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Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society

The Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society (MAGPS) is a regional affiliate of the American Group Psychotherapy Association that serves group therapists in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

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MAGPS Fall 2024 Conference

From sensation to relation: 
How Our Diverse Bodies Participate in Group Process
with Carlos Canales, PsyD, CGP, SEP
 ™️

Friday, November 15, 2024 to
Sunday, November 17, 2024

BALTIMORE MARRIOTT WATERFRONT HOTEL

Conference Schedule

5:00 - 7:00pm: Conference Check-in / Registration / SGL Meeting

7:00 - 8:00pm: Conference Introduction and Welcome
Presenters: Kelechi C. Fluitt, Anisley Valdes, and Liz Marsh

8:15 - 10:00pm: Dinner (On your own) • Meet & Greet Mentorship Dinner (Harbor East Deli - 1006 Aliceanna St.)

7:00 - 8:15am: Continental Breakfast 

7:45 - 8:15am: Moving Meditation 
(Sponsored by the Anti-Racism Committee) 

8:30 - 8:45am: Welcome and Announcements 
Presenters: Kelechi C. Fluitt, Anisley Valdes, and Liz Marsh 

8:45 - 9:45am: Plenary 1: The Wisdom of the Body 

9:45 - 10:45am: Demonstration Fishbowl 

10:45 - 11:00am: Demonstration Debrief and Q&A 

11:00 - 11:15am: Break 

11:15am - 12:45pm: Small Group #1 

12:45 - 1:50pm: Lunch (On your own) • BIPOC Lunch – Location TBD • SGL Lunch and Debrief 

2:00 - 3:00pm: Plenary 2: Emergency Organization and Mobilization 

3:00 - 4:00pm: Demonstration Fishbowl 

4:00 - 4:30pm: Demonstration Debrief and Q&A 

4:30 - 4:45pm: Break 

4:45 - 6:15pm: Small Group #2 

6:15 - 6:45pm: SGL Debrief 

7:00 - 10:00pm: Reception and Music with Dancing (Heavy appetizers)

7:00 - 8:15am: Continental Breakfast 

7:45 - 8:15am: Moving Meditation 
(Sponsored by the Anti-Racism Committee)

7:45 - 8:15am: SGL Meeting 

8:20 - 8:50am: Welcome and Announcements 
Presenters: Kelechi C. Fluitt, Anisley Valdes, and Liz Marsh 

8:50 - 9:50am: Plenary 3: Somatic Components of Experience 

9:50 - 10:50am: Demonstration Fishbowl 

10:50 - 11:15am: Demonstration Debrief and Q&A 

11:15 - 11:30am: Break 

11:30am - 1:00pm: Small Group #3 and Small Group Debrief 

1:00 - 1:10pm: Break 

1:10 - 2:10pm: Plenary 4: Trauma and the Impact of Body Memory on Diversity 

2:10 - 2:30pm: Conference Wrap Up 
Presenters: Kelechi C. Fluitt, Anisley Valdes 

2:30 - 3:30pm: SGL Wrap Up / Debrief

*13.75 CE/CME 
available for psychologists, social workers, counselors and physicians. 
*CE/CME are PENDING APPROVAL. For questions email: cce@ubhc.rutgers.edu.

2024 FALL CONFERENCE CHAIRS:

 Kelechi C. Fluitt, PhD
(also MAGPS Treasurer)

 Anisley Valdes, MSW, LICSW
(also MAGPS Membership Director)


Presented by: 
CARLOS CANALES, PsyD, CGP, SEP
 ™️ 


Dr. Carlos Canales is a bilingual/bicultural licensed Clinical Psychologist in full-time private practice in West Des Moines, Iowa. He is a Certified Group Psychotherapist, an American Group Psychotherapy Association Fellow, and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner. Dr. Canales specializes in working with affect, the body, and relational dynamics. He has worked in multiple university counseling centers, hospitals, and community mental health centers. In 2011, he opened his private practice and in 2019 he founded Vida Psychotherapy, an outpatient group practice.

He has been involved in group work for twenty five years. Currently, he is a group supervisor for the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society (EGPS) and adjunct faculty at Adelphi University in New York. He facilitates three adult process groups for clients, four online training groups for clinicians, one in-person training group, and two in-person supervision/case consultation groups.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Practice Somatic Experiencing principles and techniques.
  2. Describe two somatic experiences of felt security, as an attachment precursor.
  3. Experience and articulate moments of physiological change (interoception, proprioception) around moments of intrapsychic and interpersonal movement (neuroception).
  4. Assess aliveness, connection, disconnection, and collapse in experience somatically.
  5. Evaluate and apply Somatic Experiencing concepts such as orienting, pendulation, titration, SIBAM, settling, and various forms of freeze responses.
  6. Assess moments of potential unconscious bias relate to issues of racial, identity, or cultural diversity applying somatic principles.
  7. Practice attunement to breath as the portal to nervous system regulation.

    Registration rates and information

    Hotel Information:
    Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel
    700 Aliceanna St, Baltimore, MD 21202
    Click here to book a discounted room in our reserved room block. 

    If you have questions, email us at conferences@magps.org.

    Conference Fees:
    MAGPS Member: $395
    Non-member: $450
    First-time Attendee: $270
    New Professional: $250
    Student/Retiree: $150
    Scholarship Recipients & Small Group Leaders: $0
    *Group rate: $325

    *Group rate available for (available 4+ members from same org. Please contact our Conference Chairs to receive the group registration code. 

    $50 Discount available to Short Course attendees! Please see your Short Course registration email for the discounted registration code. 

    *CE/CME Processing Fee: $50

    *The content for this activity has been submitted for continuing education credits. For questions email: cce@ubhc.rutgers.edu

    Registration Deadline: 
    Friday, November 1, 2024

    Cancellation Policy:
    Full refund less $25 if cancellation made by November 1;
    No refunds after that date.

    For registration assistance, or to register by phone, contact our conference registrar at registration@magps.org.

    Education and Scholarship

    Apply For a Scholarship

    MAGPS is an affiliate of the American Group Psychotherapy Association serving psychotherapists from DC, MD, VA, and WV. Its mission is to provide and support group psychotherapy training and education.

    Scholarship Opportunities: MAGPS supports the professional development of students, interns, residents, and clinicians early in their careers by offering various scholarships to cover registration and banquet costs.  The scholarship deadline is October 18, 2024.  First-time attendees and new professionals may register at reduced rates.

      CONFERENCE FORMAT

      It is the mission of MAGPS to establish a safe, unique, creative learning environment for all attendees by hosting conferences that offer both didactic and experiential learning through participating in whole group and small process group weekend.  Conference registrants are expected to attend all plenary sessions, individual and large group discussions, and all three of the Small Process Group experiences.

      Small Process Group Experiences

      The primary task of the small process group experiences at MAGPS conferences is to provide space to integrate the didactic material presented by the guest speaker with one's own understanding of self and the small group process. Process groups provided by MAGPS can be intense educational experiences, but they are not psychotherapy groups. So, while conference attendees may derive therapeutic benefit by participating in a group, we avoid using the group to explore our personal history or underlying dynamics, as one may do in group therapy.

      The goals of participating in a small process group experience may be achieved through self-exploration and noticing one's feelings, thoughts and reactions in the "here and now." In addition to observing and reflecting on one's own behavior, one may also give and receive feedback from fellow group members about the experience. Participants may experience firsthand the challenge of joining, finding one’s voice and becoming known, remaining emotionally present and working in the moment, and forming relationships and reflecting on interaction. Small Group Leaders (SGLs) will emphasize bridging experiential learning with cognitive understanding of the group’s development and the conference theme.

      Throughout small group sessions over the course of the weekend, challenging dynamics may emerge requiring you to address microaggressions, power and privilege dynamics, effectively manage ruptures, and to the degree possible, restore or repair relational ruptures.  While Small Groups can be a powerful learning tool, this experience has harmed colleagues holding marginalized identities in the past.  Please review the following recommendations by the AGPA, by clicking on the hyperlinked text (AGPA Guidelines for Creating Affirming Group Experiences) before registering for an MAGPS Conference weekend.  If you have hesitation about your ability to incorporate what has been identified by the AGPA DEI Task Force into the small group experience, we ask that you circle back with us in the future after you are better prepared. 

      SMALL GROUP consultants

      MAGPS traditionally invites seasoned local group facilitators to serve as small group leaders (SGLs), along with at least one guest from another affiliate society in an effort to promote stronger connections with our colleagues across the country. These small group process leaders will serve to help guide attendees take a deep dive into understanding the ways in which they engage with others on an interpersonal level. Participants will be randomly selected prior to the start of the conference.

      Recommended Readings:

      Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine

      Healing Trauma by Peter Levine

      Trauma and Memory by Peter Levine

      In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine

      Healing Developmental Trauma by Laurence Heller and Aline La Pierre

      Trauma and the Body by Pat Ogden

      The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

      Polyvagal Theory in Therapy by Deb Dana

      The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio

      Feeling and Knowing by Antonio Damasio

      Affective Neuroscience by Jack Pankseep

      Unformulated Experience by Donnel Stern

      Aware by Daniel Siegel

      Somatic Internal Family Systems by Susan McConnell

      Somatics by Thomas Hanna

      A Healing Conversation by Neville Symington

      The Primitive Experience by Thomas Ogden

      Bodymind by Ken Dychtwwald

      Your Body Speaks Your Mind by Deb Shapiro

      How to Be an Adult in Relationships by David Richo

      Nurturing Resilience by Kathy Cain and Stephen Terrell

      When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate

      Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest by Salman Akhtar

      My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem

      12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

      Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson

      The Mind-Body Stress Reset by Rebkkah LaDyne

      The Practice of Embodied Emotions by Raja Selvan

      Disclosure of Commercial Support and the Unlabeled Use of a Commercial Product: No member of the planning committee and no member of the faculty for this event have a financial interest or other relationship with any commercial product(s) discussed in the program. The Washington School of Psychiatry is an independent non-profit organization. It is not affiliated with the government of the District of Columbia or the government of the United States.

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