Course Meeting: Saturdays, 10:45am- 12:15pm (EST)

Course Dates: Sept 20, 27, Oct 4, 11, 18, 25, Nov 1, 8, 15, 22, Dec 6, 13

Instructor: Wally Fletcher, D Min, NCPsyA

Course Description:

One of the critical tasks of leadership is helping people and organizations deal with the emotional demands of meeting significant adaptive challenges especially in times of crisis. This course will focus on the psychodynamics of crisis and adaptive stress as well as effective leadership and modern psychoanalytic strategies for dealing with them. The course is for people who are or aspiring to be in varied leadership roles. It is also for clinicians who are or considering working with leaders and organizations as therapists, coaches and/or consultants. It will draw upon relevant literature but largely on discussion of case examples presented by class participants. The multiple adaptive and crisis challenges including the racial justice crises facing leadership today are truly daunting. Depth psychology is needed to reach beyond treating symptoms to root causes that create and perpetuate them.

Course Objectives:

1. To deepen participants’ understanding of the nature of adaptive stress and crisis, and the demands it makes of leadership and organizations.

2. To increase self-awareness of the impact (primary and secondary) of adaptive stress among leaders, therapists and consultants to responsibly address its self-care and countertransference impacts.

3. To increase participants’ ability to apply sound collaborative leadership, ‘process consulting’ and psychoanalytic approaches to diagnosing, designing and implementing effective strategies for helping leaders and organizations meet adaptive challenges and crises.

4. To help participants’ make best use of case-study and action reflection methodology to achieve the above.

5. To help participants’ make best use of peer and professional consultation and supervision to achieve the above.