BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy - ECPv6.15.11//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20270314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20271107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260322T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260322T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004458 CREATED:20260313T152355Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T163636Z UID:4895-1774184400-1774191600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: Trump Wages War DESCRIPTION:Description: \nWhat now. Iran? \nWe’ve been gathering since Trump’s election to share and process our thoughts and feelings about the new world order. \nHow has the latest – and frightening – plot twist impacted us as human beings and as therapists? \nIn these confusing times\, you’ve got a community. \nPlease join us on Sunday\, March 22. \nFacilitated by Yaël Lewin. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/special-event-trump-wages-war/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/trump_wages_war_032226.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260315T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260315T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250805T144632Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250805T151406Z UID:4427-1773579600-1773586800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Reclaiming Wholeness: A Compassionate/Relational Gestalt Understanding of Trauma and Addiction DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Rafael Cortina \nDescription: \nTrauma and addiction intertwine in complex ways\, fundamentally altering how individuals experience themselves\, their relationships\, and their world. Addiction is the long-term consequence of creative adjustments to painful life circumstances that provide a sense of relief by numbing emotional pain or disconnecting the individual from unbearable experiences. While these adaptations initially serve as vital coping mechanisms in a field lacking safety\, belonging\, and emotional support\, lasting healing requires more than managing symptoms. It calls for relational engagement\, embodied awareness\, and compassionate integration of past experiences within the ever-changing field of relationships and environment. \nGestalt field theory offers an understanding of these challenges. It presents a holistic\, process-oriented perspective that recognizes trauma and addiction as phenomena shaped by the entire web of human experience\, from intimate relationships to broader social systems. Rather than viewing these challenges as isolated personal failures\, this approach examines the complex interplay of interpersonal dynamics\, cultural influences\, and environmental factors. This workshop delves into practical applications of field theory\, demonstrating how shifting our therapeutic lens from individual pathology to the dynamic field can catalyze profound healing and sustainable transformation. \nFocus and Key Topics: \nThis workshop integrates Gestalt relational and field theory to help practitioners support clients moving beyond survival toward authentic connection and integration. We will explore: \nThe Field Perspective on Trauma and Addiction: \n\nTrauma and addiction as field phenomena rather than isolated disorders.\nHow social\, relational\, and cultural forces shape trauma responses and addictive patterns.\nUnderstanding interpersonal and environmental supports/barriers to healing within a client’s lived experience.\n\nCreative Adjustments and Addiction: \n\nAddiction as a functional creative adjustment rather than a pathology.\nHow trauma influences fixed gestalts\, interrupting the fluid contact cycle.\nStrategies to support organic transformation by expanding awareness and choice.\n\nBiography: \nRafael Cortina is a licensed marriage and family therapist in the state of California; he is also a master addiction counselor\, a certified clinical trauma professional\, and a certified Gestalt therapist. As a bilingual therapist (English-Spanish)\, he has worked in Mexico and the United States\, and has more than 20 years of experience working with individuals\, couples\, families\, and groups. He holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology and another in business administration with an emphasis on marketing. Rafael is currently an adjunct faculty member at National University and the acting president of IAAGT.  URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/reclaiming-wholeness-a-compassionate-relational-gestalt-understanding-of-trauma-and-addiction/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/reclaiming_wholeness.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260222T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260222T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250805T142236Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T050043Z UID:4392-1771765200-1771772400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Situational Perspective in Gestalt Therapy: The Case of Supervision DESCRIPTION:Presenters: Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb\, Rezeda Popova\, and Ekkehard Tenschert \nDescription: \nSupervision is one of the main supporting tools for Gestalt therapy practitioners and students. It is intended to be a basic instrument of growth. On account of its crucial nature\, it needs to be informed by the history\, themes\, and values of our approach. \nWe propose a model of supervision that is faithful to a situational (or field) perspective and includes and supports the excitement (motivation and intentionality) of both supervisee and supervisor. \nGestalt therapy supervision is a complex\, contextualized\, and situated clinical practice aimed at supporting the intentionality of the therapist and the client in their therapeutic meeting. \nFour realms of recognition will be described\, as guidelines for Gestalt supervisors. \nThe proposed main goal of supervision is recognition of the supervisee’s intentionality. This offers a framework for preventing shame\, restoring dignity\, and rehumanizing the moment of encounter. \nThis model represents the reflections after 10 years of work for training programs on supervision. Margherita will present it together with two former students who are now trainers\, Rezeda and Ekkehard. \nBiographies: \nMargherita Spagnuolo Lobb\, PsyD\, is the director of Istituto di Gestalt HCC Italy (Milan\, Siracuse\, Palermo). She has developed some basic clinical concepts of Gestalt therapy\, integrating what she has learned from Isadore From with her experiences with Daniel Stern and other exponents of intersubjectivity and primary relationships\, and with neuroscientists like Vittorio Gallese. She has approached the description of the ground experience of the self (the “polyphonic development of domains”)\, of the intuition of the therapist as a function of the field condition (the “aesthetic relational knowledge”)\, until her recent studies on “the dance of reciprocity” between therapist and client\, as a switch of paradigm needed in our pandemic times. As the director of training programs for Gestalt therapy supervisors for 10 years\, she has studied an aesthetic\, phenomenological\, and field-oriented model of supervision. She is the main editor of the Gestalt Therapy Book Series (Routledge). \nMore about her work: https://www.gestaltitaly.com/margherita-spagnuolo-lobb/ \nRezeda Ravilevna Popova\, a Gestalt therapist\, supervisor\, and researcher\, has expertise in clinical and developmental psychology\, holds a PhD in developmental psychology\, and is a member of EAGT. She is the founder and the director of the Volga Region Institute for Gestalt Therapy (Russia). She is the editor of a Russian-language publication of a number of books on Gestalt therapy and the author of articles. She cooperates with the editorial board of the Gestalt Therapy Book Series (Routledge). \nEkkehard Tenschert is a Gestalt therapist\, trainer\, and supervisor in Vienna\, Austria\, and currently the head of the FSIG/ÖAGG. His most recent publication deals with ethical problems with expelling a trainee from psychotherapy training (British Gestalt Journal 33.2\, 2024). He cooperates with the editorial board of the Gestalt Therapy Book Series (Routledge). URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/situational-perspective-in-gestalt-therapy-the-case-of-supervision/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/situational_perspective.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260208T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260208T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20260127T201403Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T050232Z UID:4833-1770555600-1770562800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: ICE Storms in America DESCRIPTION:Description: \nWe’re digging out from all the recent snow…but still dealing with ICE. \nKeith Porter. Renée Good. Alex Pretti. \nGeraldo Lunas Campos. Luis Gustavo Nuñez Cáceres. Luis Beltrán Yáñez-Cruz. \nParady La. Victor Manuel Diaz. Heber Sánchez Dominguez. \nIt’s been a month. (Don’t forget Greenland.) \nWe have a lot to share and process. Please join us on Sunday\, February 8. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. \nIllustration by Adam Zygus. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/ice-storms-in-america/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ICE_Storms.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260201T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260201T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250805T135748Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250806T220032Z UID:4396-1769950800-1769958000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:The Origins of Gestalt Therapy: Theater\, Bauhaus\, Expressionism\, Dada DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dimitris Tzachanis \nDescription: \nJoin us for an exciting journey back to the roots of Gestalt therapy! Through a wealth of audiovisual material\, we will immerse ourselves in the zeitgeist of the early 20th century and follow in the footsteps of Fritz Perls\, one of the main founders of Gestalt therapy. We will explore through primary sources the influence that the theater and three important artistic movements – Bauhaus\, Expressionism\, and Dada – played in the development of Gestalt therapy\, and we will reflect on how relevant their ideas are to us today. \nWhile the presentation is theoretical\, to make it more stimulating\, the participants will have at various points the opportunity – if they wish – to interact with the material and share their experience with the group. Αt the end\, there will also be space for questions and answers. \nBiography: \nDimitris Tzachanis\, the founder of Gestalt Synthesis (www.gestaltsynthesis.gr)\, is an accredited psychotherapist by the National Society for Psychotherapy of Greece (NOPG) and a holder of the European Certificate of Psychotherapy. He trained in Gestalt therapy with the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco\, was the head of the institute in Greece\, and is a member of EAGT. He is also an accredited body psychotherapist\, a graduate of the Center for Psychotherapy & Counseling “Wilhelm Reich\,” and a member of the Greek and European Associations of Body Psychotherapy. He has studied social anthropology (BA) at Kent University and psychoanalytic studies (MA) at Brunel University in London. He is working both individually and with groups\, designs and facilitates therapeutic and training seminars\, and is teaching Gestalt therapy at Kethesy. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-origins-of-gestalt-therapy-theater-bauhaus-expressionism-dada/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Origins_of_Gestalt_Therapy_Bauhaus.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260125T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260125T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250806T221838Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250806T221838Z UID:4494-1769346000-1769353200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2025-2026 Business Meeting #2 DESCRIPTION: URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2025-2026-business-meeting-2/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Business Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/biz_meeting_bkgrnd1_light.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260111T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260111T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20251230T045511Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251231T041940Z UID:4780-1768136400-1768143600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: One Year and Counting: What Now? DESCRIPTION:Description: \nIt will be a year since Donald Trump began his second presidential term. \nWhat a year it has been… \nPlease join us on Sunday\, January 11\, when we’ll gather as a community to share and process our experiences. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/one-year-and-counting-what-now/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DJT_headshot.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250805T042833Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251121T034154Z UID:4385-1765112400-1765119600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:The Impact of Richard Kitzler DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Simone LaVerne \nDescription: \nThis presentation examines the impact that Richard Kitzler (1927–2009)\, a founding member of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy\, had on his NYIGT colleagues\, students\, and friends\, and also draws a portrait of how the earlier days of the Institute impacted his own identity and work. It will discuss his relationships with some of those who were a critical part of the NYIGT at its founding (including Fritz and Lore Perls\, and especially Paul Goodman). It will also sketch his relationships with contemporaries of his at the Institute\, such as Patrick Kelley and Karen Humphrey\, who went on to define the next generation at the NYIGT.\n \nUsing source material largely drawn from firsthand interviews with Kitzler’s former colleagues\, students\, and friends\, the presentation will be as much a tribute to who he was and how he impacted people as a study of how he bent the arc of the history and future of the Institute. The second half will draw from Kitzler’s focus on American pragmatist George Herbert Mead\, and culminate in an experiment and discussion that explore how the social environment functions within our work as Gestalt therapy practitioners.\n \nBiography: \nSimone LaVerne is a therapist located in New York City. She received an MA in psychology from The New School for Social Research in 2013. She then completed postgraduate training in Gestalt therapy at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy\, graduating with a license in psychoanalysis in 2018 – the same year that she became a member at the NYIGT\, where she continued her training. From there\, Simone went into private practice. In 2021\, she served as the Clinical Director at Identity House\, an all-volunteer organization focused on peer counseling within the LGBTQ+ community in New York City\, which has links that go way back to the NYIGT. Prior to this\, she ran supervision groups for peer counselors there. \nSimone is currently working on a book project about Richard Kitzler and his circle. She is also a practicing visual artist. She was born and raised in New York City\, where she continues to reside with her partner and son.\n  URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-impact-of-richard-kitzler/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/richard_kitzler_extended.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251116T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251116T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250804T222925Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250807T140138Z UID:4378-1763298000-1763305200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Standing Tall in Troubled Times: A Gestalt Workshop for Therapists Navigating Crisis DESCRIPTION:Presenters: Charlie Bowman and Peter Cole \nDescription: \nWe aim to share our work with Gestalt therapists who are confronting the shared realities of working in a field increasingly shaped by authoritarianism\, systemic trauma\, and collective overwhelm. Drawing from contemporary Gestalt theory – including Gianni Francesetti’s concept of atmospheres and Miriam Taylor’s framing of trauma and crisis – we will explore how political crisis has infiltrated the therapeutic relationship for many of us and disrupted our embodied presence and relational contact. Rooted in Gestalt therapy’s activist tradition and dialogical stance\, this presentation offers support for metabolizing crisis\, restoring embodied contact\, and reclaiming meaning – not only for clients\, but for therapists and citizens alike. \nSince we live and practice in the U.S.\, the focus of our writing has been on the impact of Trump and Trumpism on our work. However\, in this presentation\, we invite Gestalt therapists from all parts of the world to discuss not just Trump’s impact but also the social and political conditions that you are facing. \nBiographies: \nCharlie Bowman\, MS\, LCSW\, has 40 years of experience as a helping professional and focuses on Gestalt therapy for adults\, couples\, and groups. He is a past president of IAAGT\, the president and senior faculty at the Indianapolis Gestalt Institute\, and a member of NYIGT. Charlie has trained and published extensively. In 2022\, he received IAAGT’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in Gestalt therapy. \nPeter Cole\, LCSW\, is the co-director (along with Daisy Reese) of the Sierra Institute for Contemporary Gestalt Therapy in California and was an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry with the UC Davis School of Medicine for 30 years (now retired). He has also served on the board of IAAGT and as co-convener of the organization’s biennial international conference at Asilomar in 2016. Peter is the co-author of several books\, including New Directions in Gestalt Group Therapy (2017); he also is the editor of The Relational Heart of Gestalt Therapy (2022) and has published numerous articles. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/standing-tall-in-troubled-times-a-gestalt-workshop-for-therapists-navigating-crisis/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/standing_tall.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251102T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251102T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250807T032351Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251025T215209Z UID:4498-1762088400-1762095600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: One Year Later DESCRIPTION:Description: \nIt is not easy to accept that it has been one year since Trump was elected as president of the United States. \nOn Sunday\, November 2\, the NYIGT will offer an online space for the community to come together and share what this anniversary means to us\, our clients\, our friends\, our families\, and our nations. \nPlease join us. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/one-year-later/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/no-king-trump1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251026T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251026T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250804T213317Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250811T133237Z UID:4347-1761483600-1761490800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Martin Buber’s In-Between DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Cornelia Muth \nDescription: \nIn Gestalt therapy\, Martin Buber’s dialogical principle is the guiding model for social interaction between the participants. Its central focus is the personal and intersubjective perceptual event in the present\, which makes this approach phenomenological from a theoretical and clinical perspective. \nBuber’s critical concept of the “in-between” as the meeting place of the I and the Thou is an essential place from where everything reveals itself or becomes clear to our world of experiences. The in-between is the background of contacting without which the mutuality of a healing encounter\, dialogue\, is not possible. This mutuality is at the heart of Buber’s I-Thou meeting in contrast to Emmanuel Levinas’s emphasis on non-mutuality of self-Other dialogue. \nIn this presentation\, I will develop and deepen the idea of Buber’s in-between as background in terms of dialogue in Gestalt therapy. The in-between makes the figure/ground processes of personal\, interpersonal\, and social experiences at the heart of therapeutic dialogue. It is not merely the “third” of dialogue – as background to all experience\, it is intrinsic to contacting’s emergence. \nI will also touch upon Buber’s perspective on the spirit and soul. Buber considered himself neither a real philosopher nor a scholar nor a theologian. Instead\, he saw himself as an atypical person who does not philosophize about but has faith in God’s energy. \nBiography: \nCornelia Muth is a professor of transcultural educational sciences and philosophy at the University of Social Sciences and Arts in Bielefeld\, Germany. She has been a Gestalt educator since 1995. \nHer relevant publications include In-Between!?: A dialogic-phenomenological perspective (2025) and “Buber’s Concept of the Soul” (in: A Companion to Martin Buber\, 2025). URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/bubers-in-between/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Martin-Buber-in-Psychanalysis.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251005T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251005T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250804T190820Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250807T140844Z UID:4305-1759669200-1759676400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Chasing Rainbows: In Search of Wonder DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Dan Bloom \nDescription: \nThis workshop opens the 75th-anniversary year of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy. It invites us to pause – not just to reflect on our history\, but also to reawaken the very spirit that gave birth to it: the creative aesthetic of contacting\, the surprise of the always-new\, the call of wonder. \nIt feels as if Earth’s rotation has sped up. What once unfolded in its own time now rushes past us. Everything is immediate – devoid of a past\, blind to a future. Impatience overtakes us\, dulling our felt sense of the situation. The time needed to nourish curiosity and dwell in presence is overrun by urgency. \nAnd yet – we sense that wonder is possible. We know life can be more fulfilling. We yearn for it. Even when dulled to the world’s splendors\, we feel the ache of something missing. We are always chasing rainbows – glimpsing their shimmer even when they do not appear. \nContacting – the essential theme of Gestalt therapy – opens us to this shimmer\, to the surprise of the always-new. It is the process of interest and desire\, of sensing and moving\, of feeling and knowing. It is an openness to the unexpected\, to curiosity\, to the aesthetic of wonder. \nTo contact is to take time. To linger. To find the rhythm in which surprise and novelty\, wonder and growth\, can emerge. In the living-present\, we sense\, feel\, move – and are moved. Meaning takes form within the aesthetic dimension of the living-present\, lived-past\, and lived-future. \nFrom this perspective\, we will revisit foundational concepts of Gestalt therapy: the field\, the situation\, the contact boundary\, the sequence of contacting – and\, centrally\, the aesthetic of the contact event itself. \nThese themes will be explored through a combination of didactic presentation\, clinical demonstration\, and small and large group processes – each grounded in our contemporary relational practice. \nBiography: \nDan Bloom\, JD\, LCSW (www.danbloomnyc.com)\, is the president of NYIGT and a psychotherapist\, supervisor\, clinical trainer\, and writer in New York City. He studied with Laura Perls\, Isadore From\, and Richard Kitzler. Dan is guest and adjunct faculty at Gestalt therapy institutes worldwide; he has spoken and given workshops at many international conferences; and he leads webinars in Gestalt therapy and phenomenology. He is also a Fellow of NYIGT\, a past president of IAAGT\, a member of EAGT\, and a co-founder of the International Gestalt Therapy Study Group on Field-Emergent Self and Therapy (www.ig-fest.org). In addition\, he is an associate editor of the Gestalt Review\, a book review editor of Quaderni di Gestalt\, and a member of the Scientific Board of the Gestalt Therapy Book Series. Dan is widely published. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/chasing-rainbows-in-search-of-wonder/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chasing_rainbows.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250928T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250928T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250806T221547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250806T221547Z UID:4492-1759064400-1759071600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2025-2026 Business Meeting #1 DESCRIPTION: URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2025-2026-business-meeting-1/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Business Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/biz_meeting_bkgrnd1_light.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250720T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250720T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250707T221958Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250708T022129Z UID:4090-1753016400-1753023600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Six Months of Trump DESCRIPTION:Description:\n \nDisbelief about his election. Dread after his inauguration. Despair about all that has been crushed during his first six months.\n \nOn Sunday\, July 20\, we will gather again on the safe ground of our special meeting to speak with one another about this chaos and find support in our community.\n \nPlease join us.\n \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom.\n \nIllustration by Craig Stephens. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/six-months-of-trump/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Turmp_on_a_bulldozer_CraigStephens.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250608T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250608T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240805T194303Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T234239Z UID:2759-1749387600-1749394800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2024-2025 Business Meeting #3 DESCRIPTION: URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2024-2025-business-meeting-3/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Business Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/biz_meeting_bkgrnd1_light.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250601T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250601T130000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250516T145558Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250516T182302Z UID:3800-1748782800-1748782800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:100 Days of Trump DESCRIPTION:Description:\n \nOne hundred days. And counting.\n \nHow are we managing? As therapists? As human beings? As citizens? As a community?\n \nOn Sunday\, June 1\, we will gather once again to share and discuss our lives in this new world order.\n \nThis meeting is an open space for us to be together.\n \nFacilitated by Frank Bosco.\n \nIllustration by Craig Stephens. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/100-days-of-trump/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Trump_breaking_world_peace_Craig_Stephens_illustration.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250504T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250504T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224108Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250505T002633Z UID:2706-1746363600-1746370800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:The Artist of Life DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Peter PhilippsonDescription: \nPHG called the self the “Artist of Life” and identified self with acts of creativity in the field rather than as a pre-existing author of creative action. In this workshop\, I want to explore this very radical notion both theoretically and experientially. I want to highlight both the beauty that we as human beings can bring to the world\, and the destructiveness and environmental impact of our sense that the world is our artistic canvas to be remade at will. \nLearning Objectives: Participants completing this workshop will be able to 1) describe the artistry and creativity implicit in our theory of self as field-emergent; 2) identify the dangers inherent in our artistry and creativity as a species; and 3) experience how they form and act in groups as creative process.Biography: \nPeter Philippson\, MSc (Gestalt psychotherapy)\, is a UKCP registered Gestalt psychotherapist and trainer\, a Teaching and Supervising Member of the Gestalt Psychotherapy & Training Institute UK\, a founder member of Manchester Gestalt Centre\, a Full Member of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy\, a Senior Trainer for GiTa (Slovenia)\, a faculty member at IPsiG (Turin)\, an advisory board member for the Center for Somatic Studies\, a founder member of IG-FEST\, and a guest trainer for many training programs internationally. He has been working as a psychotherapist for 35 years. He is also a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy. Peter is the author of Self in Relation (Gestalt Journal Press)\, The Emergent Self (Karnac/UKCP)\, Gestalt Therapy: Roots and Branches (Karnac)\, and many chapters and articles. He is a teacher (4th dan) and student of traditional aikido. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-artist-of-life/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Philippson_artist_of_life_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250406T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250406T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T042737Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250403T030855Z UID:2698-1743944400-1743951600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Social Class in the Consulting Room DESCRIPTION:Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. \n or you Comment\n \n \n Name *FirstLastEmail *I am a *NYIGT MemberGuestMy location *How did you find out about this event? *What interests you about this event? *Comment or messageSubmit \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Presenters: Susan Gregory\, Iona Burnell Reilly\, Joëlle GartnerDescription: \nAmong the many DEI (diversity\, equity\, and inclusion) particularities\, social class is rarely mentioned\, yet it is an essential aspect of who we are in every interaction\, including as therapists\, and who each client is when they come to therapy seeking relief from their suffering. Class is always in the field yet rarely referred to. In this didactic and experiential workshop\, we will bring the experiences of class to the foreground together. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Biographies: \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Susan Gregory\n \n Susan Gregory\, a senior member of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy\, is in private practice in New York City and New Paltz\, NY. She is one of the past presidents of the Institute and has taught at conferences and as guest faculty worldwide. Among her 25 published papers and book chapters is “Encouragement and Perseverance: Lives of Some Working-Class Artists” (Clio’s Psyche\, 2011). In addition to practicing Gestalt therapy\, Susan teaches singing and the Gindler approach to breath and body work.www.GestaltSing.org \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Iona Burnell Reilly \n \n \nIona Burnell Reilly is an academic at the University of East London in the UK. Her lecturing and research focuses on social class inequalities. She is also a Gestalt therapist in private practice in London\, registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She has several publications on the topic of social class inequalities in higher education\, including “Tales of the unexpected: The lives and experiences of working-class academics” (Higher Education Quarterly\, 2024\, Vol. 78\, Issue 3\, 1190–1201). \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joëlle Gartner\n \n \nA Gestalt practitioner since 1998\, and a psychotherapist\, trainer\, and clinical supervisor in private practice\, Joëlle Gartner has a lifelong background as a teacher\, trade unionist\, and political and community activist. Born and educated in France\, she has lived and worked since 1975 in a working-class area of Belfast\, then under British military occupation – hence her long experience in working with the legacy of colonization and conflict in her practice. She is also the co-director of the Gestalt Centre Belfast\, which delivers high-quality\, low-cost Gestalt training to people who work in the helping professions in a low-wage economy and in the middle of a peace process. Joëlle convenes the IAAGT Social Class interest group. Her relevant publications include “Social class and Gestalt therapy: are we blind?” (British Gestalt Journal\, 2023\, Vol. 32\, Issue 1\, 21–31). URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/social-class-in-the-consulting-room/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Gregory_social_ladders_concept_1920x1080.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Susan Gregory%2C Iona Burnell Reilly%2C Jo%C3%ABlle Gartner":MAILTO:gestaltsing@aol.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250330T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250330T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250305T053730Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250321T002036Z UID:3576-1743339600-1743346800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:In the Path of the Wrecking Ball: Two Months of Trump’s Presidency DESCRIPTION:In the Path of the Wrecking Ball: Two Months of Trump’s Presidency\nThe past two months seem like an eternity. The ascension of Trump and his MAGA loyalists continues to shake the foundations of our world. \nOn Sunday\, March 30\, we will gather once again as citizens in the path of the wrecking ball. \nThe NYIGT offers this open place for us to be together. Everyone is invited. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. \n  URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/in-the-path-of-the-wrecking-ball-two-months-of-trumps-presidency-march-30-2025/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Trump_as_a_wreckingball.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250323T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250323T120000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20250225T022506Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T145839Z UID:3491-1742724000-1742731200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Forming Form: How Movement Shapes a Psychotherapist’s Practical Knowledge: Symposium with Helena Kallner DESCRIPTION:Special Meeting for Members and Guests\nOnline Symposium with Helena Kallner\nThis is the first of what we hope will be special meetings to honor the achievement of our members by discussing their work. \nHelena’s contribution to Gestalt therapy pushes at the boundaries of our contemporary approach and discovers new\, exciting\, and practical ways to develop further our clinical phenomenology. \nIn this meeting\, Helena Kallner will lead a discussion of her research by presenting her thesis for which she was just awarded her PhD.  This is her description of it: \nMy work explores how movement shapes experience and knowing\, challenging the dominance of abstract and quantifiable knowledge in our culture. \nI argue that bodily knowing is central to psychotherapy and propose holding as a key professional skill – a pactive\, or receptive and responsive movement that guides therapeutic action. \nA core theme throughout is verbalizing lived bodily experience\, with an emphasis on grounding phronesis and bodily knowledge in well-defined concepts. \nPeople are encouraged to read sections of her dissertation prior to the meeting. \nHer complete dissertation and abstract can be downloaded here: \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Download the complete dissertation\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Download the abstract\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Reading suggestions to prepare for the meeting\nFor a quick overview: \n\nAbstract\nAims & Research Questions (pp. 40-43)\nStructure of the Dissertation (pp. 43-45)\n\nFor a summary\, read the end-of-chapter summaries or: \n\nFindings and Concluding Reflections (pp. 323–365)\n\nFor a more detailed exploration of phronesis: \n\nChapter 6: Holding as Phronesis (pp. 223–276)\nChapter 7: Holding as Movement (pp. 277–322)\n\nFor an overview of Helena’s method: \n\nResearching Practical Knowledge (pp. 71-74)\nMethods of Gathering Data (pp. 77-78)\n\nMembers and their guests can contact Dan Bloom (president@nyigt.org)  with questions and to get the link to the symposium. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail * \n a I location\n \n \n I am a *NYIGT MemberGuestMy location *Comment or MessageSubmit URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/forming-form-how-movement-shapes-psychotherapists-practical-knowledge-symposium-with-helena-kallner/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Online Symposium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/03-23-25_FindingForm.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250316T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250316T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224055Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T144928Z UID:2693-1742130000-1742137200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Adolescence\, Anger\, and the Arts DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Jon Blend \nDescription: \nAdolescent anger \nIn adolescence\, anger is associated with particular functional aspects (McConville\, 1995). It protects young teenagers who lack the capacity to reconcile contradictory attitudes and beliefs\, which may otherwise leave them feeling overwhelmed. This occurs during a time of much vulnerability\, while the massive project of rewiring neural pathways takes place within teenage brains. To avoid implosion under the strain\, young adolescents tend to skew their version of reality to support their fragile selves. Through projecting inner conflicts onto the wider field of family\, friends\, or community\, troublesome internal conflicts are kept at bay. \nAdolescent anger enables proto separation at the disembedding stage \nThe behavior of young adolescents aims to create a boundary between them and adults; teenagers may provoke fights with adults to feel powerful while secretly feeling insecure. Anger and projection serve to keep guilt and shame at bay – the developing teenage brain as yet cannot handle personal inconsistency and isn’t ready to respond empathically. Instead\, the youngster first needs to attend to their own needs despite the risk of seeming selfish. Some psychologists\, such as Michael Gurian\, question the imperative for teenage rebellion. Many psychotherapists\, however\, including McConville\, Oaklander\, and Winnicott\, consider such rebellion a necessary part of the process of growth and development. Battles fought at the boundary between self and other keep the pressure off the still fragile\, internal self\, though the teenager’s experience of this divide\, especially in the middle “interiority” stage\, can also be painful and lonely. \nOther functional aspects of anger in adolescence \nAnger also provides a sense of personal solidity for adolescents while supplying propulsion for them to “blast off” on their own. This allows an experience of brief separation from parents while showing peers and others that they are okay. Otherwise\, adolescents risk remaining confluent with their parents and unable to leave the family. Anger becomes a creative adjustment\, driving adolescence forward as the young person begins to consolidate their renewed self (ibid). This process “shakes up the herd” and can be found variously across the animal kingdom. \nDuring this presentation: \nWe will examine some of the arts-led media that adolescents turn to for support during this amazing period of accelerated growth and change. These include iconic songs across eras\, poetry writing\, fashion\, and “the language of cool.” How might these support a process of development? Clinical vignettes from therapy illustrate moments of adolescent “life in the fast lane” as well as relational experiences of “doldrums.” Quests for identity\, autonomy\, morality\, and intimacy form part of this heady journey – how does anger expression and containment encourage or impede our completion of gestalts – our flow? \nWorking in breakout rooms\, participants may wish to explore present awareness by assembling their own cut-and-paste lyric or poem using phrases gathered from newspapers or magazines – a quirky method for inspiration during writer’s block adopted by Bowie\, Dylan\, Lennon\, Radiohead\, and Swift. \nAlternatively\, the group may wish to experiment with a simplified version of violinist Helen Bonny’s transformational Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) method\, exploring with awareness emergent feelings\, images\, and memories while relaxing to carefully tailored musical extracts. How might this affect our acknowledgement of the ebb and flow of adolescent processes within us? \nBiography: \nJon Blend\, MA\, is British\, of Austro-Russian heritage. He is a UKCP and ECP registered Gestalt psychotherapist\, child psychotherapist\, clinical supervisor\, musician\, and Playback Theatre performer (www.londonplayback.com). He maintains a psychotherapy practice in London seeing adults\, children\, and supervisees. \nJon is a faculty member of the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education and an approved trainer with the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation. Since 2002\, he has taught the Oaklander model of projective arts therapy to psychotherapists and other professionals. His career in adult and child mental health began 40 years ago\, as a social worker in various hospital and community-based settings. \nJon has delivered Gestalt training workshops and presentations to institutes and organizations in Bulgaria\, Croatia\, Georgia\, Poland\, Romania\, the USA\, and the UK. His interests include animal-assisted therapies\, interfaith working\, and transcultural and intergenerational dialogue. For nine articles and training information\, visit https://www.gacp.co.uk. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/adolescence-anger-and-the-arts/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Blend_Adolescence_Anger_Arts_1920x1080_light.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Jon Blend":MAILTO:nyigtevents@gmail.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250302T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250302T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224047Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T234404Z UID:2688-1740920400-1740927600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Field Perspective in Gestalt Therapy and Contemporary Clinical Issues DESCRIPTION:Presenters: Gianni Francesetti\, Michela Gecele\, and Jan Roubal \nDescription: \nField perspective is receiving a growing interest in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis\, and there are many different ways to understand it. In this meeting\, we will share our understanding of field theory in our practice\, and how the therapeutic process is a field phenomenon. In this perspective\, the change is not produced by an intervention of the therapist on the client\, nor by a process of collaboration between therapist and client in order to co-create the change. The process of change is rather made by the forces already active in the field and the therapist modulates their presence in order for transformations to happen. We will question why there is now an increasing interest in field perspective in clinical work and how it is related to the changes in contemporary clinical suffering. Starting from this background\, we will discuss what therapy should focus on today and which kind of support is needed in our work. \n  \n \nBiographies: \nGianni Francesetti\, MD\, psychiatrist and Gestalt therapist\, is an adjunct professor of phenomenological and existential approach in the Department of Psychology\, University of Torino (Italy)\, and an international trainer and supervisor\, who has published widely on psychotherapy and psychopathology. He is the co-director of the IPsiG – International Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology (www.ipsig.it) and of the Turin School of Psychopathology. He is the president of Poiesis – Gestalt Therapy Clinical Centre of Torino and the past president of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) and of the Italian Federation of Psychotherapy Associations (FIAP) as well as the co-founder of IG-FEST. His last two books are Phenomenological-Gestalt Psychopathology: A Light Introduction (l’Exprimerie\, Bordeaux\, 2022) and (co-edited with T. Griffero) Psicopatologia e Atmosfere. Prima del soggetto e del mondo (Fioriti\, 2022; first English edition\, Psychopathology and Atmospheres. Neither Inside nor Outside\, Cambridge Scholars Publishing\, 2019). He is the co-director of the book series Prospettive psicopatologiche e psicoterapia della Gestalt (Fioriti) and of Field Perspectives and Clinical Practice: Gestalt Therapy Series Books (Routledge). \nMichela Gecele\, MD\, a psychiatrist and Gestalt therapist\, trained in cultural anthropology. An international trainer and supervisor\, she has published books\, articles\, and chapters on themes of psychotherapy and psychopathology\, exploring clinical suffering from a phenomenological and Gestalt therapy viewpoint. Another clinical and research topic is that of cultural and intercultural issues (risks\, opportunities\, trauma and post-trauma\, language\, communication\, and connections between social and cultural context and forms of illness and care). She has been working for 27 years in public mental health services and she has coordinated\, in Turin\, a psychological and psychiatric service for immigrants. She is the supervisor of public mental health services and of programs for immigrants. She is also a former member of the Human Rights & Social Responsibility (HR&SR) Committee of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT). She is the co-director of the IPsiG – International Institute for Gestalt Therapy and Psychopathology (www.ipsig.it) and of the Turin School of Psychopathology as well as the co-founder of IG-FEST. She is the co-director of the book series Prospettive psicopatologiche e psicoterapia della Gestalt (Fioriti) and of Field Perspectives and Clinical Practice: Gestalt Therapy Series Books (Routledge). She has also published fiction and educational books. \nJan Roubal\, MD\, PhD\, is an associate professor at Masaryk University in Brno\, Czech Republic\, where he also works in the Center for Psychotherapy Research. He works as a psychotherapist and psychiatrist. He founded the Training in Psychotherapy Integration and the training Gestalt Studia in the Czech Republic\, and he also works as a psychotherapy trainer and supervisor internationally. He co-edited the books Current Psychotherapy\, Gestalt Therapy in Clinical Practice: From Psychopathology to the Aesthetics of Contact\, and Towards a Research Tradition in Gestalt Therapy. Recently\, he published the book Don’t Get in the Way of Hope: A Therapist’s Guide Through the Depressive Field. He is a co-founder of IG-FEST. He is a co-director of the Turin School of Psychopathology and of the book series Field Perspectives and Clinical Practice: Gestalt Therapy Series Books (Routledge). URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/field-perspective-in-gestalt-therapy-and-contemporary-clinical-issues/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/03-25_Field_Perspective_1920x1080_light.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250209T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250209T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224040Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T234147Z UID:2682-1739106000-1739113200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Experiential Writing: A Focus on the Therapist's Perspective DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Iris Fodor \nDescription: \nToo often\, therapeutic writing focuses on case histories written by the therapist about the client. The focus of this workshop will be on writing about the impact of relational therapeutic work on the therapist. Drawing on my experience in workshops\, utilizing narrative theory\, memoir\, and experiential writing for working with people with diverse life experiences\, I will present techniques for therapists to utilize experiential writing as an extension of Gestalt therapeutic work. \nAs therapists\, we need to come to terms with our life experience\, including our losses\, our stories\, and their meaning. Therapeutic work often serves as a catalyst for our ongoing processing of our own life experience. \nIn the experiential segment of the workshop\, we will do personal writing\, focused on our experience of being a therapist. We will read some of the writing in the group and discuss how the showing\, writing\, telling\, and letting others see\, hear\, and respond grounds our understanding of ourselves and our work as Gestalt therapists. \nBiography: \nIris Fodor is a professor emerita in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a certificate in creative writing from New Directions. She is a Gestalt psychotherapist known for her teaching\, workshops\, and writings about feminism\, women’s mental health\, mindfulness\, and integrative psychotherapy. Born in the Bronx\, Iris is a lifelong social activist and is also a photographer. She has traveled\, taught\, and done workshops worldwide. She has also participated in digital storytelling projects with adolescents from diverse cultures in India\, Peru\, and South Africa. Her recent work focuses on memoir and experiential writing for therapists. She lives in New York City and Woodstock\, New York. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/experiential-writing-a-focus-on-the-therapists-perspective/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Fodor_Writing_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250126T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250126T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240805T185912Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T233050Z UID:2746-1737896400-1737903600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2024-2025 Business Meeting #2 DESCRIPTION: URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2024-2025-business-meeting-2/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Business Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/biz_meeting_bkgrnd1_light.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250119T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250119T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20241223T214322Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T201450Z UID:3346-1737291600-1737298800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: The Day Before DESCRIPTION:Description: \nDonald Trump will become the next president of the United States on Monday\, January 20\, at 12 noon. \nWe are on the brink of a new world order — for the United States and countries across the globe. \nThis meeting will be an open space for us to face this reality together. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-day-before-a-special-event/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Donald_Trump_swearing_in_ceremony_cropped.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250112T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250112T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224015Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250109T233021Z UID:2677-1736686800-1736694000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Gestalt Therapy as an Aesthetic Act\, From Sensing to Forming Forms DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Jean-Marie Robine \nDescription: \nToday\, reference to philosophical aesthetics seems to be taking on an increasingly important role in the theoretical apparatus of Gestalt therapy\, including as a contribution to the development of a specific psychopathology or theorization of the therapeutic encounter. \nBaumgarten’s original aesthetics primarily concerned what I would prefer to call aesthesis\, since it is essentially a matter of feeling\, of sensitive knowledge. When we speak of anesthesia\, kinesthesia\, paresthesia\, etc.\, the various prefixes nuance the forms of aesthesis\, of feeling. Baumgarten thus invited us to embark on a veritable epistemology of sensibility: I can access the other only through my senses\, i.e.\, my perceptions and sensations in their presence\, perceptions and sensations that are then transformed into feelings\, thoughts\, representations\, imaginations\, inferences\, projections\, knowledge… \nThe evolution of the concept has clearly shown that the aesthetic act does not stop at feeling\, or even feeling what I feel\, because this feeling (aesthesis) is transformed into an act. The aesthetic act extends into a change of form\, i.e.\, metamorphosis\, transformation. \nIf\, among Gestalt therapists\, aesthetic reference is sometimes dominated by – or even limited to – what I’ve called aesthesis (aesthesis stage?)\, there’s a risk of forgetting that even this phase of the process\, this implicit\, mainly sensory-motor knowledge\, doesn’t make us mere receivers. We are actors\, that is\, producers of acts\, the first of which is to “feel what I feel.” In the therapeutic situation\, every therapist has often been confronted with the fact that some patients “feel” but don’t know how to carry out the work that enables this feeling to be transformed. The process of feeling is immobilized and fixed in various pathological forms; the metamorphosis of feeling into action itself requires an act\, an intervention. The psychotherapist’s task\, his act\, enables the patient to appropriate his feeling\, to feel that he feels\, and to experience the metamorphosis of this feeling\, the forming of form\, an aesthetic act. \nBiography: \nJean-Marie Robine has been a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist since 1967 and a Gestalt therapist since 1976. After more than 15 years as a psychologist\, then a director\, in a public health service for children\, adolescents\, and their families\, he created in 1980 the Institut Français de Gestalt-thérapie (IFGT)\, the first Gestalt institute in France. To date\, it has trained hundreds or maybe thousands of Gestalt therapists not only in France but also in Europe\, Eastern Europe\, Africa\, the USA\, and Latin America. \nHe was a co-creator of the Societé Française de Gestalt\, then of Collège Européen de Gestalt-thérapie\, national societies for Gestalt therapy\, and the European Association for Gestalt Therapy. He was also the president of EAGT in the early 1990s. \nIn addition\, Jean-Marie created the two French journals for Gestalt therapy and was their editor-in-chief for several years. Then he opened a nonprofit organization for publishing a series of Gestalt therapy books\, l’Exprimerie\, as a division of IFGT. More than 50 Gestalt therapy books\, originals and translations\, have been published\, mostly in French but also some in English. He has authored or edited nine Gestalt therapy books\, which have been translated into several languages. He is the co-editor and publisher of the last manuscript from Fritz Perls – with wonderful comments from several famous colleagues – already available in many languages\, and also the editor of Self: A Polyphony of Contemporary Gestalt Therapists\, published in many languages. \nNow retired from heading IFGT\, he remains the organizer and coordinator of its international programs\, teaching mostly abroad some supervision groups\, postgraduate programs\, and training for supervisors and trainers\, but also enjoys his (partial) retirement in the countryside near Bordeaux to grow his vegetables and fruit trees. \nWebsites:\nwww.gestalt-ifgt.com\nwww.exprimerie.fr URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/gestalt-therapy-as-an-aesthetic-act-from-sensing-to-forming-forms/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Robine_Aesthetic_Act_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241208T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241208T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T224007Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250110T012221Z UID:2672-1733662800-1733670000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:The Field of Supervision DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Nancy Amendt-Lyon \nDescription: \nIn this presentation\, I will describe how the concepts of “parallel process\,” “field forces\,” and “reversed roles” are implemented in my supervisory work. There will be references to Gestalt psychology\, psychoanalysis\, and the continuous development of Gestalt therapy practice. After some theoretical input and a brief case vignette\, we will have breakout groups for experiential learning\, and then conclude with a discussion involving all participants. \nBiography: \nNancy Amendt-Lyon\, MA\, DPhil\, was born in New York and studied psychology in the United States\, Switzerland\, and Austria. She trained in Gestalt therapy and group psychoanalysis\, and has been in private practice in Austria since 1978. Nancy is an associate editor of Gestalt Review\, the founding chairperson of the Austrian Association for Gestalt Therapy (ÖVG)\, and a member of the Austrian Association for Psychotherapy (ÖBVP) and the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT). She has many years of experience training Gestalt therapists in Austria and abroad. Her numerous publications include Timeless Experience: Laura Perls’s Unpublished Notebooks and Literary Texts 1946–1985\, Creative License: The Art of Gestalt Therapy\, and a début novel\, Case Unclosable. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-field-of-supervision/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Amendt-Lyon_supervision_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241110T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241110T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20241103T011331Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250110T013544Z UID:3220-1731243600-1731250800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL ELECTION EVENT:The Sunday After DESCRIPTION:Description: \nThe U.S. presidential election is on Tuesday\, November 5. The result is a toss-up. While we hope for good news\, one thing is sure. No matter who wins\, chaos is certain. \nThis meeting is an open space for us to face the aftermath of the election together. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/special-election-event-the-sunday-after/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/After_election_event_2024_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241103T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241103T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240804T223958Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250110T013617Z UID:2667-1730638800-1730646000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:The Power of Third-Person Storytelling DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Scott Kellogg\n\nDescription: \nStories and storytelling have been central to my life and my journey as a therapist. I fell in love with the Gestalt therapy of Fritz Perls through the stories that he and others shared about his work in the 1960s; I just thought that they were amazingly beautiful. \nOn a more clinical level\, I feel that Erving Polster\, in his book Every Person’s Life Deserves a Novel\, presented a series of compelling examples of the power of therapeutic storytelling as a method for working through profound and life-resonating traumas. For Polster\, the telling\, the hearing\, and the editing of narratives are central tools that can be used to help patients heal and reclaim their lives. \nFor myself\, Third-Person Storytelling\, or the repetitive telling of one’s story as if it were being witnessed from the outside\, is a therapeutic method that allows individuals to deeply engage with and express the complexities of their personal experiences while simultaneously being able to have greater emotional distance from them. This form of narrative healing is used in the treatment of histories of trauma and interpersonal abuse because it can effectively decrease the experience of fear\, shame\, and guilt while enabling the integration of difficult and painful narratives and memories. In addition to trauma work\, it can serve as a vehicle for 1) reclaiming disowned stories of success and achievement; 2) creating a path to successful goal completion; and 3) creating a more self-directed life through the practice of self-eulogy. \nIn this workshop\, I will give a brief presentation on the Three Dialogue method. This will be followed by a demonstration with a volunteer. The participants will then be invited to break into small groups so that they may have an opportunity to practice and experience the healing power of repetitive Third-Person Storytelling with one another. \nBiography: \nDr. Scott Kellogg is an ISST-certified Advanced Schema Therapist who has also trained in Gestalt therapy and Voice Dialogue. He created the Transformational Chairwork approach in 2008 and he currently teaches this method of psychotherapeutic dialogue to clinicians in both the United States and abroad. \nScott is in private practice in New York City and has served on the faculties of New York University\, The Rockefeller University\, and the Yale University School of Medicine. \nIn addition\, he is the author of Transformational Chairwork: Using Psychotherapeutic Dialogues in Clinical Practice (Rowman & Littlefield\, 2015). \nHis Chairwork website is: https://transformationalchairwork.com/ URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/the-power-of-third-person-storytelling/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Kellogg_Power_of_Storytelling_1920x1080.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241020T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241020T150000 DTSTAMP:20260407T004459 CREATED:20240808T002857Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250110T013326Z UID:2828-1729429200-1729436400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL AUTUMN EVENT ~ Hope\, Fear\, Election! Living at the Boundary DESCRIPTION:Please join us ahead of a momentous U.S. presidential election – one that will have national and international consequences. Bring your community spirit to explore democracy within an experiential group; we will also look at how the current political climate is impacting therapists and clients. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/special-autumn-event-somethings-happening-a-pre-election-gathering/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/10-20-24_nyigt_election_event_votingbooths.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR