Component Group GuidE

Introduction
Welcome! This page will walk you through the process of creating your own Component Group within ISSTD. The information contained in this guide reflects information gathered by ISSTD members at the Component Society annual breakfast meetings and the Component Society Committee meetings.

First of all, in response to some confusion re: the difference in language used for Component Groups (i.e. Study Group, Society, Regional Society, etc.), the ISSTD Bylaws provide for two kinds of Component Groups, and a subset of the first.

• Component Study Groups – this is the type of Component Group that is most common and the one that most of you will be interested in forming, at least initially. Component Study Groups meet at least four times a year. Membership is open to at those persons who are eligible to be members, student members, and retired members of the ISSTD. A Component Study Group may be designated a Component Professional Study Group if that group meets the following two conditions: 1) All members of the group must have current professional certification, licensure, and/or registration in health care or a related professional discipline (if such certification etc., is required by the region in which the individuals practice); and 2) Membership in the group is restricted to mental health and/or medical professionals.
• Regional Societies of the ISSTD – This group is a national, state, provincial or regional organization that provides collaborative, integrative, and administrative functions for two or more Component Study Groups of the ISSTD. A Regional Society of the ISSTD meets at least once a year.

That being said, many of us have experience in setting up and running various types of component societies. Our purpose in being involved in an ISSTD component society is mainly to enrich our work and to provide clinical support and outreach to therapists who treat those with complex PTSD and dissociative disorders without the benefit of training. Some groups are formal some not, some big, some small, some successful, and some not. Most have experienced highs and lows.

This page contains a summary of marketing ideas, bylaws, newsletter examples, etc. It is not exhaustive by any means, but it will provide you with some ideas and a good place to start.

Soliciting Interested Parties

• Find a professional colleague who is also interested in meeting at least four times a year for the purpose of studying trauma, dissociation and dissociative disorders
• Invite other colleagues who share an interest with you in trauma and dissociative disorders to meet with you. A sample letter of invitation is below.
• Consider having ISSTD help by organizing a one day professional seminar in order to recruit members from the attendees. Click here for information on this seminar.

Setting up a Board or Steering Committee
Your group may or may not choose to have a board or steering committee with a slate of officers. Having a board or steering committee with officers, however, provides some structure and organization for members and helps to ensure that tasks of the group are shared among members from year to year. You may wish to establish several committees to explore, identify, and establish tasks, programs, etc. Group examples of Large, Medium, Small, and Internet groups can be found here.

Note: ISSTD bylaws require that: “Each component study group shall have one member designated as the ISSTD Contact Person.  This ISSTD Contact Person shall: be a member of good standing of the ISSTD; function as a liaison between the component study group and ISSTD; be responsible for maintaining ISSTD standards, goals, and adherence to the ISSTD mission statement, and; be responsible for submitting the annual component group report.”

Creating Group Bylaws
Your group may want to have a formal set of bylaws. Bylaws define the who, what, when, where, and why of a group. They are a set of governing rules that the group has agreed to follow regarding the group itself and its members. Bylaws define the boundaries within which the group will function. They help keep the group focused and organized. The founding members usually create the bylaws but they can be reviewed and changed, if necessary, with group agreement.

Establishing Group Dues
Your group may or may not choose to charge dues. If you do decide to charge group dues, you may charge more or less depending on the goals of your group and the type of members in the group.

Examples One large component society charges $90 a year which pays for some of the costs associated with guest speakers, the rental of meeting space, refreshments, a part time office manager, and business expenses. The membership dues allows members admission to three morning workshops per year and a discount on an all day workshop. The all day workshop earns extra funds that are used to supplement dues and to fund extra projects like outreach to agencies. You may also charge different fees for different membership categories. For example, in this particular group, the membership dues for non profit agency members are reduced.

One small component group charges $20 a year in order to be able to purchase ISSTD Conference tapes as a group and to pay for making copies of articles for group members. Refreshments are potluck. A once a year workshop provides funds for marketing and outreach.

Risk Management Information
Check out Risk Management for Component Societies on the ISSTD Web site.

Membership Application
A copy of the application may be obtained from ISSTD Headquarters.

Naming Your Group
Usually ISSTD component groups name themselves and incorporate the name of their location in their self designation.
Note : It is not required that you use the name of your location when naming your group.

EXAMPLES: Possible Local Group Names

•Trauma and Dissociation Study Group of (name of city or locale).
•The (name of city or locale) Dissociation Study Group.
•The (Name of city or locale) Study Group.
•Southwest (name of state) Component Study Group of the ISSTD.

EXAMPLES: Possible Regional Group Names

•The (name of country, state, or region) Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
•The (name of country, state, or region) Society for the Study of Dissociation.

Policy Regarding use of the word "International" in Group Name
In September, 2002, the ISSTD Executive Council required that regional and local component study groups use words other than "International" to designate themselves in order to avoid any confusion with the ISSTD and possible resulting legal complications.
Note : Use of the word "Chapter" to designate a component study group has become obsolete.

Creating a Resource Library

• Audio/Videotape library: Lend out copies of conference tapes for a specified period of time. Maintain a tape list and ordering information.
• Literature library: Can include treatment guidelines, book lists, articles, handouts and so on.
• The ISSTD NEWS features reviews of current articles and books that can be helpful in choosing these materials.
• The Journal of Trauma and Dissociation has many relevant articles that your group may wish to study and discuss. You may wish to have a small controlled bibliography - have a select group of tried and true articles to start with and branch out from there.
• Visit the ISSTD website bibliography
• Visit the our Member's Page to understand the kinds of membership
• Visit other component group web pages: www.dissoc.de/ISSTD, www.ukssd.org, www.nesttd.org

Program Ideas

• Case Consultation
• Discuss articles or books or topics announced in time for members to prepare
• Speakers
• Buy ISSTD tapes, listen to them and discuss
• Host a professional workshop/seminar in your area

How to Prevent Group Burnout

• Solicit advice from the group and try and respond to it
• Keep the leadership roles balanced and solicit volunteers to take on various tasks - don't allow the same core group of people to handle all of the organizational responsibilities. Use committees as often as possible

How to Grow Your Group and Prevent Attrition

• You may notice that more experienced members are dropping out or not attending - add Advanced or Master Classes to offer them something special.
• You may allow members to bring a guest once for free in order to increase membership. One group has coupons for a free meeting that they give out to nonprofit agency members and to people they want to recruit for some reason or another (e.g. they gave a free meeting coupon to a local NASW official to lobby for an article about the group!).
• You may offer no/reduced fees at workshops or seminars for group members - allow workshop attendees to join the group on site and take advantage of the reduced rates. One group ran a workshop which cost more for non-members than it did to become a member for a whole year and get in free. The hope is that some of the many new members who signed up that day will stay on!
• Develop a website to attract new members.

How to Have a Successful and Productive Process

• It's important to designate someone who will be responsible for boundaries, and keeping things running smoothly. This responsibility can be rotated, shared, or elected. Encourage your members to speak up when something isn't going right and serve as a role model for that process.
• Your group may wish to have a designated person in charge of monthly or quarterly program topics or you may choose to share this responsibility and have each member take a turn. If so, each member can participate in presenting tapes, articles, or other relevant sources of information on trauma, dissociation or related, relevant topics.
• Some component study groups use part of their meeting time to do case presentations and peer consultations. Sometimes smaller subgroups form when a group becomes very large, for this purpose. They meet at a separate time and location in order to provide greater opportunity for this kind of interaction and learning. One group is considering starting a "Book Club" in addition to their regular meetings.

Secrets of Successful Groups

• Welcome new members and remember that this may all be new to them. One larger group uses different name tags for new members so committee members can specifically make a point of connecting with new or newer members.
• Have something to offer, be respectful of people's learning curves, and have a clear notion of goals, limitations, and expertise.
• Don't let the group get stagnant by maintaining the same routine - mix it up - offer a wide variety of activities.

Component Group Web Page
Don't forget to check out the Component Group Web Page and update your group's information if necessary by sending the following information to ISSTD HQ:

Professional Seminar Project
In the spring of 2004, ISSTD began offering annual one-day professional seminars at multiple locations. The goals of these seminars are: to educate professionals about the effects of chronic traumatization; to introduce the concept of dissociation; to spread knowledge about ISSTD; and to assist in the development and/or revitalization of Component Groups. These seminars may be of assistance to your Component Group in achieving your goals. For additional information, contact ISSTD headquarters.

Letter of Invitation (To use the text of this letter, just select the text, copy it, and paste it into your own file.)

YOUR LETTERHEAD
Date
Dear Colleague:
My name is ____________________ and I am a psychotherapist practicing in the ________________, ____ area. I'm writing this letter in search of other colleagues either specializing in the treatment of trauma-related disorders or interested in the treatment of such. My search is designed to solicit licensed/certified individuals that would be interested in forming a professional study group for consultation, education, and networking purposes.

If you find yourself interested in this idea and would like to attend an organizational meeting to determine the nature/structure of the group, please call me at ____________________ to schedule your attendance at our first meeting. The meeting will be held on ____________________ at the ________________________ from 2:30 - 4:30 PM.

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to seeing you,
Your name & credentials

Group Examples

Small: In one small community in GA there is a 4 member study group. The group is closed to new members which makes it possible to have confidential case consultations in a community where everyone knows everybody. There are no official officers, and no dues. The group meets together for group consultation, and runs day-long workshops every other year to inform and educate colleagues (and themselves) about treatment of complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders. To fund the workshops, group members each put money in a bank account to use as seed money. Either they make enough from attendance to repay themselves, or they consider it a donation to the community.

Medium: XXX is a 30 person component society. Meetings are held 4 times a year and consist of case discussion and peer consultation. Sometimes readings are discussed, and when possible, speakers are invited. Meetings are coordinated by one of the members who has been willing to coordinate.

Large: NESTTD is a 200 + member group, with formal bylaws, an 8 member board headed up by a president, several committees including a program committee, membership committee etc. The only paid position is a part time office manager. They have 3 four and a half hour morning meetings and one full day workshop every year. Presentations for the morning meetings and full day workshop are formal, and presenters are paid. Refreshments are served and there is a networking time when members can announce consultation groups, openings, research, workshops, or seek a therapist referral for someone. Yearly membership dues gives members the 3 morning meetings for free, a discount on the all day workshop, quarterly newsletters, and a listing in the membership directory. CEUs are available for an additional fee. For experienced members, periodic 4 hour Master Classes usually with a visiting clinician are offered at an additional fee. NESTTD members provide several pro-bono presentations on the treatment of complex PTSD and dissociative disorders to private non-profit agencies every year.

A website is maintained: www.nesttd.org. Announcements are sent by mail and email.

Internet Group: The United Kingdom Society for the Study of Dissociation is a group with membership scattered over a large geographic area.

Committee meetings are mostly via an online yahoo group; there is lively yahoo listserv for UKSSD members and a website. An annual membership fee is collected to defray expenses. Through this internet society 5 local groups have developed in different locations. They meet in person and all are UKSSD members. ISSTD members interested in developing an internet society may contact Remy Aquarone.