Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
About The Event
Authority in Systems - A Part and Apart: The Tension Between Dependence and Autonomy
Ever feel both part of a system and somehow apart from it?
In a divided world, this tension can leave us feeling disconnected, anxious, or unsure of where we stand in our organizations, institutions, families, and workplaces.
Many of us grapple with stepping into leadership roles, sometimes holding back or not using our voice just when the system most needs our engagement.
Breathe. These challenges arise from the emotional dynamics of groups; the shared tensions that emerge whenever people join together to work, lead, and depend on one another.
This five-day conference offers a rare opportunity to explore these dynamics in real time. Participants can examine how authority is delegated, created, and exercised in systems to advance or hinder the work at hand. You can also explore how roles are taken up or resisted, and how dependence and autonomy shape leadership and followership alike.
Welcome
Conference Director, Sheri-Ann Cowie, PhD
What does it mean to be part of a system while simultaneously feeling apart from it? How do we balance autonomy with the real dependence built into our roles where managers rely on their teams, teams rely on their leaders, and all of us rely on the system to hold the work? These tensions between dependence and autonomy, belonging and otherness live in every group, organization, and community. They shape our leadership, decisions, anxieties, and the ways we step forward or withdraw when our systems need us most.
In a world marked by social, political, and organizational division, we all navigate these pressures. Our responses to tension can be creative and constructive, or defensive and destructive. This year’s conference, “Authority in Systems – A Part and Apart: The Tension between Autonomy and Dependence,” invites you to explore these dynamics in real time. Together, we will examine how we take up authority, how we relate to those who hold it, and how unconscious patterns influence our decisions and actions.
This 5-day temporary institution offers a unique opportunity to observe how authority dynamics shape your tendencies to withdraw, to witness without intervening, or to disengage. Through experiential learning and reflection, you will deepen your understanding of your role in exacerbating, sustaining, and transforming systems.
If you joined us last year for TechGRC, you may recall our focus on a world dominated by external technologies, and our exploration of Group Relations as an “inner technology” for observing and understanding authority, leadership, boundaries, and our responses to uncertainty. In 2026, we will continue that journey through the lens of paradox: how we are always both a part of the systems we inhabit and apart from them as individuals with distinct ideologies.
This conference is designed for people across professions and industries who work in complex systems. If you are curious about how authority relationships shape your decisions and actions, I welcome you to attend by registering or contacting our administrators at admin@leadershipgrc.com
Space is limited to 50 participants. Early registration is strongly encouraged.
Friendly Team
The Best Venues
Awesome Event
Event Schedule
Day 1
January 21, 2026
Lunch + Snacks + Dinner
Registration, Opening Plenary, Small and Large Study Groups
On Day 1 of Authority in Systems: A Part and Apart, you can register and cross the boundary into this immersive in-person organization. You will receive administrative details, an introduction to the staff, an overview of the conference events and guidelines, and your task assignment for your small and large study group work.
- 11:30 - 8:15 PM
- 11:30 Registration Open
- 12 - 1: LUNCH
- 2:30 - 2:45: BREAK
- 4 - 4:30: BREAK
- 6 - 7: DINNER
\
- Dover, MA
Day 2
January 22, 2026
Breakfast + Snacks + Lunch + Dinner
Institutional System Event
- 8:45 - 8:15 PM
- 9:45 - 10:30 AM: BREAK
- 12 - 1 PM: LUNCH
- 2:15 - 2:45 PM: BREAK
- 4 - 4:30 PM BREAK
- 6 - 7 PM: DINNER
\
- Dover, MA
On Day 2, work continues in your small and large study groups, and the Institutional System Event (“ISE”) opens. The ISE aims to create a microcosm of organizational life where you can explore different roles, experience the system from an intellectual and emotional perspective, and examine authority structures and leadership dynamics similar to those in real-world institutions and organizations.
Day 3
January 23, 2026
Breakfast + Snacks + Lunch + Dinner
ISE, Small and Large Study Groups
- 8:45 - 5:45 PM
- 9:45-10:30 AM: BREAK
- 12 - 1 PM: LUNCH
- 2:15 - 2:45 PM: BREAK
- 4 - 4:30 PM BREAK
- 6 PM: DINNER
\
- Dover, MA
On Day 3, work continues in the ISE and small and large study groups. You have opportunities to meet with management to discuss their hypothesis, and work with the consultants to explore and develop management’s or other hypotheses to understand the institution’s dynamics.
Day 4
January 24, 2026
Breakfast + Snacks + Lunch + Dinner
Role Reflection and Feedback
- 8:45 - 8:30 PM
- 9:45 - 10:30 AM: BREAK
- 12 - 1 PM: LUNCH
- 2:15 - 2:45 PM: BREAK
- 4 - 4:30 PM BREAK
- 6 - 7 PM: DINNER
\
- Dover, MA
On Day 4, the ISE closes and opportunities exist to explore the dimensions of relatedness between the Members and Management of the ISE. You can gain insight into your role patterns, management of conflictual and collaborative interactions, navigation of complex systems and institutional challenges, and a deeper awareness and understanding of the dynamics in systems that interact and influence organizational life.
Day 5
January 25, 2026
Breakfast + Snacks + Lunch
Conference Review and Your Take-Aways
- 8:45 - 2:30 PM
- 10 - 10:30 AM: BREAK
- 12 - 1 PM: LUNCH
- 2:30 PM - Conference Ends
\
- Dover, MA
On Day 5, we review the temporary institution we created over the past five days and share our experiences and learning. As the conference draws to an end, you can reflect on the ways you can apply your group relations learning to FINDING YOUR VOICE, OBSERVING AUTORITY and ROLE PATTERNS, and LEARNING HOW YOU LEAD in your outside organizations, institutions, and systems (e.g., families).
Staff
Staff
Conference Staff
Bios and Roles
Bios
Sheri-Ann Cowie, PhD: Counseling Psychology, New York University; Credentials: 2024-2026 Residential Conference Director, Boston Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS); Founder, Psychotherapist, Organizational Consultant & Executive Coach: Cowie Counseling Consulting & Coaching, LLC (USA); Executive Coach: INSEAD (FRANCE); Psychoanalytic Candidate: William Alanson White Institute (USA); Affiliations: Board Member, Alliance Française Philadelphie (Philadelphia, USA); Member: CSGSS; A.K. Rice Institute (AKRI); National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis; Pennsylvania Psychological Association
Donna M. Elmendorf, PhD: Child Clinical Psychology – University of Denver; Credentials: Director, Therapeutic Community Program, Austen Riggs Center; Faculty and Supervisor, Psychoanalytic Training Program, Austen Riggs Center; Affiliations: Member: Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS); A.K. Rice Institute (AKRI); and International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO)
Ihan Anita Ip, PhD: Leadership Studies, University of San Diego; Credentials: Assistant Director of Leadership and Professional Development, Nonprofit Institute, University of San Diego; Leadership Coach; Consultant and Facilitator; Owner; Cure8 Leadership Studios; Affiliations: Co-creator of Group Relations International, Member: GREX, A.K. Rice Institute of the Study of Social Systems (AKRI)
Jared Wright, MEd; Credentials: Director of Learning and Design, Fidelity Investments; a storyteller, an actor, and an aerial acrobat from Providence. Leader and facilitator of learning and performance work devised with communities. Director, producer and performer with companies like The Dancing Loon, Boston Experimental Theater and the ART. Affiliations: Boston Experimental Theatre, Fidelity Investments, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Grad School of Education alumni, Member CSGSS, GRI Co-creator
Leslie B Brissett, JP PhD MSc BSc(Hons) FRSA; Credentials: Advisor and Consultant using Tavistock Methodology, Supervisor, Trainer and Executive Coach; Affiliations: PCCA Board Member, Eco-Leadership Institute Advisory Board Member, ISPSO Member
Rosette Cirillo, PhD; Credentials: 2027 Conference Director- Boston Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS); Lecturer and Faculty Member, Harvard Graduate School of Education – Teaching and Teacher Leadership program; Consultant and Coach, Leadership Lab International; Affiliations: Past Board Member and Member; Boston CSGSS; Member: A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems (AKRI)
Stan De Loach, PhD: Institutional Transformation & Clinical Psychology, Social & Business Organizations, Diabetic Diabetes Educator & Expert (56 years) of children, adolescents & adults. Credentials: International Management Trainer & Diabetes Consultant in English, Spanish & French in Costa Rica, France, México, Spain, USA; Abstract Painter; Music Composer & Lyricist (piano); Senior Executive (Not in Attendance)
VinSché Gray, PhD: Leadership Studies, University of San Diego; Credentials: Program Director & Lecturer-Leadership Studies Minor, University of San Diego (USD); Leadership Facilitator and Coach – Conscious Leadership Academy at USD; Affiliations: Co Creator- Group Relations International; Advisory Board Member- Ocean Connectors (Not in Attendance)
Megan Kolano, PsyD, ABPP; Credentials: Board Certified Psychoanalyst & Clinical Psychologist, Austen Riggs Center (Stockbridge, MA); Co-Convenor: Leading From Experience (LFE); Student/Child Psychotherapy candidate: International Psychotherapy Institute; Affiliations: Trustee: Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education (ACPE); Member/Past President: Center for the Study of Groups and Social Systems (CSGSS); Member: A.K. Rice Institute (AKRI)
Ramya Kumar, PhD; Credentials: Associate Director & Adjunct Faculty, Columbia University; Managing Principal, Organizational Consultant & Executive Coach: ODAC Consulting & Coaching LLC (New Jersey, USA); Affiliated Faculty, University of Pennsylvania; Affiliations: Member: AK Rice Institute (AKRI), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP), International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO)
Managers
The Conference Staff are responsible for creating and maintaining the conditions that support learning. Some Staff work as executive management and others who work as middle managers leading the small, large, and review and application group events. All Staff work collectively as managers to take authority and accountability to administer, maintain, and contain the time or schedule, basic task, and territory or space boundaries of the Conference institution.
TIME boundaries generate an opportunity to learn how clearly defined schedules or meeting agendas can create a sense of safety and predictability in organizations. The time boundaries create learning about our acknowledgment or rejection of time constraints and pressures in organizations such as missing or making deadlines.
TASK boundaries exist to fulfill the purpose of the Conference institution. When managers do not link the task to purpose of an institution, difficulties arise such as divisiveness, disruption, and disengagement in organizations. You have an opportunity to study, from a systems perspective, how you engage with or disengage from the assigned task as you interact within and across different levels of relationships and organizations – individual, interpersonal, group, and intergroup.
TERRITORY boundaries create an opportunity for learning about our overt and hidden responses to physical and psychological territory or spaces. These include the change in organizational or societal climate with: 1) the absence or presence of a formally designated person in an authority role to manage the territory or department; 2) the mental territories we carve out about which groups or departments we exclude or include based on shared identities or worldviews; 3) the conflict that emanates from a territorial dispute between two groups, states, or nations that share a border; and 4) the establishment or defiance of power and authority by having access to certain resources, meeting in designated or undesignated work spaces, or choosing or refusing a particular seating arrangement.
Consultants
SELF-STUDY – In the Consultant role, Consultants share their observations and hypotheses about how authority and leadership are being exercised – as they unfold in the moment – to advance opportunities for self-study, reflection, and learning. These observations include unseen role patterns or dynamics that the group may not recognize.
GROUP LEVEL DYNAMICS – Consultants’ observations and hypotheses are based on the dynamics that are occurring in real time on the group level rather than at an individual level. When an individual is activated to take on a group dynamic on behalf of the whole group, the Consultant will make this dynamic available for the group to study.
Consultants are focused on advancing opportunities for learning. They do not manage the participants or participants’ behavior except in cases where the safety of members or Staff may be compromised.
The way that the Conference Staff exercises authority and leadership is available for study and learning by Conference participants.
Conference Events
Plenaries
The Staff and all participants will attend three plenaries or Conference discussion meetings. These meetings serve as an opportunity to reflect, review, identify, and talk about the patterns they have observed, and narrate the feelings, actions, attitudes, and thoughts they experience upon entering, working in, and leaving the Conference system.
- The Opening Plenary is like an on-boarding meeting where participants meet the Staff, learn specific information about the work or primary task they are assigned, and express their experience of choosing to join this Conference.
- The Institutional Event Plenary occurs after the participants have worked in organizational sectors of their choice. During this meeting, Staff and participants have an opportunity to confer and explore in a systemic way their way of delegating authority and sharing hypotheses across sectors and with Management.
- The Closing Plenary is the final reflection meeting where the Staff and participants confer to make meaning of the institution they created, reflect on the experiences they authored individually and as a group, and discuss how they want to author their Conference learning.
Small Study Group
The Small Study Group (“SSG”) creates opportunities for participants to learn about dynamics that are typically hidden from their awareness. Participants are face-to-face as they study their dynamics and behavior in real time in the group.
We assign eight to ten participants to each SSG, assign them a task, and supply them with one Consultant to assist their learning as they work.
The task requires participants to examine in real time how they exercise authority and leadership.
Large Study Group
The Large Study Group (“LSG”) consists of all the Conference participants with a team of three to four Consultants. Though the LSG has the same task as the SSG, the architectural structure limits face-to-face and direct personal interactions.
This structure simulates the dynamics of large social systems such as town hall meetings or listserv discussions where participants have difficulty knowing or seeing who is talking, can lose track of the task, and managers may not provide the necessary structure or tools.
Participants have an opportunity to study some of the patterns and dynamics that arise in large group systems including vulnerability, regression or juvenile behavior, reactivity, or creativity.
Institutional System Event
In this Institutional System Event (“ISE”), all participants exercise their authority to work in organizational sectors of their choice. Key areas of the ISE are relevant to how workplace sectors or departments work together or in silos.
– How do participants in your sector engage on an assigned task, use or misuse resources, and delegate authority and power at varying levels of leadership and followership?
– How does your sector collaborate across sectors and is this pattern spread out among different levels of function and hierarchies in the system?;
– What are the ideas or hypotheses about the institutional and workplace culture present in the system, and what solutions are indicated?
Role Analysis and Role Review & Application Group
The Role Analysis (“RA”) and Role Review and Application Groups (“RRAG”) consist of five to seven participants typically from the same field or industry. One or two Consultants are assigned to each RA and RRAG to help the group participants work with each other to make meaning of their Conference experiences.
During the RA and RRAG, the participants are in reflection mode. They are looking back and reviewing the ways they took up roles, exercised authority and leadership during their encounters in the SSG, LSG, ISE and informal subsystems (meal times, breaks).
The RA and RRAG can serve as a bridge by helping participants connect their Conference learning about authority, leadership, and roles to tangible dilemmas they face in systems.
About Venue
Get Directions to the Event
- Venue
The Connors Center
Held at the Connors Center, the setting provides a place for conference members to step back from daily demands and see familiar patterns in a new light. Within our temporary learning organization, you may find the freedom to take thoughtful risks to experiment with authority, to speak or act in ways that might feel too constrained or costly in your usual work and home environment. It is a place to study, reflect, and learn from experiences.
- Address
20 Glen Street, Dover, MA 02030
Check Who Make The Event Possible
Latest From Newsroom
iPad Prize Draw - Recycle your Hub One router
This conference is created by professional designers for other designers, who want to improve their knowledge in design sphere. We have been community for 10 years, that is
iPad Prize Draw - Recycle your Hub One router
This conference is created by professional designers for other designers, who want to improve their knowledge in design sphere. We have been community for 10 years, that is
Register Now to Confirm your Place
Register as a group to save and learn further together!
Attend as a cohort of 5+ leaders to unlock additional savings and multiply the transformative impact of Authority in Systems: A Part and Apart. Take the next step and contact us at admin@leadershipgrc.com
Standard Rate
Full Registration Fee for individuals attending solo
$
3499
-
Consultancy of leaders in the field of organizational development and systems psychodynamics
-
4 Nights Accommodation
-
Meals & Refreshments
-
Payment Plan Available
-
Early Bird Rate : $500 off before Nov. 24, 2025
Group Rate
Joint registration Fee for 3 or more people from the same professional organization, school/university, or group relations sponsoring organizations; *Rate for CSGSS members
$
2999
-
Consultancy of leaders in the field of organizational development and systems psychodynamics
-
4 Nights Accommodation
-
Meals & Refreshments
-
Payment Plan Available
-
Early Bird Rate : $500 off before Nov. 24, 2025
-
GROUP DISCOUNTS. Register a group of 5+ leaders and get additional value for your organization! Contact us at admin@leadershipgrc.com
Deposits, Installments & Scholarships
Contact admin@leadershipgrc.com for COUPON CODE-
$500 Deposit required on registration
Register here for DEPOSITS and COUPON CODES
$500 Deposit required on registration
Early Bird Rate
We offer an Early Bird discount of $500 for registrations received before Monday, November 24th, 2025
$
500 Discount
-
$2,999 Early Bird STANDARD RATE
-
$2,499 Early Bird GROUP RATE
-
Payment Plan Available
Haven’t booked your spot yet?
Seats are limited so sign up now
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. This conference is eligible for 30 hours of International Coaching Federation's (ICF) Resource Development CCEUs. You will receive a certificate of attendance for your records.
This conference is being co-sponsored by Rutgers University's Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, as the CE provider for up to 31.25 CE Hours for Psychologists at the Introductory Instructional Level. LMFT/MFT and LPC/LAC Licensed in New Jersey: Programs approved by the American Psychological Association are acceptable sources of continuing education credits. Please see https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/regulations/Chapter-34-Subchapters-10-31-Professional-Counselors.pdf, Section: 13:34-15.4 APPROVAL OF COURSES OR PROGRAMS on page 27. For all other professional licenses and certifications, please reference your issuing state board regulations regarding reciprocity of continuing education credits. Typically, there is a $25 fee for each APA certificate processed. 
The "residential" aspect of a group relations conference refers to the immersive experience participants get as they live, eat, work, and reflect together at the conference venue for five days and four nights.
The "residential" nature of the conference fosters a retreat-style yet structured environment where participants have the opportunity to explore how they exercise leadership and authority in an organization they help to create. We invite you to join us and learn how you manage yourself in role and lead.
We encourage you to explore registering as a group for our GRC. When you and your cohort or group of 5+ from the same organization attend the Conference together, you can learn further together and have learning partners who can help implement the GRC technology as part of your overall strategies and initiatives in your work, family, and personal lives. Turn to a GRC to learn with others about the leadership development opportunities that await you when you immerse yourself in the GRC technology and apply your GRC learning outside the conference. You will have someone with whom you can generate thoughts and make use of your emotions to make sense of unseen group and emotional dynamics that can be disruptive to fulfilling your tasks and feeling satisfied. You can also leave with actionable learning you can implement to overcome hurdles and dilemmas you face in your workplace, family, and personal life.
*Contact our administrators at admin@leadershipgrc.com to register your group and unlock savings plus transformative leadership opportunities.
The learning in this Conference is immersive. Each event, the sequence of the event, and its relationship to events that took place previously or are upcoming, form a vital and integrated Conference learning experience for your leadership development. This learning requires all participants to commit to attending all the events and the Conference in its entirety. If you are unable to attend the Conference in its entirety, you may wish to postpone your attendance.
The Conference aims to create a microcosm of institutional life where you can experience how you navigate authority and leadership dynamics in social systems. This immersive learning context can be stimulating, intensive, enriching yet contained so you can explore facets of your leadership. At times, this learning can be confrontational and elicit strong emotions which can feel stressful; we imagine you face similar issues and feelings in your wor and home systems. At this Conference, you have the anonymity and safety to examine roles you tend to take on and try new roles. You can also observe how you take up your authority when faced with challenging or rewarding moments. If you are ill, having a period of significant personal difficulties or challenging events, or are emotionally activated by views that do not align with your own, you should forgo participating at this time. Registration may be refused and participation in the Conference may be rescinded at the discretion of the Conference Staff.
The conference sponsor, CSGSS, is a non-profit organization that works to make group relations conferences accessible to a broad and diverse audience, some of whom may face financial constraints. While we need to cover our costs, we also recognize that some of you may need financial assistance or a payment plan to register for and attend this Conference, and we offer two options for payment:
PAYMENT PLAN: We offer a payment plan as one way to make our conferences more accessible to people who may not have the funds to pay the full price upfront.
SCHOLARSHIP: We offer financial assistance for those experiencing severe financial hardships . If you need financial assistance, write to our administrators at admin@leadershipgrc.com and include in your request: 1) a description of your financial hardship; and 2) the price you can afford.
If you have reasonable accessibility and accommodation requests, write to our administrators at admin@leadershipgrc.com and be as specific as possible.
We strongly recommend purchasing Travel Insurance or purchasing refundable tickets as you make plans for attending the Conference. Registration fees can only be refunded if a written notice of cancellation or withdrawal is sent via email and is received by the administrators by the deadlines written here. Deadlines for cancellations or withdrawals from the conference:
Up through November 17, 2025, an administration fee of $150 is deducted and the remaining $350 of the registration deposit (and 100% of other monies paid) is refunded.
October 1-31, 2025, 75% of the total price will be refunded;
November 1-30, 2025, 50% of the total price will be refunded;
December 1-31, 2025, 0% of the total price will be refunded
The Conference staff and participants will not disclose the behavior of any individual member to anyone outside the Conference or to the boards of the sponsoring organizations.
Your email address will be shared with our sponsoring organizations who support our work in group relations unless you explicitly request not to have your email address shared.
