Contact Function

The Contact Function is a term in modern psychoanalysis that refers to the group therapist responding to the patient’s communications in kind. Therapist’s interventions are formulated to match and join with explicit and implicit requests for contact and use the patient’s pacing, distance, closeness, and type of emotional communication as a guide to what they need.

In this Salon we will explore the modern analytic concept of Contact Function and discuss how it can be used to help assess and respond to group member’s developmental needs for interaction with the therapist. The different developmental stages and their corresponding needs for type of contact with the therapist as formulated by modern analysis taught by the Center for Group Studies will be presented. Participants will have a chance to engage critically with these ideas and examine how they might be helpful or unhelpful for understanding their clients and groups. We will also explore therapist resistance to embodying particular roles with our clients and groups and areas of common countertransference and transference resistance.

Learning Objectives:

This salon is designed to help participants meet the following learning objectives.

1. Establish a working definition and theoretical rationale of the Modern Analytic Concept of Contact Function.
2. Critically explore how this may need to be adapted for the clients and groups we work with .
3. Name common characteristics of the type of contact patients may need from the therapist and other group members in each developmental stage.
4. Apply the concept of Contact Function to differentially respond to the developmental needs of members of their group.

This will be a didactic and experiential workshop. We intend this workshop to be suitable to all group therapy practitioners, inclusive of ethnicity, race, class, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and/or additional identities and backgrounds. In addition, we recognize that group therapists are working with and impacting diverse populations holding diverse identities and experiences, as well as those impacted by current and historic inequities. In these salons we will also invite critical analysis of ways in which modern analytic concepts may need to be critiqued and updated to meet the needs of the populations we work with.

Required Reading: Zeisel, E. (2012). The leader's use of self: A Modern Analytic Approach to Working in the Intra-physic and Interpersonal realm. AGPA 2012, Ormont Lecture.

3 CE credits will be offered for completion of this course. You must chose the option to purchase these credits upon registration.

About the host:

Ali Kimmell, LCSW has a private practice in Oakland where she sees individuals, couples, and runs three mixed gender process groups. She has trained in modern analytic group therapy at Center for Group Studies since 2014 and has served as faculty at The Group Therapy Training Program in Berkeley and at the Northern California and American Group Psychotherapy Association Annual Conferences. She graduated from and is now faculty at The Psychotherapy Institute’s postgraduate training program in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and received her masters at Smith College School for Social Work. Ali practices from a relational psychoanalytic lens and integrates social justice and somatic awareness into her work. You can see more about her work at www.AliKimmell.com.

Due to the limited capacity of this salon (10 people), please be mindful that holding a seat you cannot use might prevent others from attending. Please let us know ahead of time if you cannot make it to the event.

Training Agreement

Upon registration you will be asked to confirm your consent to our Training Agreement. For a Full PDF document click below.

Click to VIEW Training Agreement

Accessibility

NCGPS strives to make our events accessible to all of the intended audience. If you require any special accommodations to fully participate, please email either of the conference Co-Directors.

Refund Policy

Full refund (minus Eventbrite fees) 7 days prior to the event.After that the registration fee cannot be refunded but can be credited towards a future event (minus Eventbrite fees). To request a credit please email: lindsay.ncgps@gmail.com

CE information:

NCGPS is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing education for Psychologists, which also satisfies the requirements of the BBS as a provider of continuing education for LCSW’s, LMFT’s, LPCC’s, and LEP’s. NCGPS satisfies the CE requirements for the Nursing Board. NCGPS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Full attendance is required to receive credit.