the Center for Applied Social Research, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London, England under the leadership of the late A.K. Rice. The Washington School of Psychiatry and the Department of Psychiatry of Yale University Medical School introduced conferences using these principles and methods to the United States in 1965. The A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1970 to advance knowledge of the dynamics of groups, organizations and social systems.

The group relations conference is an educational event whose primary task is to provide opportunities to study the exercise of authority through intergroup and institutional relations that develop within the conference itself as a temporary educational social system.

  

CONFERENCE STAFF

Director:Jeffrey D. Roth, MD, FAGPA, FASAM; Lecturer, Psychiatry, University of Chicago Medical Center; Adjunct Faculty, Chicago School of Professional Psychology; Editor, Journal of Groups in Addiction and Recovery; Medical Director, Working Sobriety; Private Practice; Member and Past President, CCSGO; Associate, AKRI

Associate Conference Director:Jeanne Woon, PhD; Psychologist, University of Central Missouri; Trainer and Consultant on group and organizational process; Member, New York and Midwest Group Relations Centers; Associate and Past Chair of Training & Certification Committee, AKRI

Associate Director for Administration:Winnie Fei, MA;Ph.D. candidate for Psychology of Religion, Peking University, Therapist in Friendship Hospital Counselling Center.

Assistant Directors for Administration:

Xiaohua Lu, PhD;Lecturer and Counselor, Group Counselor,Student's Mental Health Education Center, Beijing Jiaotong University; Certified Psychologist, Chinese Psychological Society.

Xueming Liang, MPA;Associate Director for Program Development and Outreach, University of Chicago Center in Beijing.

Victoria Te You Moore, BA;MA Candidate in Counseling Psychology, Northwestern University; Clinical Intern, The Family Institute at Northwestern University; Associate, AKRI

Consulting Staff:

Carl Estabrook, PhD:Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign;Founding Member, CenterfortheStudyofGroupsandSocialSystems,Boston; Member,MidwestGroup Relations Center-AKRI;Associate, AKRI

Leigh Estabrook, PhD: Past President, A.K. Rice Institute; Professor and Dean Emerita, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Member, Midwest Group Relations Center; Fellow, AKRI

Seth Harkins, EdD: Chief Executive Officer, Philip J. Rock Center and School, Glen Ellyn, IL; Principal, Harkins Educational Consulting and Advocacy, Palatine, IL; Paralegal/Consultant, Whitted, Takiff and Hansen, Northbrook, IL; Adjunct Professor, National Louis University, Chicago, IL; Board Member and Chairperson, Illinois Community and Residential Services Authority; Past President and Secretary, CCSGO; Associate, AKRI

Suma Jacob, MD, PhD:Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Director of Autism Research,University of Minnesota. Adjunct Faculty,Mayo Clinic and theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago. Associate, AKRI

Dannielle Kennedy, LICSW, PhD: Principal, WorkLab, Organizational Consulting and Applied Research; Psychotherapist, Private Practice, Cambridge, MA; Co-director 2012 Hauser Grant for Group Relations at Harvard University; Past-President and Board Member, Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems, Boston; Associate, AKRI

Ming-Hui Daniel Hsu, PhD: Assistant Professor & Coordinator/Advisor, Mental Health Counseling Program, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY; Psychologist; Member, New York Center for the Study of Groups, Organization and Social Systems; Associate, AKRI

John Robertson, MD: Medical Director, Outpatient Addiction Program; Board Certified, Addiction Psychiatry; Private Practice; Member, Midwest Group Relations Center; Associate, AKRI

Jeffrey D. Roth, MD, FAGPA, FASAM

Jeanne Woon, PhD