Group Relations International

The silent retreat will be held from February 19-25, 2014 in Northern California.  For more information, please click GRI Silent Retreat Feb2014.

GRI is a co-sponsor of a group relations conference to be held in Boston, MA from March 30 – April 1, 2012:  Authority, Leadership and Social Justice – Here and Now.  The primary task of the conference, its raison d’être, is to provide opportunities to learn from experience about the rational and irrational ways that social systems function, with particular attention paid to: 1) the exercise of authority and leadership; 2) social justice and injustice in its deliberate and unintentional forms; and 3) the tension between individual autonomy and social responsibility.  For more information, click the following link: GRI Boston 2012 Brochure.

IGRO in collaboration with GRI
presents an International Group Relations Conference

Exploring Colonization, Collaboration and Creativity in Groups, Organizations and Society

Dalgan Park, Navan Co. Meath, Ireland, July 11 – 15, 2011

Like most group relations conferences, this residential conference will explore issues of power, authority and leadership. This particular conference takes place in the context of profound economic, social and cultural change which impacts on individuals, groups, organizations and wider society. The concepts of colonization, collaboration and creativity are profoundly related to this change and interwoven with Irish history and culture – at times fully visibly, sometimes less visibly, but always, in some way, present. During the conference, we pay close attention to these concepts and relate them to any of our own current realities, which could be perceived as an expression of colonization and collaboration, such as the reality Ireland finds itself in given its relationship to the IMF. In this way of working we learn about the presence and potential impact of these concepts in our own groups and organizations, as well as in Society. We also deepen our understanding of the complex and sometimes hidden dimensions of organizational life. The conference provides opportunities to explore these concepts and to reflect upon them, both collectively and individually. In this process we also pay attention to what emerges while we are exploring these issues. Learning is not prescribed; we trust that all of us will learn what we need to learn through our participation in the conference experience and our associated reflections. Often the learning relates to group and organizational dynamics and our own role in these dynamics.

The conference is mostly experiential, that means participants learn from their own experience with the help and guidance of an international consulting staff. We will be guided by group relations theory and practice, focusing on issues such as: leadership, boundaries, authority, role and task; we will pay particular attention to the unconscious, to energy in groups and to the narrative that emerges. We will likely use in-the-moment interpretative work in smaller and/or larger groups, metaphor method of role analysis, silence and reflection, music, art, perhaps brief lectures. For those familiar with Group Relations events, this event will be both familiar and different, for those who are attending for the first time all that is needed is a curiosity about the themes and an openness to explore the less obvious dimensions of organizational life as they emerge.

Conference Sponsors

Irish Group Relations Organization (IGRO) is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to further the field of group relations in Ireland as a way of understanding individuals, groups and organizations from a systems pyschodynamic perspective.

Group Relations International (GRI) is an organization that works for a just world through group relations and applied spirituality.

Conference Staff

Director: René J. Molenkamp, Ph.D. works with groups in intensive leadership programs at European business schools IMD and INSEAD, he is adjunct faculty at the Leadership Institute at the University of San Diego, Fellow of AKRI, and Founding member of Group Relations International. René is Dutch and lives with his husband and children in San Diego, California.

Associate Director: Derek Deasy, D.CLIN. PSYCH. is the Director of a child sexual abuse unit in Dublin. He also works on leadership programmes in IMD and INSEAD. He is the Director of IGRO, associate member of OPUS and teaches leadership and organizational psychodynamics within clinical courses in UCD and Trinity College. He has a private practice that provides executive coaching and role consultancy. He is Irish, his wife is French, his children are European.

Administrator: Kate Wheeler is finishing her masters in leadership studies at the University of San Diego. She has worked in the nonprofit sector in development, finance and strategic planning for more than fifteen years. Kate lives with her children in San Diego, California.

Associate Administrator: Valerie Preston is co-director of Group Analytic Practice and a group analyst in private practice. Her work includes student process groups and role analysis. She also teaches in health service settings and has a background in mental health.

Consultants (including the above named persons):

Jude Bowles currently works in private practice in Dublin as a group analytic psychotherapist, lecturer, group relations and organisational development consultant. She is a co-director of Group Analytic Practice and before joining GAP she worked in the not-for-profit and public sectors of community development and anti-poverty, the arts and the media.

Earl T. Braxton Ph.D. is President of Edge Associates, a consulting company in the US focusing on changing systems and executive leadership development. He is an adjunct faculty member at American University in Washington DC, where he teaches applied behavioral Sciences. Earl is a Fellow of the AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, a member of NTL Institute, and a Fellow of the Lewin Institute.

Frances Heery, B.A, M.Sc. works in the areas of leadership coaching, workplace relationships, and organizational dynamics, alongside her practice as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and supervisor. She also has a background in education and spirituality. Frances is one of the founding members of IGRO and a member of OPUS and ISPSO.

Aideen Lucey, B. Soc. Sc., MA, is an independent organisational consultant working mainly in the areas of leadership and team dynamics. She is an associate consultant at the Tavistock Consultancy Service in London and a visiting consultant at IMD and INSEAD business schools in Europe. She is Irish and lives in the UK with her partner.

Bernie McDonnell works as a Programme Manager with a large not for profit organisation involved in social justice. She has worked in a variety of organisational settings in the social inclusion/equality sector. She is a trained Family Therapist, organisational change consultant, lecturer and group relations practitioner. Bernie is a member of IGRO.

David O’Brien is a founding member and Director of Group Analytic Practice in Dublin. He has been a faculty member of the Advanced Organisation Consultancy training programme of the Tavistock Institute, and of the Group Analytic Training programme with the Institute of Group Analysis, London. He works as an organisation development consultant and group psychotherapist.

Conference Timetable

A conference timetable will be made available to conference members a month prior to the conference. The conference will commence at 11.00 a.m. on Monday, 11th July (registration, tea and coffee from 10.00 a.m.) and will finish at 3.00 p.m. on Friday, 15th July 2011

Venue

The conference takes place at Dalgan Park, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland. Located beside the Hill of Tara, the ancient religious and political centre of Ireland, this conference centre provides standard but comfortable single-room accommodation. Dalgan Park is set in 500 acres of parkland and woods, which is also a sanctuary for wildlife. There are 6 km of graveled walks through woods and beside the river Boyne. Approximately 30 km from Dublin, Dalgan Park is well serviced by public transport with buses passing the front gate from Store Street in Dublin every 30 minutes. See www.imudalganpark.com for more information on the venue.

Conference Registration Fee

The cost of attending the conference is €975.00 per person. The fee includes conference fee, materials and full-board accommodation in Dalgan Park. In order to secure a place early registration is advised. It may help, in applying the learning from this conference, if two or more people from the same organization attend together. To reflect this, we offer a reduced conference fee of €925.00 per person if two or more people from one organization register. Registration materials and payment should be received collectively.

Booking a Place

Places are limited and will be secured by sending a completed application form and €150 deposit to

Valerie Preston, IGRO, c/o Group Analytic Practice, Global House, 29 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1.

Early bird registration, with deposit, by Monday 30th April 2011 will ensure a €50 reduction on the above registration fee for individual applicants. The date for payment of the remainder of the conference fee is Friday, 29th June 2011. Requests to withdraw from the conference must be submitted on or before 15th of June 2011 to receive a refund. In order to reserve a place at the conference, please return your registration form with your deposit or full payment as soon as possible, but no later than June 1, 2011. The number of places is limited, registrations will be accepted in the order received. Please pay your fee by cheque made payable to ‘IGRO’, or request bank details per email igro2011@gmail.com for electronic transfer.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact: igro2011@gmail.com, or call Valerie Preston (mob) at +353878294691.

REGISTRATION FORM

Name: __________________________________________________
Mailing address: ___________________________________________
Employing Organisation ______________________________________
Title of Present Post _________________________________________
Phone numbers and e-mail where you can be reached:
Home _____________________ Mobile________________________
Work _____________________ Email_________________________
Please describe your previous experience with group relations conferences:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
What are your personal and professional goals for this conference?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
How did you hear about this conference? ________________________________________________________
Please state any special dietary requirements, known allergies or special requirements ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Signature:_________________________________________________

Date:_____________________________________________________

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