Join us for this year's NCTS—West 
at Christ the King Retreat Center
Sacramento, CA, 18-20 October 2015

This will be an intensive, experiential, residential conference intended to expand your clinical awareness and deepen your capacity to provide pastoral care. 


Over three days we will create a temporary learning organization offering an opportunity to notice how we function in groups and the institutions in which we work—without the pressures and politics of the actual workplace. In this unique environment, insights can be developed that help increase our influence and effectiveness. 

This is the first CPSP Group Relations Conference co-hosted with Grex, the West Coast affiliate of the A K Rice Institute, offering CPSP the opportunity to work with highly experienced Group Relations practitioners in a focused and reflective environment.

Due to the unique goals of this training model, the number of participants at this conference will be strictly limited. Registrants will pay a significantly reduced cost for this all-inclusive event.

For a more in-depth presentation of the purpose, structure, and preliminary schedule of this conference, go to: In Depth.

Some of the Likely Topics for Reflection

• What is the relationship between my personal and pastoral identities and my professional role?
  
• How in my role do I affect the individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions that I work in, and how do they, in turn, impact me and my ability to stay in role?
  
• Where do I get the authority to do my work?
  
• What is my experience of leading and following?What does my training help me to see, and what might my training cause me to miss seeing?
  
• How are the human needs to belong and connect manifest in the complex environments in which we work?

Who Should Attend?

Participation in an experiential group-relations conference is a requirement for all CPSP Supervisors-in-Training (SITs) prior to being certified as Diplomates. It is also an invaluable clinical learning experience for all Clinical Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors committed to excellence.  For those certified as CPSP Diplomates in Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, it goes without saying that a thorough understanding of group relations is absolutely essential. 

Conference Outcomes

While group-relations conference learning is a very individual matter, there are common outcomes for CPSP members that could include:

• Increasing appreciation of the power of the group unconscious, for example, in CPE and your CPSP chapter.
• Enhancing awareness of self in relation to the group dynamics present with patients and families we serve.
  
• Noticing the group dynamics within interdisciplinary care teams and learning how to work in them effectively.
  

Additional Features

The conference will help you understand Boundaries, Authority, Role, and Task (BART) as they are applied. In addition, each participant will be part of an Application Group and receive individualized consultation on their unique work situation. After the conference, a staff-hosted online Video Post-Conference will offer the opportunity to continue to integrate the experience and apply the learning at work. 

About the Conference

Refreshments & Meals

This conference is designed as an integrated experience and requires participants to attend all events from the start to the finish. 

We ask that all participants arrive on time for the conference opening at 10:00 a.m. sharp on Sunday, October 18 and stay until the closing at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20.  The days are full and some activities will continue into the evening after dinner. 

Conference participants may arrive on Saturday or early on Sunday. Registration will take place Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning prior to the start of the conference. 

Conference Hours

Registration Open:
 Saturday, October 17:      1 PM – 6:00 PM 
& Sunday, October 18:      8:45 AM – 9:45 AM

Conference Hours:
Sunday, October 18:           10:00 AM ‐ 9:30 PM
Note: Conference begins promptly at 10:00 AM

Monday, October 19:          9:00 AM ‐ 9:30 PM
 with optional group ending at 10:30 PM

Tuesday, October 20:          9:00 AM ‐ 3:30 PM
A more detailed schedule will be provided upon registration.

Location, Travel & Accomodations

Christ the King Retreat Center is located at 6520 Van Maren Lane, Citrus Heights, CA 95621. 

Conference fee includes meals and accommodation in a single room with private bath. The registration fee is per individual and will remain the same if you prefer to share a room. Let us know if you would like to share a room. 

There is shuttle or taxi service from the Sacramento International Airport (SMF). In addition, participants driving to the conference may be available to meet arrivals at the airport on the way to the Retreat Center. Let us know your arrival dates and times once you register. 

Early Arrivals

If you plan to arrive early, there are rooms available from Friday night with meals available with your reservation for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Contact the retreat center directly to make those arrangements on your own. 
Jane Oliver is managing our event; her number is 916-725-4720, ext 303.  

For arrivals on Saturday, nine meals will be provided with your confirmed registration, from Saturday dinner to Tuesday lunch.

For arrivals on Sunday morning, seven meals will be provided with your confirmed registration, from Sunday lunch to Tuesday lunch.

Coffee, tea, and snacks will be available throughout the day during the conference. 

Confidentiality

In order to support members’ freedom to experiment in whatever ways they believe will best facilitate their learning, staff members will not report the behavior of any individual member to anyone outside the conference without the member’s authorization.  Members are encouraged to maintain the same degree of confidentiality.

Registration Deadline

Registrations will be accepted through October 10, after which time registrations will be accepted on a case‐by‐case basis based on availability. 

Refunds

If registration is withdrawn prior to Friday, October 1, the fee, minus a $25 processing fee, will be refunded.
Thereafter, no refunds will be made. 

Conference Fees 

Fee for CPSP Members   
$590: Two nights—Sunday and Monday 
$715: Three nights—Saturday, Sunday, and Monday 

Fee for non-CPSP Members
$665: Two nights—Sunday and Monday
$790: Three nights—Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

REGISTER NOW