Facilitating groups in educational systems in the shadow of trauma

The course will deal with facilitating various groups (such as psycho-educational groups, support groups, therapeutic groups and training groups), and will provide students with tools for establishing and facilitating a group. The course will review basic ideas and concepts from two major streams in the field of groups – group analysis (Fox) and group relations (Bion), and will combine them with concepts from other psychodynamic approaches.

The course will help learners identify, understand and conceptualize various processes and phenomena that occur in a group during routine times and are intensified during times of emergency and collective trauma, such as group opposition, scapegoating and struggle between subgroups, and will provide practical tools for dealing with these phenomena and processes. In addition to theoretical learning, the course is also based on examples provided by the lecturer and by the participants from their work with groups.

The course is intended for psychologists, social workers, educational consultants, and educators who engage in group therapy and/or facilitate psycho-educational groups, training groups, and task groups in educational systems.