Welcome Message

Welcome to the 22nd IAGP International Congress in Sapporo, Japan! We are honored to invite you to join us for a unique and enriching experience exploring the theme: "Groups and Global Crises: Challenges for People, Organizations, and Societies."
In a world facing many challenges, our goal is to create a global forum that brings together diverse perspectives and theoretical approaches, fostering dialogue and knowledge exchange in the field of group psychotherapy and group processes. As we explore the impact of global crises on individuals, organizations, and societies, we aim to contribute new insights that will shape the future of group work.

Throughout the congress, participants will have the unique opportunity to engage with leading experts, share best practices, and contribute to new and renewed knowledge that emerges when professionals from various backgrounds come together. Whether you are an experienced practitioner, researcher, or student, this event promises to be a space for inspiration and growth.

Join us in Japan, a country renowned for its rich history, vibrant culture, and warm hospitality, the perfect place for facing the complexities of our world today and for exploring collectively the role of groups in fostering social health.

The Scientific Program Committee, a multicultural and diverse group of professionals, is creating a program that promises a rich composition of scientific activities, including small, medium and large groups, providing a unique opportunity to engage with other cultures, exploring social conflicts and fostering dialogue.

We invite you to actively participate as a presenter and attendee. Share your expertise, insights, and experiences to enrich the collective learning experience, proposing your contributions and registering soon to secure your place in this dynamic congress.

The Scientific Program Committee and Local Japanese Organizers look forward to meeting you personally, exchanging ideas, and collectively addressing group theory and practice and global crises.

See you soon!

Hi Folks,

We, the Scientific Program Committee (SPC), are excited to introduce to you the 22nd IAGP Congress, the first IAGP Main Congress to be held in Asia (the Pacific Rim Regional Congresses have been held in Tokyo, Taipei, and Beijing, but this is the main conference!).
Today as never before, the world is facing dramatic crises: energy shortage, climate change, social injustice, gender inequality, nationalism and terror… IAGP seeks to contribute to overcoming these crises through people-to-people exchanges in groups.
SPC will contribute to this effort by offering an academic program at the Congress: the program will consist of Keynote Lectures, Symposia, Workshops, and Oral Presentations. In addition, we will offer group experiences in small, medium and large groups.
Our wisdom is born not only from logical and verbal thinking, but also from emotional interactions and conversations between people, and develops through their intertwining. Let us create such a process together.

This time, we will try a few new things.
Pre-congress and congress have different tasks. That is, the pre-congress is responsible for the educational and training aspects, and the congress is responsible for the academic aspects. However, we see them as two sides of the same process: thus, we will integrate them and make them accessible for a single fee.
We will create a double track for symposia: in one, chairs are invited by the SPC; in the other, chairs propose themselves. In both, colleagues of different geographies and cultures will come together to discuss a specific topic, making diversity and inclusion a concrete achievement of the congress.

When submitting an abstract for a presentation or an experiential group, you will be asked to choose where your proposal stands in the three axes of our Congress model: the theoretical/clinical approach, the crises’ domains, and the topics. We would like you to think of your contribution as a way to responsibly take a position in the world, to address a specific challenge and propose visions for the future. We are all called to be accountable for our place in these intense times. Just like in the Kintsugi of the Congress’s visual, we are called to acknowledge the cracks in the world, analyze their causes, understand their global implications and help adding some gold lacquer to repair and reconcile.

Most of the events will be held in-person in the four days in Sapporo; some of them, however, will be broadcasted online. Keynote speakers and symposia will be recorded and can be accessed in different times, if you decide to participate from remote.

We will also hold warm-up sessions before the in-person convention in Sapporo. We will offer free webinars and workshops with some of the keynote speakers and the symposia chairs, to get to know their areas of scientific research and their methodological approach to groups. Keep an eye to the agenda posted on soon.

IAGP members and non-members are welcome to present.
To all group analysts, psychodramatists, group therapists, and process consultants, please share your clinical and scientific wisdom with your colleagues and with our global citizens. That’s all, folks!