AGPA Connect and E-Learning is offering the National Instructor Designate Training (NID) this fall for our BIPOC community members. It will be held from Saturday, September 30 to Sunday, October 1, 2023 for six (6) hours each day in a virtual format. The leader for this NID training is Donna Harris, MSW, MA, LCSW, CGP.

The National Instructor Designate Training (NID) is part of the AGPA Connect Institute and the method we use to identify and train members who will conduct our General Process Groups (GPG) during Connect Institutes.

The purpose of the NID training is to prepare members who qualify to lead the General Process Groups (GPG) by giving them the same experience including the didactic material that they will be providing participants when they are leading a GPG at AGPA Connect.

The focus in this training is to increase the representation of BIPOC Institute leaders.

Applicants for NID training should meet the following requirements:

1. Applicant must have attended three Two-Day Institutes, either at the national or local level with at least one being a process group experience at the national level.
2. Applicant shall submit personal data including training, years and frequency of running groups, theoretical orientation and courses in group therapy (e.g., CGP course).
3. Applicant shall submit two letters of recommendation from AGPA members or supervisors and/or trainers familiar with their work and competency level as well as knowledgeable of the Institute or its equivalent.

The Learning Objectives of the NID are:

1. Identify the phases of group development and the leader’s role in each phase.
2. Identify one’s most familiar and more uncomfortable roles as a leader.
3. Identify countertransferential and transferential challenges.
4. Describe key process interactions including cultural dynamics in the group.
5. Recognize leader behaviors that facilitate and inhibit the group process and working with cultural dynamics.
6. Identify approaches to addressing microaggressions, ruptures, other group harms, and termination.

There is no cost to attend this training as it is being supported by the Group Foundation for Advancing Mental Health’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Fund. The Group Foundation is covering the usual registration fee of $240 per individual. There are 12 slots available for the training and this is a non-competitive application process. The first 12 applicants who meet the requirements will be accepted into the training.

If you are interested in applying for the BIPOC NID Training, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/NID2023

Please pass this along to colleagues whom you recommend and/or think it might be of interest.

If you have any questions or technical difficulties with the application process, please contact Kate Monkus at kmonkus@agpa.org