Excellence in Group Practice Award

This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the practice of group psychotherapy and/or other applied group interventions. This award honors any individual, agency or organization that provides exemplary group services to the community. The award will be presented at the APA Annual Convention. A plaque will be presented to the award winner. The awardee also will have a chance to present her or his work related to teaching group dynamics to a national audience.

All who are members of Div. 49 or whose application for membership is currently pending are eligible. Nominations may come from self or others.

Nominees will be considered who can demonstrate a commitment to utilizing group interventions. This may include using group in multiple or diverse ways in order to provide services. Furthermore, nominees should demonstrate commitment to the practice of group psychotherapy in at least two of the following ways:

• Commitment to advancing the field of group psychotherapy through publications, national or regional presentations or developing creative partnerships;
• Use of research to inform the practice of group psychotherapy or other group interventions;
• Demonstrated evidence of group practice that supports diverse, disenfranchised, disempowered and/or oppressed groups;
• Creative application of groups including different types of groups, modalities, environments, populations (e.g., using short-term groups for a disaster response or groups for conflict resolution/reconciliation);
• Providing supervision and training;
• Utilizes best practices in implementation of group services (For example, please consult the Practice Guidelines for Group Psychotherapy.)

Nomination Process

To submit a nomination, the following is required:

• A letter from the nominee that describes and illustrates the individual/agency/organization’s commitment to group intervention (e.g., nature of the nominee’s commitment, commitment to supervision and training, use of research or best practices to enhance group services, etc.). The letter should be no more than three pages long.
• Three letters of support from individuals familiar with the nominee’s group psychotherapy practices (these letters can be from current or past employees, a collaborating partner or agency, or members of a Board of Directors, etc.). 
• Copy of current CV.
• All materials should be submitted via a zipped/compressed folder in one email with the following subject line: [Candidate’s First and Last Name] – Application for Group Practice Award. For example, Luke Skywalker– Application for Group Practice Award.

All submissions must be received via email.