AGPA
Posts related to the American Group Psychotherapy Association
Dream
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 10:42Perhaps it is anticipation of the AGPA conference that has brought some of my dreams to the foreground. Perhaps it is something else affecting my sleep patterns. I’m not sure. Yet, last night, I had another curious dream that has stuck with me until the morning.
I was off in some other world. It wasn’t heaven, but something closer to God’s command and control center, where he was sending people and angles to deal with issues on earth. I wasn’t sure what I was doing there and no one else seemed all that sure why I was there either. Apparently, any regular person there was supposed to have some sort of mentor or agent guiding them. In addition, there were these little tokens, sort of like the plastic toys, no larger than an inch tall, that you were supposed to have to help you get back and forth and help with your mission. As an example, one was a small pink plastic giraffe. I had no such tokens either.
So, I was trying to find a mission, a mentor and appropriate tokens, or at least to find a way to get back to earth.
Dream
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/18/2008 - 09:37Last night I drifted in and out of a strange dream. I woke up this morning half-groggy in a dream like state. As the grogginess lifts details of the dream evaporate. Yet the key aspects remain.
Somehow, I had ended up on a small island somewhere near the North Pole. I had been canoeing down near England. My plan had been to head back to the U.S., but instead of heading west, I got turned around and headed north. (It was a dream, so the idea of canoeing from England to either the North Pole or the United States in an afternoon didn’t seem strange at all).
As we explored the small fishing communities on these islands, we were welcomed in. I explained the wrong turn, but how interested I was in visiting the communities. We were welcomed in and ate with the locals at long plain tables. We found places to stay and set up our plans for further exploration.
I will note that the weather was quite temperate. I don’t know how much this was because it was summertime, or how much it was because of global warming. I did recently listen to a radio report about the effect of global warming on small communities in Alaska, so that may have fed into the dream. In addition, the upcoming trip to the AGPA annual meeting in Washington may have influenced my dream. What will the conference be like? Will it lead to some sort of turn that may change the direction of my life? Also, my discussions with many different people in Second Life, where going from England to the United States or the North Pole is a simple teleport; even quicker than an afternoon canoeing. Like my expectations of the AGPA annual meeting, Second Life has provided a rich set of experiences that may also lead to unexpected further explorations.
Other reactions?
Thoughts about Blogging the AGPA Annual Meeting
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 16:37As I get ready for the AGPA annual meeting, there is some discussion on the mailing list of group psychotherapists that I’m on about a blogger being there. Dr. Bob, who has posted comments on the blog here, has asked an important question. How do the group psychotherapists attending the annual meeting feel about being blogged about? It relates back to an earlier discussion about members of the list using material from the group. It relates to boundaries. It relates to narcissism.
For some, the old quote from Oscar Wilde may come to mind,
“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
For others, perhaps including people who have talked about introversion on the list recently, the opposite holds true.
Some people have some very practical concerns. Can blogs, along with traditional media, be used to elevate the perception of group psychotherapy as a beneficial form of treatment for some patients?
Others may have reactions based on fears about the ambiguous nature of blogs. Within the blogging and journalism communities there are lots of discussions about exactly what blogging is. Is it journalism? What sort of ethics apply to bloggers? Is it the same as applies to journalists?
This leads to complicated decisions by organizations about whether or not they will provide media credentials to bloggers. More and more organizations are, but it remains hit and miss. Since I've been credentialed by many major organizations, getting credentials for me seems easier, but this ties back to the credentialing process and the issues of 'Am I good enough' that seem to emerge in every field.
I will note that my access to the AGPA annual meeting will be essentially the same as that of any other reporter. It might be a little higher based on the trust I've established with some group psychotherapists on the mailing list, but on the other hand, I am committed to journalistic ethics and trying not to damage that trust.
All of this said, I am very interested in hearing people's concerns about a blogger in their midst at the conference. It is something that I have to face where ever I go, and I trust the reactions here will be open and honest and perhaps give me useful insights which will help me be a better blogger.
Most of the above, I sent in a slightly different format to the list.
Dr. Bob responded (and I’m quoting him with permission),
I guess I see bloggers as like critics. Or, more neutrally, like reporters.
So I feel anxious. Self-conscious. Will he pan me? Or give me a thumbs-up? Or not mention me at all? The issue isn't just his opinion, but the opinions of those he influences. And it's not just about me, but about my work. So it's complicated. But we share some interests, and I've read his blog (and posted to it), so overall I'm hopeful. Expectant.
It is interesting to read Bob’s reaction. I don’t usually think about my opinions as being able to cause others anxiety, but I guess I can see that.
There are still a few weeks to go before the AGPA conference, but I am hoping that during these coming weeks I can explore more of my own thoughts about going the reactions of others and learn more from all of it.
Vision quests, Monomyths and blogging a group psychotherapy conference
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 02/03/2008 - 17:06It is the last Sunday of Epiphany, a season in the Christian calendar where we reflect on the Epiphanies we receive about our relationship with God after the celebration of God coming amongst us as a newborn baby at Christmas. The readings were about people heading up to mountaintops to experience God; Moses when he received the Ten Commandments and Peter, James and John when they experienced the transfiguration of Jesus.
Father Peter has spent time with the Lakota Indians and compared these experiences with those of Lakota’s going on a vision quest. It made me think of the monomyth, or hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In the monomyth, as well as in the stories of vision quests and other trips to mountaintops, the story starts with a call to adventure, leads to some experience of the divine or transcendent, and then the hero returns to share the results of the experience in one way or another.
The season of Epiphany ends on Tuesday, as everyone cleans out their larders with a Shrove or Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or carnival before entering into a period of fasting and prayer called Lent. This year, for 22 states in the United States, there will be a primary on Fat Tuesday. I could go off into a long digression about the primary and Fat Tuesday, but I have something else to write about today.
You see, over the past several months, friends of mine from a mailing list of group psychotherapists have been encouraging me to attend the annual meeting of the American Group Psychotherapist Association. Years ago I hired a management consultant to help me navigate some of the political waters of a large matrix managed international bank I worked at. Her training had been in the psychoanalytical study of groups, particularly within the Tavistock Group Relations tradition. I’ve been to a couple Group Relations conferences and several social dreaming matrices that have grown out of these. While I’ve seen the power of groups to be destructive, I do believe in the power of groups to heal, to provide insights, and, well, we shall see what else this coming month.
My whole experience leading up to attending the AGPA annual meeting has felt very much like the beginning of a monomyth. It has started with the call to adventure, friends urging me to attend the annual meeting. I tried half heartedly to find some way in which it could happen. I am not a group psychotherapist. I’m not studying to become one. I don’t have the money to afford attending. Were there volunteer opportunities, scholarships, chances to be on a panel, or media credentials possible? Each option, along with various interesting side diversions ended up in a dead end, so I finally ended up sending out a message that I wasn’t attending.
Then, at the last moment, I received an email from a dear friend that included the address of the public affairs director for the AGPA. It was like the magic amulet a hero often receives on his journey. The next thing I knew, I had a press pass, dinner plans and several people to meet with.
So, now I am on the journey. I don’t want to go in with expectations that are too high. It is an annual meeting. I’ve been to many different types of annual meetings. There are experiential components and I’ve been to large and small experiential groups before. What is different is that I am attending as a blogger. How will I fit together the role of an experiential participant with the role of an observer and reporter? Will this be a vision quest or monomyth, or just another chance to blog and see some friends?
Perhaps a lot of it is in the approach. Perhaps too many of us too rarely look for the opportunities for transformational moments in our daily lives. So, following the old political adage, I will hope for the best, be prepared for the worst, and take what I get.
Second Life Reporters Notebook Feb 2, 2008
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 02/02/2008 - 20:05It is a Saturday, and I was figuring I would spend a bit of time with my family today. However, there were meetings galore in Second Life. I came into the day with an interesting new perspective. I’ve received press credentials to cover the annual meeting of the Association of Group Psychotherapists. I’ve long been interested in group dynamics online, and whether they could be used for therapeutic purposes. As I spoke with friends who will be at the AGPA annual meeting, I got into a couple side discussions about the possibilities of different types of group therapies in Second Life.
The day started off with fun and games as a friend who is playing Tiny Empires in Second Life contacted me about various changes going on. We spoke with a few others and reorganized some of the feudal hierarchy that we were part of. When this was done, I figured I could devote more time to family life.
However, Gentle Heron of the Heron Sanctuary contacted me. There was a gathering of people from different groups in Second Life that provide support to others. Gentle and I agreed that real life took priority, but I figured I could teleported in and pay partial attention to the meeting as I played Yahtzee with my daughter. As the main part of the meeting wound down, I left to go swimming with Kim and Fiona. I had hoped to write about the meeting when I returned. However, there were a lot of other things going on.
I received a press release that Tyrian Camilo’s SL International Business (SLIB) had entered an advertising and marketing agreement with Codename Denmark. Spontaneous Rich IMed me to fill me in on a meeting of Second Life Creations (SLC). I received an IM about a meeting of the Second Life Business Network Slbiznet and from there went on to a meeting of Central Grid.
Now, over eight hours later, I finally get a chance to sit down and write a little. The various developing stories will have to wait a little longer before they get written
