Pre-Symposium 2025 Institutes

There is an additional fee to attend Pre-Symposium Institutes held on Monday, June 7th and Tuesday, June 8th. Please register for in the symposium registration portal.

 

Skills of Group Work Practice: An Interactional Approach
Monday, June 9, 2025 (9:30am - 4:30pm ET)
Presenter: Lawrence Shulman

The focus of this workshop will be on understanding the core dynamics and skills required to lead mutual aid support groups. Topics included will explore how to structure sessions, deal with difficult group members, and work more effectively with co-leaders. Discussion will include how to integrate elements from Evidenced-Based Practice and Evidenced-Informed Practice (e.g., Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Practice, and Cognitive Behavioral) into a social work mutual aid model. Examples presented and those shared by participants will be used to illustrate how to apply this understanding to a range of settings with diverse populations. The Institute offers 6 hours of continuing education contact hours (6 CE Contact Hours).


Adopting a Trauma-informed Lens in Group Work with Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (9:30am - 12:30pm ET)
Presenter: Carolyn Knight

The institute discusses the application of a trauma-informed (TI) lens to groups that include members with histories of childhood trauma. The rationale for and core principles of the TI perspective will be explained along with identifying group work skills needed in the preparatory, beginning, middle, and ending phases of work. The impact of facilitating a group for survivors of trauma has on social workers will be explained. In addition, participants will learn the distinction between, and TI considerations associated with, groups formed to address members’ experiences with trauma (i.e., trauma-focused) and those formed primarily to assist survivors with current problems-in-living that reflect or may reflect their experiences with trauma (i.e., problem-focused). The Institute offers 3 hours of continuing education contact hours (3 CE Contact Hours).


Field Instructor's Workshop
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (1:30pm - 4:30pm ET)
Presenter: Urania (Ronnie) Glassman

Good communication and relational processes are vital for a successful supervisory relationship; when they are ignored, or not addressed skillfully, the learning process can go astray. The institute will focus on the opportunities and challenges that arise during the supervisory process, including the supervision of group work. The methods and skills required to achieve effective supervision will be addressed. The workshop format will include presentation, discussion, and role-play. Practice examples will be drawn from the participants' supervisory practice. The Institute offers 3 hours of continuing education contact hours (3 CE Contact Hours) and has no registration fee for social work field instructors who supervise students.


Nondeliberative (experiential/activity-based) Approaches to Group Work: An Introduction for Students
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (2:00pm - 5:30pm ET)
Presenter: Christian Itin

This highly experiential workshop will allow students to play with connecting together through purposeful activity in a nondeliberative approach. The theoretical, historical, and philosophical underpinning of nondeliberative group work will be explored, and participants will be engaged in activities that can be used in classes, meetings, and clinical contexts. Participants will come away with practical skills, tools, and resources.


Pre-Symposium Institute Registration Rates by Zone

The International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG) stands for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Our symposium participation is truly international with presenters and attendees from all around the world. We make efforts to be inclusive through a diversified membership and symposium registration fee structures that reflects the financial realities in the world. For that reason, a model was developed, using the classification system based on the world bank data and EU classifications, according to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, US$ in Trillions) per capita and divided into five zones.

There is an additional fee to attend Pre-Symposium Institutes held on Monday, June 7th and Tuesday, June 8th. Please register for in the symposium registration portal.

Pre-Symposium Institute Rates Zone 5 Zone 4 Zone 3 Zone 2 Zone 1
Full-day Institute  $85 $68 $42 $17 $6
Half-day Institute $30 $24 $15 $6 $2
Student Full-day Institute  $20 $15 $9 $7 $0
Student Half-day Institute $10 $7 $5 $3 $0

The Field Instructor's Workshop is only available to social work field instructors who supervise students.