Some of the most meaningful growth as a therapist happens through experience, reflection, and relationship.

As therapists, we grow through coursework, supervision, consultation, and clinical experience. We also grow by becoming more aware of who we are in relationship with others.

Nashville Psych’s Training Groups for Therapists are virtual and in-person, experiential, process-oriented professional development groups for clinicians who want to deepen their emotional presence, strengthen their use of self, and better understand how they affect and are affected by others.

Rather than primarily talking about therapy, members learn by participating in a group together. The group offers a place to notice relational patterns as they emerge, receive meaningful feedback, experiment with new ways of engaging, and reflect on how these experiences may shape their clinical work.

The virtual format allows eligible therapists from different locations, communities, and professional settings to learn alongside one another. We also offer in-person options for therapists who are local to Nashville.

Schedule a Free Phone Consultation

What Are Training Groups For Therapists At Nashville Psych?

Our experiential training groups help therapists develop through direct participation, reflection, and relationship.

Members pay attention to what is happening in the present moment: within themselves, between group members, and in the group as a whole. The group leader helps the group slow down, explore meaningful interactions, and approach relational dynamics with curiosity.

Conceptual ideas may be introduced when they help illuminate the experience, but the group remains centered on what is unfolding between people in real time.

Our training groups are not lectures, class, case consultation groups, or traditional supervision groups. Rather, they are a place to practice the emotional and relational capacities that support meaningful therapeutic work.

Why Relationship Matters in Clinical Training

Therapy requires more than knowledge and technique. It asks us to remain present when emotions intensify, relationships become complicated, and the right response is not immediately clear.

As therapists, we bring our own histories, sensitivities, strengths, assumptions, and ways of relating into every therapeutic relationship. These parts of ourselves can become valuable clinical resources when we are willing to understand them.

Through participation in the group, you may begin to notice:

How you respond to closeness, conflict, uncertainty, and difference
When you move toward others and when you pull away
How you communicate your needs, reactions, and boundaries
How other people experience you
What makes it difficult to take interpersonal risks
How familiar relational patterns may appear in your clinical work
What helps you remain present when a moment feels uncomfortable

The goal is not to perform perfectly or find the right response. It is to become more aware, flexible, and intentional in how you engage with others.

Who Are Training Groups For?

Our Training Groups for Therapists are designed for clinicians who want to deepen the relational foundation of their work.

They may be especially helpful for therapists who want to:

Feel more emotionally present and grounded with clients
Better understand their own reactions in therapy
Strengthen their use of self
Become more comfortable with intensity, vulnerability, and uncertainty
Notice interpersonal dynamics as they develop
Work more thoughtfully with rupture, repair, conflict, and difference
Receive honest feedback about how they are experienced by others
Prepare to facilitate interpersonal process groups
Bring greater relational depth to their clinical work

You do not need to be leading groups or planning to become a group therapist. The awareness and relational capacities developed through experiential group participation can strengthen work with individuals, couples, families, groups, and organizations.

What You May Develop In A Training Group For Therapists

Emotional Presence

The ability to remain connected to yourself and others when a moment feels emotionally charged, uncertain, or uncomfortable.

Use of Self

Greater awareness of your internal responses and a stronger ability to use those reactions thoughtfully in your clinical work.

Relational Awareness

The capacity to notice patterns, shifts, tensions, and unspoken dynamics as they emerge between people.

Openness to Impact and Feedback

A clearer understanding of how other people experience you and a greater ability to receive feedback without becoming overly defensive or self-critical.

Capacity for Rupture and Repair

More confidence remaining engaged when misunderstandings, disappointments, or conflicts occur—and exploring what may help the relationship move forward.

Comfort With Interpersonal Risk

A greater ability to express thoughts, feelings, needs, and reactions that may feel vulnerable or difficult to share.

Tolerance for Uncertainty

The ability to remain curious and emotionally present when there is no immediate answer or clear path forward.

How This Experience Can Shape Your Work

The ways we participate in relationships outside the therapy room often influence how we show up inside it.

You may notice that you hesitate to challenge certain clients, feel responsible for resolving discomfort quickly, become quiet around anger, work hard to be understood, or move away from emotions that feel particularly intense.

Of course, these responses are human. However, they often contain valuable clinical information. By experiencing relational dynamics firsthand and reflecting on them with other therapists, you can develop a more nuanced understanding of what happens within therapeutic relationships.

Over time, a training group may help you:

Recognize emotional responses without being controlled by them
Stay engaged during difficult or uncertain moments
Respond more flexibly to different clients and relational needs
Distinguish between a client’s experience and your own
Use feedback as a source of learning
Trust yourself while remaining open and curious
Bring greater authenticity and depth into your clinical relationships

Grounded in Years of Training Therapists and Leading Groups

Nashville Psych has been supervising, teaching, training, and mentoring therapists for many years. Our Training Groups for Therapists are facilitated by Dr. Dan Goldstein, a counseling psychologist and Certified Group Psychotherapist with extensive experience facilitating interpersonal process groups and supporting clinicians at different stages of their professional development.

These groups grew from a belief that therapists need opportunities to move beyond intellectual understanding and experience themselves in relationship with others. It is designed to complement supervision, coursework, workshops, and more technical or directive forms of clinical training.

Learn more about Dr. Goldstein.

What to Expect

A Consistent Group

Members meet regularly with the same facilitator and group members. This consistency allows trust, familiarity, and meaningful relational work to develop over time. There is typically a minimum commitment of 6 months required to join.

Learning Through Participation

Members are encouraged to pay attention to their internal experiences, engage honestly with one another, and become curious about what is happening within the group.

There is no expectation that you disclose everything or push yourself beyond your limits. The experience becomes more meaningful as members gradually become willing to take thoughtful interpersonal risks.

Thoughtful Facilitation

The facilitator helps members explore significant interactions, reflect on their impact, and consider connections between their group experiences and their work as therapists.

Reflection Rather Than Evaluation

This is really important: the group is not a test of your competence or a performance assessment. It is a professional development experience intended to support honesty, curiosity, self-awareness, and continued growth.

A Screening Process

Before joining, prospective members participate in an hour-long screening appointment. This gives you an opportunity to learn more about the group, discuss your goals, ask questions, and determine whether the experience may be a good fit.

Current Training Group Details

Dates/Times:

Virtual Tuesday Training Group, Tuesdays from 3:20pm-4:50pm Central, via Google Meet
In Person Thursday Training Group, Thursdays from 10am-11:30am Central, 2200 21st Avenue South, Suite 306, Nashville, TN

Facilitator:

Dr. Dan Goldstein, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Certified Group Psychotherapist

Availability:

Currently screening prospective members

Participation is available to therapists both within and outside of Tennessee, depending on the participant’s location, professional status, and any applicable licensing or regulatory requirements. However, eligibility will be confirmed during the consultation and screening process.

What Training Groups Are and What They Are Not

Our Training Groups for Therapists are experiential professional development groups for clinicians.

They are not:

Group therapy
Clinical supervision toward licensure
A case consultation group
A lecture or workshop
A substitute for consultation regarding a specific client

Although participation may feel personally meaningful, the purpose of the group is to support your professional and relational development as a therapist.

Experiential learning naturally involves bringing more of yourself into the room. The screening process provides an opportunity to discuss this aspect of the group and consider whether it is appropriate for your current needs.

Become More Present, Flexible, and Grounded in the Room

Imagine becoming more able to stay connected when a client is angry, distant, disappointed, overwhelmed, or unsure what they need from you. Or noticing your reactions earlier, understanding them more clearly, and having greater freedom in how you respond.

Imagine receiving honest feedback in a setting where you can reflect, experiment, repair, and continue growing alongside other thoughtful clinicians. The aim is not to eliminate uncertainty or become unaffected by difficult moments. It is to develop the awareness, steadiness, and relational flexibility to meet those moments more fully.

Schedule a Free Phone Consultation

Contact Client Care at (615) 582-2882 or clientcare@nashvillepsych.com, or schedule a brief telephone consultation. We would be glad to answer your questions, learn more about your interests, and help you determine whether our Training Groups for Therapists may be a good fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Training Groups for Therapists?

Training Groups for Therapists are in-person and virtual, experiential, process-oriented professional development group offered by Nashville Psych. Clinicians learn through participation, reflection, feedback, and attention to interpersonal dynamics as they unfold within the group.

Who can participate?

Training groups may be appropriate for therapists at different stages of training and practice. Fit depends on your clinical experience, professional role, goals, and the composition of the group.

The screening process helps determine whether a particular group is appropriate for you at this time.

Can therapists outside Tennessee participate?

Yes. As this is a Training Group, not group therapy, therapists in other states (and countries) are eligible to participate. We will further confirm eligibility during the consultation and screening process.

Do I need to lead therapy groups?

No. Training groups can benefit clinicians who work with individuals, couples, families, groups, or organizations.

It may be especially useful for therapists interested in facilitating interpersonal process groups, but the capacities developed through participation apply across many forms of clinical work.

Are these clinical supervision groups?

No. Our Training Groups for Therapists are professional development experiences and do not provide clinical supervision toward requirements for licensure.

Nashville Psych offers clinical supervision separately, depending on supervisor availability and applicable professional requirements.

Is this group therapy?

No. Although the groups are experiential and process-oriented, its purpose is professional development rather than mental health treatment.

Will we present cases or discuss clients?

These groups are not primarily organized around case presentations or consultation. Members may reflect on connections between their experiences in the group and their clinical work while protecting client confidentiality and following applicable ethical requirements.

What does “use of self” mean?

Use of self refers to a therapist’s ability to understand and thoughtfully draw upon their emotional responses, perceptions, personality, and relational presence as part of the therapeutic process.

The group helps clinicians become more aware of these responses so they can use them with greater intention. For example, when working with a client, we may find ourselves feeling irritated by them. Use of self might look like utilizing that feeling to craft an intervention that moves the therapy forward or deepens the therapy relationship.

What does experiential learning mean?

Experiential learning means developing through participation rather than instruction alone.

Members learn by noticing thoughts, feelings, reactions, and relational patterns as they occur within the group. They have opportunities to receive feedback, try different ways of engaging, and reflect on what these experiences may reveal about their clinical work.

Are the groups confidential?

Members are expected to protect one another’s privacy and maintain confidentiality regarding what is shared in group. Expectations and limits related to confidentiality are reviewed during screening and when the group begins.

How do I join?

Call (615) 582-2882, email clientcare@nashvillepsych.com, or schedule a brief phone consultation. We will answer your questions, learn more about your goals, confirm eligibility, and explain the screening process.

Training Groups For Therapists