Essentials of Group Therapy

About the Editor(s)

Andrew I. Smolar, M.D. is training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine, also in Philadelphia, PA. He has been in the private practice of adolescent and adult psychiatry in Wynnewood, PA since 1998. He specializes in psychoanalysis, combining psychoanalytic psychotherapy and medication treatments, couples therapy, and group therapy. He has led groups in his practice, as well as groups for residents of psychiatry and Albert Einstein Medical Center (Philadelphia) Hospice staff. He has supervised residents and psychology interns, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts in training; he also served as consulting psychiatrist to several local colleges, including his alma mater Haverford College from 2000–2011.

Dr. Smolar served as president of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia from 2015–2017; he has also served there as chairman of the Education Committee, Training and Supervising Analyst Committee, cochair of the Supervision Study Group for Supervising Analysts, and is codirector of the Developmental Pathway for recent graduates. Dr. Smolar has contributed to the academic literature by writing on the following subjects: analytic work with an immigrant analysand, group therapy in various clinical settings, gift-giving in group and individual settings, combining analytic treatment with group therapy techniques, and most recently, psychotherapy during this era of political turmoil and contributions of group fragmentation toward national discord. He is coinvestigator of research of American citizens suffering from conspiracy thinking. His article in press for the American Journal of Psychoanalysis addresses group identifications during individual development and techniques for including them during psychoanalytic clinical work. He has also published op-eds on mental health subjects in the Philadelphia Inquirer and in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, where he is a regular contributor.

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April Fallon, Ph.D. is the Faculty Chair and Professor of Clinical Psychology at Fielding Graduate University and Clinical Professor in psychiatry at Drexel College of Medicine. She received her baccalaureate degree from Allegheny College (1975) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania (1981). She has received numerous awards for her teaching of psychiatric medical residents including the Psychiatric Educator 2012 from Philadelphia Psychiatric Society. She has co-authored six books with Virginia Brabender: Models of Inpatient Group Psychotherapy (1993), Awaiting the Therapist’s Baby: A Guide for Expectant Parent-Practitioners (2003), Essentials of Group Psychotherapy (2004), Group Development in Practice: Guidance for Clinicians and Researchers on Stages and Dynamics of Change (2009), The Impact of Parenthood on the Therapeutic Relationship: Awaiting the Therapist’s Baby (2018, 2nd Ed.), and Group Psychotherapy in Inpatient, Partial Hospital, and Residential Care settings (2019). She also has co-edited an additional volume, Working with Adoptive Parents: Research, Theory and Therapeutic Interventions (2013). In addition, she has researched and written on the development of disgust in children and adults, body image and eating disorders, the effects of childhood maltreatment, attachment and adoption.

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