I am writing this column on the heels of the recent midwinter meeting of the Division 49 board. While we were unable to hold the meeting in person to allow us to reconnect after so many virtual meetings as I had hoped, we had a very successful two-day virtual meeting. We conducted some important division business while also focusing on the overall direction of the organization for the future. One of our goals for the year is to ensure that our initiatives align with our overall goals, and that we emphasize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the division. We will also continue work to effectively incorporate both the group psychology and group psychotherapy sides of the house in meaningful ways. Some of the key initiatives for the year are summarized in this article.
Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy Specialty Council (GPGPSC)
Under the steadfast leadership of Noelle Lefforge, the GPGPSC continues its essential work in maintaining and supporting the recognition of group as a psychological practice specialty. This recognition is important for group practitioners across all professions, necessitating that the GPGPSC consists of representatives from multiple professional organizations and agencies. Nevertheless, the GPGPSC is housed within APA and as such, our division should be, and is, leading these efforts. As the deadline for the application for a renewal of the specialty designation approaches, our division will be working closely with the GPGPSC to ensure that we are able to maintain this essential status.
The Division 49 Institute: Developing Diverse and Diversity-Minded Future Leaders
Shala Cole and the Membership Committee, along with Eric Chen and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee. have done an incredible job establishing the Division 49 Institute. The goal of the institute is to raise awareness of the cultural, social, and political contexts that shape group psychology and group psychotherapy and address issues of historical oppressions and marginalization. The institute is well underway; you can read more about their work elsewhere in this newsletter. The division will be supporting the Institute by providing financial support for institute members to attend the APA Convention.
Evidence-Based Group Therapy Project
Led by Gary Burlingame, this project is establishing a comprehensive database of evidence-based group interventions for the treatment of a range of disorders. This project is a collaboration of the division, American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), and the German Health Ministry, and will be hosted on our division website. Having this information organized and collected in one place is an important step forward and will support the ongoing recognition of group as a specialty. Plans are currently underway for the establishment of a steering committee who will oversee the project and develop plans for the maintenance of the website and sustainability of the project.
Other Initiatives
The division will be working on several other key initiatives over the coming year including:
- Renewal of our application to be a continuing education (CE) provider: Aziza Belcher Platt, domain representative for education and training, and Noelle Lefforge, president-elect, will be leading this process. Offering CEs has the potential to be an important source of revenue for our division, as well as being an important avenue through which to share our division’s expertise. We will need to continuously develop and offer CE programming to maintain our designation; please look for forthcoming announcements about opportunities to be involved.
- Revision of our group therapy guidelines: The board recognized a need to update our group therapy guidelines, and also noted that AGPA is in the process of updating their guidelines as well. Nathanial Wade, Domain Representative for Group Practice, will serve as a liaison between our division and AGPA to help ensure that the guidelines across different professional organizations complement each other to the degree possible.
- Journal Editorial Fellowship: George Tasca, journal editor, noted a need to increase representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals on the editorial board. The board supported his request to fund a 2-year editorial fellowship to provide a mentored opportunity to a member from an underrepresented group.
As always, we welcome and encourage member participation in these initiatives. Please reach out to me or any member of the board if you would like to be involved.