Online Via Zoom

Working in and through groups is fundamental to Therapeutic Community and Enabling Environment practice. Indeed, Adrian Ward wrote that:

The group is the greatest resource in any group care setting, yet it is often under-used because people do not fully recognise its strengths or know how to harness them.

In this presentation, I will define what a group is, show why groups are fundamental to therapeutic work, and how to tap into and utilise the developmental potential of groups for each member. I will also consider the theory and practice of communities meetings which are a central hub and focus of therapeutic community work.

Learning points:

• Why run groups?
• How to run groups
• Why are groups developmental?
• What are Community Meetings and how do we run them?
• What skills and competencies do I need as a group practitioner

There will be plenty of time for discussion and your questions.

Facilitator

Dr Chris Nicholson

Chris has been Chair of The Consortium of Therapeutic Communities since December 2021.

He is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex. Chris has devised two new degrees, BA Psychodynamic Practice (which he leads) and BA Childhood Studies.

Before joining the Department, Chris was the Admissions and Assessment Manager at the Jacques Hall Foundation and Therapeutic Services Manager at Donyland Lodge, both therapeutic communities for traumatised adolescents. He develop an assessment service, a provision for leaving care, and with colleagues, set up The Junction, a Young Person’s service for Colchester MIND. His 2010 book, Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Creative Therapeutic Approaches, draws on these experiences. His research interests are in psychoanalysis and literature, trauma and therapeutic communities, and experiential forms of learning. He sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Robert Graves Review, and the International Journal of Therapeutic Communities.

He developed the Core Competency Framework for Therapeutic Community Practitioners in 2014, and Leadership Competencies for the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway in HMPs in 2024. He sits on the Hertfordshire and West Esses ICB, and provides training, consultation and supervision to therapeutic services in the UK and abroad.

Chris is a Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate, enjoys running, wild swimming, and family walks with the dogs.

We are experiencing some technical issues with the website which we are working to resolve. We apologise for this inconvenience. To book tickets please email admin@therapeuticcommunities.org