As with many other approaches in which people are trained as group therapists, an important criterion in SCT is that the professionals themselves be participants in an experiential training group. The difference with many other models is that within SCT the experiential training groups are and remain a binding condition for professionals who want to apply SCT in education, (team) coaching, counseling, organizational development and the like.

Why experiential training?

The main reason is ‘isomorphism’: the way the professional system functions largely determines the way we work with our clients. Working from alignment with the system and the people with a deeply rooted view of what a change process requires increases the possibility that we can support our clients, team, staff and students in developing toward their goals.

If we want to truly integrate SCT theory rather than just learn the techniques and protocols, ongoing, experiential practice from the participant role is necessary. It makes a world of difference if we practice SCT from a leadership role while having a lived awareness of what it takes to be a participant in an SCT group (“practice what you preach”).

Through this isomorphism in SCT training, we are in fact protecting our clients, in whatever profession they are in. The SCT protocols are powerful and impactful. Applying them zinder the proper context and without a deep and lived understanding of the application and delineation of each protocol carries risks. For example, checking assumptions (mindreads) while the group is not yet sufficiently developed to not take this personally can generate unnecessary stress and complicate rather than support a functional interaction.

Sometimes people wonder why there is such a strong emphasis within SCT on experiential training as part of professional development. You then hear comments like : ‘It's like therapy. This is an important point. The personal development that many participants go through through experiential training is a by-product (isomorphism): the goal of SCT training is to integrate the SCT methods and protocols in such a way that they become deeply rooted in our person system. Only from there will we be able to take on our professional roles grounded, attuned and knowledge-driven to contribute to the desired development in the systems of which we are a part.

Certain knowledge of SCT theory and methods can be applied in the organizational context without extensive training. For example, ‘Functional Subgrouping’ and the Role-Object-Context principle are value tools. And several professionals have developed valuable interventions based on these principles. That said, the richness and complexity of SCT can only be experienced through in-depth, ongoing training in learning to see the system and stage of development and (re)recognizing one's own personal reactions as information about the context. And certainly for leaders in organizations to (re)recognize their own old (survival) roles, so that these are not exhausted, but their energy can be released to make a constructive contribution from their functional role in their current context.

Program notes, Translated from SCT© Newsletter, Volume 24, Number 2, Winter 2017, SCT©RI
By Lotte Paans