BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy - ECPv6.17.2//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: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 BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20280312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20281105T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260201T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260201T150000 DTSTAMP:20250806T220032Z 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:20260208T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260208T150000 DTSTAMP:20260203T050232Z 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:20260222T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260222T150000 DTSTAMP:20260203T050043Z 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:20260315T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260315T150000 DTSTAMP:20250805T151406Z 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:20260322T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260322T150000 DTSTAMP:20260313T163636Z 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:20260412T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260412T150000 DTSTAMP:20260410T192159Z CREATED:20250805T150906Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260410T192159Z UID:4433-1775998800-1776006000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Gestalt as an Art DESCRIPTION:Description: \nPlease join us for a special event inspired by the late Tine van Wijk (1936–2025)\, who was supposed to share her journey of creative expression with the NYIGT community on this day. \nWe will begin with remembrances by colleagues in tribute to Tine’s accomplishments and generous artistic spirit. Then\, we will honor her wishes for this occasion by exploring our own creative process\, informed by our experiences and by Gestalt therapy. \nThe event will include opportunities for writing and drawing. Please bring paper\, a pen\, and whatever art supplies you like. \nWe welcome everyone – whether you knew Tine or not – to celebrate her life and the joy of creativity! \n \nBiography: \nTine was born in 1936 in Amsterdam and called herself a war child. After being an editor of women’s\, children’s\, and family magazines for 30 years\, she started in 1988 Gestalt Center De Walvis/The Whale. Since then\, she had been leading ongoing therapy\, writing\, and training groups. \nShe was a member of the Dutch EAGT\, of IAAGT\, and of NYIGT. She worked in Russia and Ukraine many times and presented at Gestalt conferences in the UK\, the USA\, Mexico\, and Canada. In 2005\, Tine initiated and co-created a regional AAGT conference in Amsterdam. She also published three books in Dutch and one in English\, which was translated into Russian\, Process Writing to C. \nFor Tine\, Gestalt therapy and artistic expression went hand in hand. She explained\, “By practicing Gestalt\, I am opening more and more creativity by writing\, drawing\, painting\, creating and reciting poems\, making photos and videos\, and sounding words I have written.” \nPhoto by Sebastiaan van Wijk URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/gestalt-as-an-art/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/gestalt_as_art.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260503T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260503T150000 DTSTAMP:20250811T133313Z CREATED:20250805T152255Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250811T133313Z UID:4446-1777813200-1777820400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:From the Edges of Experience to the Center of Relationship DESCRIPTION:Presenter: Perry Klepner \nDescription: \nGestalt therapy\, as originally presented in PHG and more recently developed\, is an extraordinary contribution to how we can understand human psychological coherence and conduct psychotherapy. This presentation will consider its holistic and phenomenal qualities by exploring the experiences of attendees as our emergent NYIGT community\, created and discovered\, emerging from our personal and collegial synergy. It will include conceptual and experiential segments and discussion to explore awareness and contact\, attending to our experience of differences and commonalities such as new/old\, local/distant\, student/teacher\, practice/theory\, author/reader\, participant/observer\, fellow/member/associate – that is\, our community and our situation.\n \nThe exploration is inspired by my long-term NYIGT membership and regard for the age-old human endeavor to conceptualize and navigate our individual\, personal\, and shared social and communal experience through the realms of our discontents\, desires\, hopes\, ambitions\, happiness\, grief\, anger\, common and eccentric interests\, successes\, etc. Additionally\, by the epidemic disturbances\, divisions\, and disharmonies of our everyday world as well as by the emphasis on individualized experience versus the unitary view of the organism/environment field or a Sanskrit phrase for universal interconnection\, “What is out there is in here\, and what is in here is out there.”\n \nAlso\, by the words of Rainer Marie Rilke:\n \nAh\, not to be cut off\,\nnot through the slightest partition\nshut out from the law of the stars.\nThe inner – what is it?\nif not the intensified sky\,\nhurled through with birds and deep\nwith the winds of homecoming.\n \nBiography: \nPerry Klepner\, LCSW\, has been a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City and Kingston\, NY\, since 1977. He provides supervision and individual and couples therapy. For over three years\, starting in April 2022\, he has facilitated a support group for Ukrainian Gestalt therapists and currently is facilitating six line-by-line study groups of Gestalt Therapy by Fritz Perls\, Ralph Hefferline\, and Paul Goodman. He trained with Laura Perls\, Isadore From\, and Richard Kitzler at NYIGT\, where he is a past president (1993–95) and Fellow. He has authored articles and led workshops on Gestalt therapy at numerous conferences. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/from-the-edges-of-experience-to-the-center-of-relationship/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/edges_of_experience.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260517T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260517T150000 DTSTAMP:20260508T231202Z CREATED:20260508T223726Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T231202Z UID:4973-1779022800-1779030000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL EVENT: The Trump World Order DESCRIPTION:Description: \nOnce again\, we offer the community an open space to find support as we grapple with the disruptions and consequences of the current domestic and world situation. \nEveryone is invited to share their experiences and to hear one another. We are gathering together not only as therapists but also as citizens and human beings. \nPlease join us on Sunday\, May 17. \nFacilitated by Dan Bloom. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/special-event-trump-world-order/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/trumps_world.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260614T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260614T150000 DTSTAMP:20260513T002227Z CREATED:20250806T221958Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260513T002227Z UID:4496-1781438400-1781449200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2025-2026 Business Meeting #3 DESCRIPTION:Please note the new start time. The meeting will start at 12 noon and end at 3pm. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2025-2026-business-meeting-3/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Membership 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:20260929T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260929T140000 DTSTAMP:20260823T155415Z CREATED:20260821T162018Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T155415Z UID:5322-1790683200-1790690400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2026-2027 Membership Meeting #1\, Part 1 DESCRIPTION:The meeting will start at 12 noon and end at 2 p.m. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2026-2027-membership-meeting-1-part-1/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Membership 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:20261011T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261011T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T162256Z CREATED:20260811T162649Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T162256Z UID:5072-1791722700-1791732600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Dreaming in the World DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, October 11\, 2026 - Dreaming in the WorldPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. \n My or How\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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Peter Philippson​ \nWe begin our 2026–2027 season with dreaming — a suitable mode of approaching our tumultuous world that is filled with hopes and despair\, possibilities and constraints. \nDescription: \nIn this presentation\, I will give an overview of how I understand dreams and different ways I have been working with them as a therapist. I propose that we understand dreams primarily as artworks\, as improvised post-modern theater pieces written\, directed\, and played by us\, with ourselves also primarily as audience. A dream tells us that we are at heart creative\, artistic beings. What energizes our dreaming is usually something that is unfinished and pushing for further expression when the censoring actions of our everyday waking lives are put aside in sleep or dozing.I then explore how this links with the two major ways of working therapeutically with dreams in Gestalt therapy: as projections of splits in the personality (Fritz Perls) and as retroflections of actions and contacts that could be expressed in the world (Isadore From). I also discuss how dreams can be seen in a wider way as an expression of field\, rather than only individual\, processes\, and where interpretation of dreams is useful or not (I see interpretations mostly as simplifications of the artistic richness of a dream). I illustrate each of these approaches with reference to the different ways of working with a fairly common dream. I emphasize that dreams\, like all good artworks\, are multilayered\, and will show different aspects of themselves depending on how they are approached. I will also present a way of working with dreams that I have developed that collapses the strict separation between waking and dreaming. \nI will work with one or two dreams if people are interested\, and there will be time for discussion. \nBiography: \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 39 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/dreaming-in-the-world/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/26-10-11_Philippson_Dreaming_in_the_World_v2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261018T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261018T140000 DTSTAMP:20260823T192004Z CREATED:20260821T163726Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T192004Z UID:5329-1792324800-1792332000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2026-2027 Membership Meeting #1\, Part 2 DESCRIPTION:The meeting will start at 12 noon and end at 2 p.m. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2026-2027-membership-meeting-1-part-2/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Membership 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:20261101T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261101T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T162647Z CREATED:20260815T211129Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T162647Z UID:5248-1793537100-1793547000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:SPECIAL AUTUMN EVENT: Midterms! A Pre-Election Gathering DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, November 1\, 2026 – SPECIAL AUTUMN EVENT: Midterms! A Pre-Election GatheringPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail * \n am you this\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Description: \nPlease join us for a community event ahead of the midterm elections in the United States. \nDetails to follow. \n  URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/special-event-midterms/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/110126_SpecialEvent_MidtermElections.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261108T104500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261108T133000 DTSTAMP:20260823T193845Z CREATED:20260811T172321Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T193845Z UID:5090-1794134700-1794144600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Theorizing Stories: Learning Gestalt\, Teaching Gestalt DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, November 8\, 2026 - Theorizing Stories: Learning Gestalt\, Teaching GestaltPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLast \n am location Email\n \n \n Email *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 Please note the new 10:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Nicole Chew \nTheory and story exist symbiotically\, frequently told together. \nDescription: \nThis presentation explores my movement from learning Gestalt as a body of theory to understanding it as a lived\, relational\, and teachable practice. Over years of clinical work\, writing\, and research\, I came to feel that some of the most essential dimensions of Gestalt therapy – atmosphere\, field sense\, aesthetic knowing\, and the subtle process of contact – are not easily conveyed through conceptual explanation alone. While theory and research remain vital\, they do not always communicate the immediacy\, texture\, and complexity of lived experience. Story became\, for me\, not only a way of illustrating theory but also a way of thinking and knowing. \nOut of this tension emerged my development of therapeutic autoethnography\, a research methodology and way of writing psychotherapy that attempts to preserve the living texture of the field rather than flattening it into explanation alone. In this session\, I will reflect on how story can carry theory\, how this has shaped my clinical practice\, teaching\, and writing\, and what it may suggest about the future transmission of Gestalt therapy. Participants will be invited to try the method directly by telling\, on the spot\, an opening of a case story\, and to notice what becomes thinkable when we remain close to atmosphere\, relational movement\, and the felt sense of the field. \nBiography: \nI’m a Gestalt psychotherapist in private practice in Singapore. I trained at IGWien\, affiliated with Sigmund Freud University in Vienna\, where I also earned my doctorate in psychotherapy science. I came from corporate life and to formal study at 40. I work as an independent researcher on the topics that interest me. I supervise and train non-Gestalt psychologists and counselors\, and working with them pushes me to make concepts digestible. \nI am multicultural\, and much of my life has involved holding my ground amid differences\, which is the central theme of my recently published book on couples therapy. I realized the need to feel into the boundary. That boundary has recently become my subject of study because it is where shame lives – and shame is the center of my next book. “Shame and AI” is the focus of my recent article in the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling. \nI know that sensing the boundary is best approached through art\, and the art I bring here is the art of the story. This is me turning my back on case reporting and reductionist research. A story is a lie that brings us closer to the phenomenon. From this\, I developed therapeutic autoethnography – also my doctoral thesis – a way of researching and writing about psychotherapy processes that stays close to the atmosphere and the felt sense of the field. It is what I bring to the session. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/theorizing-stories-learning-gestalt-teaching-gestalt/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/26-11-08_Theorizing-Stories_Chew.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261206T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261206T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T163348Z CREATED:20260811T232412Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T163348Z UID:5132-1796561100-1796571000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:I Believe in You: The Gestalt Approach in Psychosomatic Suffering DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, December 6\, 2026 - I Believe in You: The Gestalt Approach in Psychosomatic SufferingPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail * \n location am did\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Michele Cannavò \nDescription: \nDrawing on my 20 years of clinical experience as a psychiatrist\, Gestalt therapist\, and trainer\, I propose a Gestalt approach to psychosomatic suffering. Focusing on the concept of context and situation\, traditionally studied at the Istituto di Gestalt H.C.C. Italy\, I offer a phenomenological\, aesthetic\, and field-oriented perspective on the therapeutic relationship and change in the psychosomatic field. \nI will explore the relational and intersubjective significance of bodywork\, where\, in addition to the centrality of the relationship\, its cornerstone from a Gestalt perspective is an integrated approach that includes biopsychosocial aspects. To define the relationship between body and environment\, it will be useful to demonstrate the interactions between the nervous system\, the immune system\, organs\, and the environment/other. The patient’s suffering will be believed\, felt\, experienced\, and sometimes encouraged by the therapist\, and only through this involvement and full presence will healing be possible. \nI will also propose the concepts of safe place\, appropriate distance\, and trust as central aspects of the therapeutic intervention; the importance of co-regulation and reshaping presence to allow the patient to no longer perceive the anxiety arising from the other’s presence; and the trust in the field and situation that characterize the therapeutic encounter. \nI will conclude the experience with a group experiment to better flesh out these concepts. \nBiography: \nMichele Cannavò is a psychiatrist and Gestalt psychotherapist\, with a PhD in neurovegetative medicine. He trained with Margherita Spagnuolo\, Gianni Francesetti\, Piero Cavaleri\, Carmen Vasquez Bandin\, Ruella Frank\, Jean-Marie Robine\, and Carl Hodges at the Istituto di Gestalt H.C.C. Italy. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Catania\, and the author of various publications in the fields of psychiatry\, research\, and psychotherapy (approximately 50)\, book chapters\, and one book. He is also a past secretary of the European Association of Gestalt Therapy\, and a teacher and supervisor at the H.C.C. Italy Gestalt Psychotherapy Institute\, specializing in body processes\, groups\, neuroscience\, psychopathology\, and the use of imagery in therapy\, for which he is the author of a method with practical clinical applications. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/i-believe-in-you/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/26-12-06_I-Believe_in_You_Cannavo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270117T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270117T150000 DTSTAMP:20260823T154418Z CREATED:20260821T164514Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T154418Z UID:5332-1800187200-1800198000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2026-2027 Membership Meeting #2 DESCRIPTION:The meeting will start at 12 noon and end at 3 p.m. Please note the extra hour. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2026-2027-membership-meeting-2/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Membership 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:20270131T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270131T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T163844Z CREATED:20260811T235331Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T163844Z UID:5142-1801399500-1801409400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Protest! Writing as Resistance in a Dangerous World DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, January 31\, 2027 - Protest! Writing as Resistance in a Dangerous WorldPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *I am a *NYIGT MemberGuestMy location *How did you find out about this event? *What interests you about this event? * \n My I about\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n \nPresenter: Iris Fodor\, with Jon Blend\, Rosie Burrows\, Yaël Lewin\, Sari Scheinberg\, Claire Spiller\, and Fiona Turnbull \nSeven members of an ongoing Gestalt experiential writing group offer a presentation on writing for advocacy and protest.  \nDescription: \nWe are now living in a world in continuous crisis with ongoing wars\, terrifying harassment\, rounding up and deportation of immigrants\, the eroding of civil rights\, academic freedom\, and women’s rights\, as well as disregard for the environment and climate change. In the U.S.\, we are watching the eroding of our democracy under the leadership of an increasingly chaotic and autocratic president who is inspiring other such leaders worldwide. \nDrawing on inspiration from the protest movements of the 1960s\, in this workshop\, we will highlight the writing and performance of rants\, essays\, poems\, and songs of resistance to enable us to stay present with our experience of outrage at what is happening in our world. We need to acknowledge that protesting and expressing outrage too often takes courage and in many countries is outlawed or dangerous. We need to resist now while we still can. \nWe will begin with a short lecture on protest and resistance writing as a creative adjustment to an unbalanced world. Each Gestalt writer will highlight a rant\, essay\, poem\, or song for us to model. Next\, we will break into small groups facilitated by one of the writing group members and write to resistance prompts. Then\, we will gather together and ask for volunteers to read or sing what they have written\, followed by a discussion with the participants. We will end with a group sing of Patti Smith’s “Power to the People.” \nBiography: \nIris Fodor is a professor emerita in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. She has a PhD 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 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/protest-writing-as-resistance-in-a-dangerous-world/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2027-01-31_Fodor_Protest.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270221T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270221T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T164017Z CREATED:20260812T010732Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T164017Z UID:5154-1803213900-1803223800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Landscape of Self: Personality\, Clinical Practice\, and a Changing World DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, February 21\, 2027 - Landscape of Self: Personality\, Clinical Practice\, and a Changing WorldPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *I am a *NYIGT MemberGuestMy location * \n event? interests you\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenters: Gianni Francesetti and Michela Gecele\, with Dan Bloom and Michael Vincent Miller \nDescription: \nTransformations in contemporary social and cultural life are producing isolation\, rigid individualism\, increasing fragmentation in the sense of self\, and troubled relational experiences. We are losing shared narratives and witnessing a progressive weakening of the collective and relational grounds of experience and community. These developments are altering the forms that clinical suffering takes. They are changing how personality disturbances manifest themselves and demand that we revise our understanding of psychopathology. It is increasingly important that clinical practice addresses the often-overlooked existential dimensions of personality\, including the impact of society and culture on the very shape and contours of self. We need to look at what Gestalt therapy calls the personality function of the self in a new light and bring personality and its disturbances back to the center of our clinical attention. \nOur personhood is at stake. \nAt a time when psychotherapy is increasingly reduced to problem-solving techniques\, attending to the backgrounds and landscapes within which the dimensions of personality unfold becomes essential. We must not lose ourselves in a confusion between problems to be solved and existential themes that must be lived through and experienced. \nIn this presentation\, using both didactic and experiential methods\, we propose a reorientation of the personality function of the self. This enables us to speak not only of the “id of the situation” but also of the “personality of the situation.” In doing so\, we move beyond Perls\, Hefferline\, and Goodman’s original explication of the personality function and open a direction that offers theoretical support for contemporary clinical practice. The future of psychotherapy depends not merely on treating symptoms but also on sustaining spaces in which new forms of relationality\, narrativity\, responsibility\, boundaries\, and embodied meaning can emerge within a fractured social world. Our task is not only to support the personality function but also to expand our understanding of its broader landscape – the personality of the situation. \nThese ideas are developed more fully in Dimensions\, Landscapes\, and Clinical Aspects of Personality (Gecele & Francesetti\, Routledge\, 2026). \nBiographies: \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. His current interests are expansion of the clinical phenomenology of Gestalt therapy and its engagement with the geopolitical world. \nGianni Francesetti\, MD\, a psychiatrist and Gestalt therapist\, is an adjunct professor of phenomenological and existential approach in the Department of Psychology\, University of Torino (Italy). An international trainer and supervisor\, he 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; a past president of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) and of the Italian Federation of Psychotherapy Associations (FIAP); and a co-founder of IG-FEST. His last two books are Field Perspectives in Clinical Practice: A Dialogue Between Relational Psychoanalysis\, Post-Bionian Psychoanalysis\, and Gestalt Therapy (Routledge\, 2025) and Dimensions\, Landscapes\, and Clinical Aspects of Personality (Routledge\, 2026). He is the co-director of the books series Prospettive psicopatologiche e psicoterapia della Gestalt (Fioriti) and of Field Perspectives and Clinical Practice (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 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 and of the Turin School of Psychopathology as well as a co-founder of IG-FEST. She is the co-director of the books series Prospettive psicopatologiche e psicoterapia della Gestalt (Fioriti) and of Field Perspectives and Clinical Practice (Routledge). She has also published fiction and educational books. \nMichael Vincent Miller\, PhD\, has practiced and taught Gestalt therapy for over 40 years\, primarily in New York City. He was trained in Gestalt therapy by its original founders. He has also been on the faculties of Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a co-founder of the Boston Gestalt Institute. He is a former president and currently a fellow of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy. Michael is the author of numerous articles\, reviews\, and introductions to books\, and his own book Intimate Terrorism has appeared throughout the world in nine languages. He is also the author of Teaching a Paranoid to Flirt: The Poetics of Gestalt Therapy\, a collection of essays\, and\, most recently\, Paths of Curiosity. \n  URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/landscape-of-self-personality-clinical-practice-and-a-changing-world/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Landscape_of_Self.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270321T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270321T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T164235Z CREATED:20260812T165542Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T164235Z UID:5165-1805633100-1805643000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Coming to Our Senses: Heads\, Hands\, and Feet – Three Experiments DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, March 21\, 2027 - Coming to Our Senses: Heads\, Hands\, and Feet – Three ExperimentsPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *I am a *NYIGT MemberGuest \n What this event?\n \n \n My 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Jon Blend \nDescription: \nIn the 1950s\, PHG spoke to a postwar generation about new ways of relating\, exploring autonomy and social interconnectedness. A series of self-awareness and personal growth experiments in Part 1 encourages the reader to investigate here-and-now sensory awareness\, emotions\, and mental process. Spool forward to today. In our screen- and device-dependent world\, we risk losing acuity of our wider sensory apparatus through an overemphasis on left-brain hyper-cognition and speed. The adaptation has been dubbed “Red Queen Syndrome.” \nThis presentation seeks to reengage our senses through three experiments. In “The Space Around Us\,” we begin by closing our eyes briefly and noticing our surroundings\, experienced while sitting or standing. Then\, environment permitting\, we explore some of Jean Piaget’s “action schemas” – developmental movement sequences involving time and space – the beginnings of mapping. These include: dynamic back and forth\, side-to-side exploration\, circling or rotating\, going over and under\, enveloping and containing\, and rounding and traversing a boundary. In the second experiment\, “Blind Feast” – which can be done alone or with assistance – we explore taste\, texture\, and smell\, with eyes covered by a mask or scarf (participants will prepare a selection of foods in mini containers for investigation). Finally\, “Time Holes” offers an homage to composer John Cage’s famous 4′33″ opus. This group meditative experiment involves sounding and silence. Time will be set aside for “chewing” and giving feedback on these experiences. \nBiography: \nJon Blend\, MA Psych\, Dip. Child\, Cert. Sup.\, ECP\, CQSW\, is an adult and child psychotherapist of British/Austrian heritage. He is the director of Gazebo Arts Training School in West London\, an adviser to the Violet Solomon Oaklander Foundation\, and the host of CAEAIG\, IAAGT’s bimonthly Child\, Adolescent & Emerging Adult Interest Group. Jon works in private practice in London\, together with canine co-therapist Coco\, offering arts-based psychotherapy to adults\, children\, and families\, as well as clinical supervision. He is a faculty member of the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE)\, London\, and a visiting tutor at Terapia\, Gestalt Centre Belfast\, and Gestalt Centre Wales. A frequent presenter at international conferences\, Jon also teaches in Brazil\, Bulgaria\, Italy\, and Poland. His background includes over 40 years of working in the fields of NHS adult and child mental health\, disability\, HIV\, social work\, and the performing arts. In addition\, he is a resident musician with London Playback Theatre (www.londonplayback.com). \nFor a list of publications\, see his articles link at www.gacp.co.uk. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/coming-to-our-senses-heads-hands-and-feet-three-experiments/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/270321_Coming2OurSenses_hands.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Jon Blend":MAILTO:nyigtevents@gmail.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270404T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270404T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T164554Z CREATED:20260812T171253Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T164554Z UID:5174-1806842700-1806852600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Working With Guilt DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, April 4\, 2027 - Working With GuiltPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. \n did event? I\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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Anna Yudin \nDescription: \nHow can a therapist work with clients who struggle with excessive guilt? How should a therapist respond when clients take on more responsibility for a situation than actually belongs to them? \nIn our founding text\, Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality\, Perls\, Hefferline\, and Goodman write: “Contact\, the work that results in assimilation and growth\, is the forming of a figure of interest against a ground or context of the organism/environment field.” A need emerges as a figure and develops through the contacting process. We may find something that satisfies the need and experience completion\, or the need may remain unmet and we experience frustration. Frustration is an inevitable part of life\, but it may become frightening or overwhelming when a child does not receive sufficient support in understanding and bearing the experience. \nIn situations of neglect\, for example\, children often do not receive such support. A child may organize the situation through conclusions such as “Something is wrong with me if my needs are not met” or “The other person is bad if they do not give me what I need.” Self-blame and blame of others may provide an explanation for an otherwise confusing experience and protect the child from feelings of helplessness\, uncertainty\, or isolation. What begins as a creative adjustment may later become a rigid pattern of guilt\, resentment\, self-punishment\, or exaggerated responsibility. Processes such as introjection\, deflection\, and retroflection may help the child structure and make sense of a situation in the face of not knowing. \nThe therapeutic task is to help clients become aware of their needs\, experience frustration with greater support\, and distinguish what responsibility belongs to them\, what belongs to others\, and what belongs to the situation itself. Through contact with the therapist\, clients may have a new experience of being heard\, understood\, and supported where this was previously unavailable. They may then discover new ways of creating safety without automatically resorting to self-blame\, blame of others\, or self-punishment. \nIn this workshop\, I will present the theoretical background of my model for working with guilt and offer an experiential exercise and/or a clinical demonstration to show how the model can be applied in practice. \nBiography: \nI am a teacher\, supervisor\, and practitioner in the Gestalt approach. My education includes training in Gestalt therapy\, and my professional work brings together practice\, supervision\, teaching\, and writing. I am also the creator of professional seminars and educational projects\, as well as the author of books and articles that help Gestalt therapists and students in their development. I work with clients\, train specialists\, and create space for deep professional exploration\, with particular attention to ethics\, methodology\, clinical research\, and authentic human contact. I was born in Russia\, lived in Norway for 20 years\, and now live in Cyprus. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/working-with-guilt/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/270404_Yudin_Working_w_Guilt.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270425T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270425T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T164808Z CREATED:20260812T175252Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T164808Z UID:5186-1808657100-1808667000@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Love at First and Last Sight: Disappointment\, Sorrow\, and Grief\, With Special Emphasis on Couples Therapy DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, April 25\, 2027 - Love at First and Last Sight: Disappointment\, Sorrow\, and Grief\, With Special Emphasis on Couples TherapyPlease enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail * \n am event? about\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Michael Vincent Miller \nDescription: \nThere are difficult – and inevitable – stretches that one will encounter in any lasting intimate relationship. They tell us that loving will always at some point involve dealing with loss. How to face and contend with these darker stretches that come up in intimacy is one of the greatest dilemmas in the life of couples. It always shows up in couples therapy and in much of individual therapy as well. The prospect of loss plays a major role in the anxieties that accompany virtually all our loving. It can lead\, for example\, to fear of commitment\, to one or both partners absenting themselves psychologically even while staying in the relationship\, or to one or both partners trying to gain control of the other and the relationship. \nGestalt therapy challenges us to embrace what exists\, even the more difficult and disturbing elements of our lives. The optimism inherent in Gestalt therapy resides in its belief in the powers of transformation. In this presentation\, we will explore the possibilities through which the unpleasant experiences of disappointment in love\, as well as sorrow and grief\, although never to be enjoyed\, can be reshaped and reframed into extraordinary opportunities for self-transformation and growth. \nBiography: \nMichael Vincent Miller\, PhD\, has practiced and taught Gestalt therapy for over 40 years\, primarily in New York City. He was trained in Gestalt therapy by its original founders. He has also been on the faculties of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University\, during which time he held the Stegner Fellowship in Poetry. He also received an award from the Academy of American Poets for one of his published poems. He was a co-founder of the Boston Gestalt Institute. He is a former president and currently a fellow of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy. Michael is the author of numerous articles\, reviews\, and introductions to books\, and his own book Intimate Terrorism (W.W. Norton) has appeared throughout the world in nine languages. He is also the author of Teaching a Paranoid to Flirt: The Poetics of Gestalt Therapy (The Gestalt Journal Press)\, a collection of essays\, and\, most recently\, Paths of Curiosity (l’Exprimerie\, France). URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/love-at-first-and-last-sight-disappointment-sorrow-and-grief-with-special-emphasis-on-couples-therapy/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/270425_Miller_Love_at_First_Sight.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270516T124500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270516T153000 DTSTAMP:20260823T165151Z CREATED:20260812T183150Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T165151Z UID:5195-1810471500-1810481400@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:Connecting in the Street: Boosting Social Bounds With Gestalt Therapy DESCRIPTION:Register\n  \n \n \n \n \n \n Register here\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Sunday\, May 16\, 2027 - Connecting in the Street: Boosting Social Bounds With Gestalt Therapy Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *I am a *NYIGT MemberGuestMy location *How did you find out about this event? * \n this message you\n \n \n 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 Please note the new 12:45 p.m. start time.\n \n \n \n \n \n Presenter: Séverine Bourguignon \nDescription: \nIn this presentation\, I will introduce Les Écouteurs de rues (Street Listeners)\, a French social innovative initiative founded in 2019. It is simple but powerful. Once a month\, for two hours\, volunteer therapists set up chairs in the public space of a very popular suburb of Paris and offer free\, informal listening sessions to passersby. Branches of the association also exist in three other cities of France. \nThe project was created to break down barriers to mental health care and to make mental health support accessible. Instead of requiring appointments or payment\, it brings support directly into the street\, making it easier for people to talk about personal or emotional difficulties in a safe\, accessible way. \nBeyond individual support and active listening\, the association promotes social connection and collective well-being\, encouraging people to speak and reconnect in an increasingly isolated society. Volunteer therapists also guide people toward appropriate services if further help is needed or asked for\, or can be identified. \nLes Écouteurs de rues aims to transform public space into a place of dialogue\, making mental health care more visible\, inclusive\, and human. The street becomes a common and sharing space and not only a place to be solicited or to hustle. It exposes therapists as ordinary people and de-dramatizes therapy\, making it simple and warmhearted but nonetheless serious and efficient. \nThe purpose is also to explore new models of care and mental health\, to get the habit of horizontalized relationships in health care\, and to build easy gateways toward services and institutions by randomly meeting people and informing them about available services and possibilities. \nWe will explore: \n\nHow the association was born and how it works.\nWhat is the ethical framework? How do we create safety outdoors? What are the limits?\nHow do we share intimacy outdoors? How do we encourage people who are total strangers to indulge themselves in the public space?\nHow are a certain number of Gestalt concepts addressed within the listenings illustrated with a few clinical examples of listening? For instance: social field\, patterns of contacting\, awareness\, contact boundary\, the between\, presence\, attunement and self-disclosure\, dialogue and language\, here and now\, creative adjustment\, co-creation\, horizontalism in the relationship\, excitement\, intentionality and reaching out\, experimentation (field work)\, resonance and field.\nPolitical involvement\, promoting humanism. Why are Gestalt therapists responding so readily and seeming perfectly suited to this exercise?\n\nBiography: \nSéverine Bourguignon is the founder and president of Les Écouteurs de rues (Street Listeners)\, an association offering free outdoor psychological listenings. \nShe works with individuals and groups in Paris as a Gestalt therapist\, supervises groups of social workers\, and trains people in active listening for the French Institute of the North (EGN). \nAs a former visual artist\, she also trains therapists with the use of artistic mediation in therapy and has created a deck of cards about regulation modes. \nShe is the author of Gestalt articles in the French journal Revue Gestalt\, the latest about Winnicott’s use of squiggle in Gestalt therapy. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/connecting-in-the-street-boosting-social-bounds-with-gestalt-therapy/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Presentation ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/270516_Bourguignon_Connecting_in_the_street.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270604T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270604T173000 DTSTAMP:20260822T212152Z CREATED:20260821T201457Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260822T212152Z UID:5364-1812103200-1812130200@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:75th Anniversary Conference - Day 1 DESCRIPTION:Please join us!\n \nSee details here: 75thanniversaryconference.nyigt.org URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/75th-anniversary-conference-1/ CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/nyigt_75ann_conference_bkgnd.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270605T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270605T173000 DTSTAMP:20260822T211835Z CREATED:20260821T202714Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260822T211835Z UID:5379-1812189600-1812216600@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:75th Anniversary Conference - Day 2 DESCRIPTION:Please join us!\n \nSee details here: 75thanniversaryconference.nyigt.org URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/75th-anniversary-conference-day-2/ CATEGORIES:Special Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/nyigt_75ann_conference_bkgnd.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20270613T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270613T150000 DTSTAMP:20260823T154833Z CREATED:20260821T165214Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260823T154833Z UID:5337-1812888000-1812898800@newyorkgestalt.org SUMMARY:2026-2027 Membership Meeting #3 DESCRIPTION:The meeting will start at 12 noon and end at 3 p.m. Please note the extra hour. URL:https://newyorkgestalt.org/event/2026-2027-membership-meeting-3/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Membership Meeting ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://newyorkgestalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/biz_meeting_bkgrnd1_light.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR