‘Matters of Substance’ at the IGA

Kairos counsellors Gillie Sliz, Sam Chapman and Tim Penrice took part in an informative day’s training last Friday (1 Dec) at the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA).

The working title for the day was Matters of Substance: How do groups help those with drug and alcohol problems? and it was facilitated by clinical psychologists and addiction experts Martin Weegman and Andre Geel.

Representatives from local authority, NHS, private and charity sector treatment services were present, along with criminal justice, homelessness and psychotherapy professionals and students.

“The training day was successful in that it brought a wide range of people together in a group to share understanding of some of the problems and some of the solutions,” said Tim Penrice.

“The goal of helping clients to change, reached through ‘community as method’, and summed up in Dr George de Leon’s memorable phrase: ‘you alone can do it, but you cannot do it alone’ helped us all to accept our powerlessness over our clients, and that change happens most effectively in group settings.”

For more information about the IGA, visit groupanalysis.org