The Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society: Its Beginings

Abstract

The Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society: Its Beginings Bernard Frankel1 issn 0362-4021 © 2015 Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society group, Vol. 39, No. 2, Summer 2015 103 1 Clinical Professor, Derner Instiute, Adelphi University Psychotherapy Training Programs. Correspondence should be addressed to Bernard Frankel, PhD, ABPP, LCSW, BCD, LFAGPA, One Morning Side Drive, Apt. 1714, New York, NY 10025. E-mail: BFBC@optonline.net. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society (EGPS). As one of the few octogenarians still alive with an intact memory, I am pleased to write a brief article about the society’s early history. Most of my contemporaries are deceased, and only Herb Rabin is still alive. Originally born in 1955 and almost a clone of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) in regard to parallel activity, the original EGPS became defunct after 12 years. For almost six years, EGPS held no meetings and only an occasional scientific event. No one was taking care of the store, and the presidency became an honorary (and meaningless) title. Some thought that AGPA, which until 1961 had had its annual conferences in New York City, was the more desirable place for (stepping up the ladder) national recognition. Others thought that EGPS was too intertwined with the Post-Graduate Center, the only training center for analytic group therapy at the time. What was missing was diversity and differentiation to breathe life into a dying organization. In 1968, along came Zanvel Liff, who began to meet with Max Siegel, of Brooklyn College (and president of the American Psychological Association), and me, from the Center for Group Psychoanalysis and Process. We were, though committed to group and family therapy, a diverse group. We organized an active board, and I had the task of organizing the first annual conference of EGPS with a great committee of famous names. We were off and running. As conference chair, I planned and implemented the first four conferences with some of my other octogenarians . The conferences were well attended, and our presenters were the who’s who of group and family therapy: Al Wolf, Helen Durkin, Henny Glatzer, Cliff Sager, 104 frankel Hy Spotnitz, Asya Kadis, Milton Berger, Harold Leopold, Betsy Mintz, and other luminaries whose names could fill a page. These were the outstanding clinicians, educators, and innovators of the time. Institute fees were no more than $30, and workshops were only $5 each. We were able to hire an administrative assistant, Ruth Marcus, who was with us for many years. We added a lot of money to fill an ample treasury and used to have a catered party for the entire EGPS membership at no charge. Who ever heard of presenter’s fees at that time? At one point we had more than $100,000 in the bank. Concurrently, there was a lot of excitement and experimentation about the growing humanistic movement in the therapies. Encounter group techniques were being tried, and we brought the leaders of gestalt therapy and transactional analysis to New York City for Friday-to-Sunday workshops. Subsequent conferences introduced family therapy with Peggy Papp and Phil Guerin. Family therapy became an important part of our learning environment for many years—but it is now diminished, unfortunately. One reason for this decline is the polarization of AGPA and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy into two separate and detached entities. Gone are the days when, at AGPA conferences, I would conduct family therapy demonstrations for 100 registrants. The idea of themes for conferences did not emerge until 1978, starting with “Narcissism in Group and Family Therapy” in EGPS. What a cast: Bergmann, Alger , Fieldsteel, Spotnitz, Guerin, Papp, and others. With themes, we were playing copycat with AGPA. Prior to the birth of the Annual Spring Event, which is about 12 years old, there was some attempt each April to have all-day training workshops in New York City, Westchester, and Nassau-Suffolk on Fridays and Saturdays, costing from $15 to $30. In addition, in 1977, we had an annual weekend of group supervision for group therapists at the fee of $50 for one day and $75 for two. What a bargain, with Al...