Philadelphia, Fri Feb 06 2026 - Sat Feb 07 2026

(06 Feb 2026 9:00 AM - 07 Feb 2026 5:00 PM )

Introduction to Systems-Centered Training: Working with Differences

SCT Workshop with Susan P. Gantt , Dayne Narretta
Contact: Kathy Lum

SCTRI is presenting this workshop through its Training and Resource Center

Venue	CE-Credits	Track(s)	Level(s)
Yvonne Agazarian Training and Resource Center 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., #1A4 Philadelphia	12.5	Clinical|Organizational|General Interest	Open to All Levels

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Event Details

Systems-Centered Training (SCT), developed by Yvonne Agazarian, introduces functional subgrouping for working differently with differences. Rather than fighting or arguing or ignoring differences, SCT uses functional subgrouping so that both similarities and differences can become resources rather than problems. Functional subgrouping enables any living human system – groups, teams, and couples – to explore differences rather than just reacting to them.

This workshop is open to professionals in mental health and organizational development and to curious people. The training will introduce the basics of SCT’s theory and its practice. We will work experientially to apply the theory and methods of SCT, using functional subgrouping to explore differences rather than reacting to them, finding the fork-in-the-road between explaining our experience or exploring it, and undoing the negative predictions that make us anxious.

Space is limited – register soon!

When: Fri & Sat, Feb 6 & 7, 9:00 - 5:00

Fees:
Early Registration til Jan 5:
SCTRI members $400
Non-Members $450

Registration after Jan 5:
SCTRI members $450
Non-Members $500

50% discount for full-time students

Continuing Education: CEs are available for an additional $50 (details below)

Questions? Contact Kathy Lum or call (678) 430-2126

Interested in becoming a member of SCTRI? You can join when you register for the workshop and qualify for the reduced fee. Learn about SCTRI membership benefits and join.

Refunds & Cancelation Policy: Full refunds minus a $50 processing fee until January 15. After this date, no refunds will be made. Refunds must be requested in writing to Kathy Lum.

Traveling from outside the Philadelphia area? There are several hotels and airbnb’s nearby and in Center City.

Continuing Education Information

This workshop offers 12.5 CE hours.

The Systems-Centered® Training and Research Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SCTRI maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Pennsylvania Social Workers: PA-NASW accepts these CEs toward licensing.
Other Professions: Please check with your licensing board to confirm if these CEs are accepted.

Learning Objectives

• Apply a systems-centered approach which enables understanding the dynamics of both individuals & groups from a common perspective
• Demonstrate using functional subgrouping to recognize and integrate differences instead of ignoring or scapegoating them
• Use the “fork-in-the-road” technique to explore impulses, emotions and conflicts instead of acting them out or explaining them away
• Describe the difference between person and member
• Discuss the closed and survivor roles of flight and fight
• Identify and undo anxiety using the SCT protocols

Presentation Content

This workshop introduces the basics of a theory of living human systems and its core method of functional subgrouping for integrating differences. Agazarian’s (1997) theory of living human systems, with its systems-centered approach to group practice, represents a developed and comprehensive systems theory applied to groups, individuals and couples. A theory of living human systems has defined theoretical constructs and operational definitions that implement and test the theoretical hypotheses in its practice. This theory and its methods are accepted among group practitioners as evidence-based by SCTRI’s 2010 recognition for “Outstanding Contributions in Education and Training in the Field of Group Psychotherapy” awarded by the National Registry of Certified Group Psychotherapists. SCT methods are regularly cited or included in handbooks and reviews of group psychotherapy practice. There is also significant peer-reviewed published support for the theory and its practice, including over 45 articles in the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Group Dynamics, Small Group Research, Organizational Analysis,Group Analysis, GROUP, and other scientific journals as well as numerous books.

The systems-centered approach to group and organizational work has been in the field for over 30 years. Its methods incorporate techniques linked to successful strategies for improvement in group and individual psychotherapy, for example, modifying cognitive distortions, increasing group cohesion, lowering scapegoating, and reducing somatic defenses.

Supporting References

Gantt, S.P. (2018). Developing groups that change our minds and transform our brains: Systems-centered's functional subgrouping, its impact on our neurobiology, and its role in each phase of group development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry: Today's Bridge Between Psychoanalysis and the Group World [Special Issue], 38(4), 270-284. doi: 10.1080/07351690.2018.1444851

Gantt, S.P., & Agazarian, Y.M. (2017). Systems-centered group therapy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 67(sup1), S60-S70. doi: 10.1080/00207284.2016.1218768

Kamozawa, A., Oshima, S., & Mizukawa, Y. (2021). Narrative of “here-and-now”: Cancer survivors in a group psychotherapy using SCT® (systems-centered therapy). Japanese Psychological Research, 63(4), 449-465. doi: 10.1111/jpr.12343

Kane, Y.I., Masselink, S.M., & Weiss, A.C. (Eds.) (2021). Women, intersectionality and power in group psychotherapy leadership. New York, NY: Routledge.

Maher, M. (2018). From group analytic to systems-centered consulting: A comparison of experience. Journal of Social Work Practice, 32(4), 423-432. doi: 10.1080/02650533.2018.1503163

Neukrug, E.S. (Ed.). (2015). Encyclopedia of theory in counseling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

O’Neill, R.M., Byram, C.A., Mogle, J., & MacKenzie, M.J. (2024). Are system-centered boards more collaborative, productive, and creative? A partial replication, and a pilot exploration of how. GROUP: The Journal of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society, 48(4), 11-29. doi:10.1353/grp.2024.a962317

Tweedy, R. (Ed.) (2020). The divided therapist: Hemispheric difference and contemporary psychotherapy. London, UK: Routledge.

Weinberg, H., Rolnick, A., & Leighton, A. (Eds.). (2024). The virtual group therapy circle: Advances in online group theory and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Presenters

Susan P. Gantt PhD, ABPP, CGP, AGPA-DF, FAPA sgantt@systemscentered.com
Susan P. Gantt is a psychologist in private practice and coordinated group psychotherapy training in psychiatry at Emory University for 29 years. She chairs the Systems-Centered Training (SCT) and Research Institute; teaches SCT in the US, Europe and China; and leads training groups in Atlanta, San Francisco, and the Netherlands. She has co-authored four books with Yvonne Agazarian, co-edited The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Group Psychotherapy and Group Process with Bonnie Badenoch, and received the 2011 Alonso Award for Excellence in Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy. Her newest book is Systems-Centered Training: An Illustrated Guide for Applying a Theory of Living Human Systems (Agazarian, Gantt, & Carter, 2021).

Dayne Narretta LCSW, BCD, CGP, AGPA-F daynenarretta@gmail.com
Dayne Narretta is in Private Practice in Baton Rouge, LA. She has been facilitating groups since 1992. Most of her group training is through Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute, American Group Psychotherapy Association, its affiliates and learning from the groups she leads. She does workshops and experiential groups for SCTRI, AGPA and its affiliates, universities, treatment centers and other organizations. She was introduced to Systems-Centered group work in 2004 and continues her training in the Systems-Centered Training and Research Institute. Dayne is currently a co-director for the Systems-Centered Training annual conference. She has served on the Board for American Group Psychotherapy Association, as an AGPA conference co-chair and on the Affiliate Society Assembly. In addition, she is a past president for Louisiana Group Psychotherapy Society and has served in other leadership roles.

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