Continuing our series of articles from our Annual Report 2025/26, we outline here our work on our Group Analysis Training.
Over the course of 2025, a group of professional counsellors in Rwanda had the opportunity to participate in a special international course delivered by the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA). Led by Justin Phipps, Krisna Catsaras and Frederica Brooks, they provide training to mental health professionals from 9 different organisations including ARCT-Ruhuka, Sociotherapy and SURF’s local partner organisation, AVEGA Agahozo. The training supports participants to use groups to help people with mental health and emotional concerns across different parts of the country where these organisations are operating. Participants are now able to:
- Recognise the effect of group dynamics upon self and others
- Have increased self-awareness and self-reflexivity
- Understand group dynamics from a Group Analytic perspective
- Recognise how group dynamics relate to the context of the setting
- Recognise and use theoretical language and concepts specific to Group Analysis
- Understand the meaning of fundamental Group Analytic term
- Understand psychoanalytic theory in relation to group development
- Understand how context impacts upon group dynamics in clinical and organisational settings
- Link Group Analytic theory with practice
This is one of a number of courses that the IGA has delivered in Rwanda since our partnership began in November 2014 after it was identified that psychologists and professionals working in mental health would benefit from training in therapeutic groups.
Over the past two years, 30 students have been training in group analysis — a therapeutic approach that supports healing through shared stories and reflection.
The programme, delivered with trainers from the Institute of Group Analysis (UK) and organised locally by Survivors Fund (SURF), AVEGA Agahozo, and ARCT RUHUKA (National Organisation of Trauma Counsellors), has become a lifeline for many working in trauma recovery.
- 16 graduates have completed the Foundation Course and are now progressing to the Intermediate level.
- 10 graduates have finished the Intermediate Course and are moving forward to the Qualifying stage.
- 4 graduates have advanced from the first level of the Qualifying Course into the Advanced Level.
For participants, the journey has been both professional and deeply personal. One graduate reflected: “This training has not only given me professional skills – but it has also given me a new way to understand myself. I feel ready to guide others in their healing.”
Another shared: “When we sit in groups, we learn that none of us are alone in our pain. That lesson will stay with me forever.”
As a new cohort begins the Foundation Course, the impact of this training continues to grow. With every level completed, Rwanda gains more skilled practitioners able to walk alongside survivors, families, and communities on the path to recovery.
As one organiser beautifully expressed: “Each graduate carries the possibility of transformation for many others. This is not just their achievement – it is a gift to Rwanda.”