Post-Training Opportunities

Successful completion of the program allows entrance into a larger learning community with a variety of opportunities to work and to continue learning.

Facilitating the Course

Twelve sections of Interpersonal Dynamics are taught in each academic year. These sections are staffed with IDFTP alumni who are paid. The advantage of training multiple times is that one begins to get a feel for the kinds of dynamics and phenomena that are common to all process groups and the kinds of events that may be unique to a particular group. When we experience familiar themes and dynamics coming around again, we tend to be more confident of the territory and have an opportunity to practice and refine our facilitation skills in those areas that recur in the life of most or all groups. (One senior T-group facilitator once said that it took about 60 groups before he felt like he really understood groups as a “living organism.”) Experienced facilitators regularly report good learning from continued facilitation.

Ongoing Development

T-groups are an incredibly rich learning laboratory and to help participants gain the most from the experience, it is important that facilitators have a deep understanding of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group processes (as well as a more complete understanding of one’s self). The initial training program can only provide a first cut at these dimensions. One of the exciting aspects of leading T-groups is that the experience provides continuous learning for the staff as well as the students. (We, the faculty who teach the class, have each trained 50 to 100 groups and are still learning new things about groups, about change and about ourselves.)

To support continuous learning for facilitators, we sponsor regular workshops and community sessions on a range of T-group related topics. Most sessions are offered to facilitators for free or for a minimal fee to cover costs..

In addition to continued development, these programs provide an opportunity to develop connections with other members of a community that shares similar values and goals.