This 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.

Buber’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.

We 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.

This presentation draws from interviews with Kitzler’s former NYIGT students, colleagues, and friends to paint a portrait of his impact on the teaching/learning community that is the New York Institute for 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.

Supervision 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.

Trauma 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.