Our Team

Jacob Gershoni, LCSW, CGP, TEP is a certified group psychotherapist (CGP) in private practice, and also a Trainer, Practitioner and Educator (TEP), certified by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. He is the Co-Director of the Psychodrama Training at the Sociometric Institute in New York. Formerly, a medical social worker at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and a Senior Psychiatric Social Worker at Queens Child Guidance Center, Jacob was also member of the executive council of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP), actively serving as a member of the Board of Directors of IAGP. He has led workshops and presentations in many local and international conferences and institutes. Jacob leads ongoing therapy and training groups online and monthly open workshops focusing on personal development, team building and group work in action.
Jacob graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Michigan. Since then he studied at various institutes focusing on individual as well as family and group therapy. In private practice since 1980, Jacob’s approach to therapy is both eclectic and experiential.
Jacob is the editor of “Psychodrama in the 21st Century: Clinical and Educational Applications” (Springer, 2003) and author of book chapters and articles in various journals. His book chapters and articles have been published in professional journals, as detailed in his website: www.GrouPsychodrama.com

Dena Diane Baumgartner, Ph.D., TEP, LMFT, LPC, CGP, has been in private practice as a therapist and psychodramatist for 39 years in Tucson, Arizona. She is founder and Director of the Tucson Center for Action Methods and Psychodrama (TCAMP). She has presented and trained therapists in the USA and 30 other countries. She is currently serving as the elected Senior Member of the executive board for IAGP (2022-2025). She was also an elected member of that board from 2009-2018, serving as the Co-Chair of Membership from 2009-2015 and Psychodrama Section Chair from 2015-2018. She is a fellow of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, where she served as Awards Chair from 2004-2009. She was awarded the J.L. Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award from that organization in 2014 in addition to receiving the Collaborators Award with Milton Hawkins, TEP in 2004. In 1995, she was presented with the J.L. Moreno Alumni Award for outstanding psychodramatist by the psychodrama section at St. Elizabeth’s Mental hospital in Washington, D.C. She was also given a certificate of achievement by the United States Army for her work on the Ft. Meade counter-terrorist mission in 1984. In 1985, she published an article on her work with Vietnam combat veterans. She was a member of the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama from 1990-1999, having served as Chair for one year. She is currently a member of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, the American Group Psychotherapy Association, the International Group Psychotherapy Association, and she is a lifetime member of the Delta Pi honorary society.

Born 1950 and raised in Israel on a Kibbutz, where emphasis has been placed on communal living and functioning in groups. Graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Economics and Business Administration 1976.
In 1986, immigrating to the US working as a regional sales manager for a NY based company marketing equipment in North America to the Ag-livestock industry. Residing in Statesville NC with wife and 3 children. In 1988 promoted to North-America’s sales manager, overseeing sales and service to customers over a territory stretching from Mexico to Canada. In 1997 acquired a turkey breeding farm in central IL, relocated to Champaign IL to run and develop the operations.
Twenty years later (2017) sold the Ag business and retired to peruse a lifelong commitment of Judaic Studies research and group discussions.
2017 to the present – engaged in Judaic sources’ study driven by group discussions in Synagogues, University of Chicago, Spertus institute in Chicago and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. Participated in two last IAGP congresses (Malmo, Sweden and Pescara Italy) learning and applying techniques applicable to group discussions and cohesiveness. Interested in IAGP’s goals and objectives as it relates to individual mental stability, group therapy in general and Psychodrama in particular, applicable vehicles to enhance social viability.