Presenter: Michael P. Frank, LMFT, AGPA-LF, CGP therapy@michaelpfrank.com
phone: 818-679-7490
CEUs 12 units; registration limit - 49
2 hour sessions on Wednesday evenings from 6-8 pm, on the following dates: 1/22/25, 1/29/25, 2/5/25, 2/12/25, 2/19/25, 2/26/25 (The program will be recorded so that members can access it if a session is missed.)
Cost: Member - $95 | Non-Member - $135 | Student - $30
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Adding to his highly successful class given in 2018 for CSCSW, Michael Frank weaves together the four modes of therapy group leadership, the phases of the therapy group development, and the underlying dynamics between group members and between the members and the leader. Attention is paid to issues of diversity and how they are an essential part of the process of the group both internally and externally. The course attends to both theoretical understanding and practical application throughout. It will include didactic presentation, case examples, a live demonstration group, and discussion.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Identify the four modes of therapy group process.
- List the phases of group development.
- Apply W.S. Schutz's theory of internal conflicts to group therapy.
- Identify how countertransference and projective identification can be used diagnostically.
- Explain how scapegoating occurs both in the group and in society at large.
- Identify the effects of historical racial, ethnic, and cultural oppression on group members.
- List three characteristics of a successful termination.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Michael P. Frank, MA, LMFT, AGPA-LF, CGP is a psychotherapist in private practice in Los Angeles, a Certified Group Psychotherapist, a Life Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, and Clinical Supervisor and Coordinator of the Group Therapy Program at Maple Counseling in Los Angeles. He has been leading therapy groups in his practice for 40 years.
Michael has been an Institute Group leader at the AGPA Annual Conference since 2010. He has been the Practicum Coordinator for the Wagner Human Services Training Program at the University of Judaism, a clinical supervisor for the San Fernando Valley Counseling Center and the Antioch University Los Angeles Counseling Center, and is a regular guest lecturer in group therapy at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology. He supervises therapists who are working towards becoming Certified Group Psychotherapists and teaches the Principles of Group Psychotherapy course.
Michael is a past president of the Los Angeles Group Psychotherapy Society (now the Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles), and is a recipient of the American Group Psychotherapy Association Affiliate Societies Assembly Award and the LAGPS award for outstanding contribution to the advancement of group psychotherapy. He currently serves on the International Board for Certifying Group Psychotherapists and, in 2021, he was recognized by that board for “exceptional contributions to including diversity, equity and inclusion learning in our recertification requirements and advancing creative, new ways for group therapists to access the consultation/supervision opportunities they need and deserve”. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles.
At Maple Counseling, Michael trains and supervises group therapy interns who co-lead five therapy groups. These groups include a group for gay men and a group for LGBTQ+ folks. He also supervises a group of interns who treat individual adults. He was a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee from its inception in 2020 until it was incorporated into the general clinical staff in 2023. Maple Counseling is a non-profit community counseling center.
Michael currently runs two psychodynamic/interpersonal process groups in his private practice. He also sees individual adults and the occasional couple.
In his previous career, Michael was an elementary school teacher in the Los Angeles public school system. He was a music specialist, a math and computer specialist, and a classroom teacher. He taught at predominately Latinx and Black schools as well as culturally and racially diverse schools.
Little-known facts: Michael is a talented photographer who has exhibited in galleries. He is also a skilled craftsman who has completely rebuilt three kitchens and remodeled three houses including building some of the furniture. He has a life-long addiction to reading Science Fiction and is currently not in recovery.
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