 Presentation Abstracts
Friday, June 5 |
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| Friday Morning, June 5
Autism From A Gestalt Therapy Perspective INTERNATIONAL Autism is currently considered to be a developmental disturbance, featuring a severe social cognitive deficit, the etiology of which, although difficult to assess, is reputed to be organic. We have treated autistic children from a Gestalt therapy point of view providing educational programs as well as therapeutic assistance for them and their families. We conceive the problem of autism as an interruption in contact functions and in the processes of introjection and projection. In addition to providing a general Gestalt approach program of intervention, we believe treatment with these children may also contribute to personality theory. 10 Years of Gestalt in Russia: From Excitement to Integration INTERNATIONAL Development of Gestalt therapy in Russia is the dialog between different cultures. It's process of contact and its interruptions. Beginning with joint work of Russian psychologists and German trainers and participants, common ground was based on joint experiencethe echo of war, feelings of guilt and regret. Gestalt gave a method to meet the opposite personal experience. Theory came in the contact with French Gestalt-therapist and theorist J.M. Robine and re-opened values of Russian academic psychology. American and Russian Gestalt meet when Gestalt is integrated into practice and organizations. We will explore cultural differences and share personal experience. Experience the Fundamental Concepts of Gestalt Therapy INTERNATIONAL This workshop aims to teach major concepts of Gestalt therapy through experiential exercises. These concepts are: confluence, contact, contact boundary, integration, insight/self discovery, inner, outer and middle zones plus retroflection. Learning theoretical concepts in this manner and how they relate to the practice of therapy results in a deeper clearer understanding of the concepts. This learning can be easily translated into one's work as a therapist. The presentation will consists of lecturettes about the specific concepts to be learned followed by specific exercises which involve those concepts. Each exercise will be followed with debriefing and question periods. Gestalt Approach in Working with the Unemployed INTERNATIONAL The unemployment situation is the Russia is going through enormous changes, forced by economic and political circumstances. The different ways people react to the loss of their job can be considered in terms of different kinds of interruptions to contact. Soviet society imposed on its people some introjects which now prevent people from finding a good new job. By looking at the cycle of experience and the mechanisms of contact interruption, which I will described in this workshop, I can offer the next sequence of the therapeutic tasks for the group. We shall discuss some common mistakes made by consultants. What's Behind the Empty Chair? Visual Images of Gestalt Therapy Liv Estrup, M.A.; Santa Monica, California, USA This slide presentation is a creative integration of our complex and holistic theory. Those with a cursory knowledge of Gestalt therapy assume that Gestalt "techniques" are the whole of Gestalt therapy. These visual images and narration present Gestalt therapy within its rightful context of philosophy, theory, and methodology. Through photographs and graphics, this overview covers a brief history of Gestalt therapy along with seven lenses organizing the background of a Gestalt therapist at work: field theory, phenomenology, organismic self regulation, interruptions to contact, existentialism, paradoxical theory of change, dialogue, and Gestalt thepapy methodology.
We Are What We Say: Creating Ourselves Through Voice and Language Lois Meredith, Ph.D.; New York City, New York, USA Language is one of the fundamental ways in which we make contact. Whether as individuals, organizations, or cultures, language both reflects and creates the way in which we perceive and are perceived. This presentation will begin with an exploration of the structure of language, the what of our saying (vocabulary, syntax, complexity, clarity), and how this structure "expresses" us. Next we will consider vocal styles, the how of language (tone quality, vocal range and color, intonation, enunciation, and the relationship of voice to breathing, posture, and physical impulse). Finally, we will use language to experiment with new ways of being.
Gestalt in the World of Physical Therapy Carol A. Montgomery, M.S., P.T. & Kim J. Watanabe, P.T.; Morgantown, Indiana In this presentation we will discuss and demonstrate our integration of Gestalt principles into the practice of Physical Therapy working with chronic pain and psychosomatic conditions. Although the use of cognitive therapy is primarily supported for the treatment of individuals with pain syndromes, Gestalt methods promote our patient's aliveness and creativity allowing a fuller range of emotions and sensations in their present reality. We will provide exercises that allow awareness of the physical field thus leading to other possible choices of figure formation; practice in self awareness, use of touch, and examples of "physical" dialogue techniques.
Couples: "A Bird May Love a Fish, But Where Will They Live?" Robert W. Resnick, Ph.D. and Rita F. Resnick, Ph.D.; Santa Monica, California Relationships and marriage are difficult, rhythmical and not for the faint of heart. The Resnicks will present potent approaches to the ultimate and complex human dilemma: How to be connected with another and maintain a self... The paradoxical reality is that true intimacy requires separateness. "Two-ness" is a pre-requisite for connection. Beginning with a theory overview, followed by a live and/or video demonstration, this presentation introduces a theoretically solid yet practical approach - real therapists working with real people on real issues. Discussion and comparisons to other approaches (classic and contemporary Psychoanalytic, Cognitive Behavioral, Systemic, Postmodern) are encouraged.
The Gestalt Awareness Cycle in Creative Expression Janet Ruckert, Ed.D.; Los Angeles, California, USA Discovering how desire proceeds from enthusiasm to conviction, action, and the satisfying of our needs is one of the tasks of Gestalt therapy. As we express our own metaphors, the details of this process become obvious and the possibility for awareness and change emerges. This experiential workshop will show how the Gestalt awareness cycle enacts itself in art expression within a supportive group format. We will experiment with simple art exercises to demonstrate contact awareness and dialogue. The presentation will conclude with discussion on applications for using creative expression in therapy with groups, couples, families, and children.
Fathers and Sons: the Male Nurturing Relationship Men's Issues in Gestalt Therapy Interest Group Boys learn first about the conditions for male-male nurturance in the father-son relationshipyet in this culture these relationships are often marked by absence, conflict, disappointmenteven abuse. Using a Gestalt lens we will explore these important issues, focusing on dynamics of support and shame, and on the field conditions for self-integration and contact between boys and men, and then among men in general. Following a brief theory presentation, we will use a small-group exercise exploring contact possibilities under restrictive field conditions, with discussion including case material and our own histories.
Friday Early Afternoon, June 5
Self-Awareness in the Context of National History INTERNATIONAL Every person lives inside different social fields; maybe the largest one isnational. In Russia, a period of chaos and disorder is now changing to one of more stable new social structures. Fear of losing the past and feelings of ecstasy over the new transformation, change to sadness over unfulfilled expectations. Searching for an appropriate balance between community and autonomy for a person within their nation is not an easy task, especially in a critical period of the country's history. We support people in Russia to find this balance. We will support workshop participants increasing self-awareness of their balance within their national field.
Gestalt in a Field of Cultural Diversity INTERNATIONAL This is an experiential workshop on the patterns that can emerge when change is occurring at a complex system level, namely a whole society, its distinct cultural groups, and the world in which it is embedded. Within the framework of a simple and stringent structure, delegates may possibly experience and understand these patterns from the inside. Time permitting, I will describe my work within such systems, for example in Estonia, Latvia, and The North of Ireland.
Chaos in Gestalt Groups? "Not every flap of a butterfly's wings" INTERNATIONAL Chaos theory is often described by the metaphor: "A flap of a butterfly's wings in the Amazon may produce a cyclone in Florida", or, small effects may produce large, unpredictable changes. The presentation will introduce participants to key principles of Chaos theory and more particularly, self organisation and show how these more recent understandings of open systems may apply to Gestalt therapy. Self organisation as a process will be compared with the facilitation of change in personal development groups, both in theory and practice. The topic will be explored through verbal examples, description of research results, exercises, and discussion.
On Surprise and Novelty: The Unfolding Self INTERNATIONAL How do we work in therapy to facilitate contact with novelty and creativity in the field of experience? We will explore some relational constructs which can help to ground our practice within the reference of field theory, beyond the individualist paradigm: resonance, curiosity, astonishment, uncertainty, recognition and confirmation, co-construction of experience. In this didactic/experiential workshop, we will explore these themes and processes, pulling the Gestalt -therapy model one step beyond the jails of psychopathological and developmental models.
The Couples Conflict: Polarity and Projection INTERNATIONAL Our theory is based on the fact that problems in the couple are nothing but personal difficulties that express themselves in the relationship with one's partner. We place outside those parts of ourselves that we don't like. Thus, we transfer outside our inner conflict. The therapist's ability consists in observing which is the polarity that each partner is dramatising in his relationship with the other. It is the aim of our work to show how we can help both partners to spot their neglected areas by working with the partner's aspects that they find unbearable
Parental Expectations for Children: An Experiential Workshop INTERNATIONAL Participants will investigate parental expectations of one's children. The process can be regarded as combination of Gestalt therapy concepts and Object Relations' theory. Participants will be invited to do personal work, followed by sharing in pairs, and in the group. Answering the question,"What do I want from my children?", group members verbalize their ideas, become aware and explore feelings, images, sensations, etc. Multimodal expression of feelings, wishes, and ideas is suggested, using drawing, sculpture, moving, sound, etc. Then all the participants can answer the questions, "What do these expectations mean for me? How do they influrence my life and therapeutic style?"
Gestalt Training Around the World Gestalt Training Institutes Liaison Interest Group This presentation is an Interest Group discussion panel to foster dialogue about Gestalt training programs and practices from around the world. The first half of the meeting will be a presentation of common profiles among Gestalt training programs and a look at where, how, and why programs may be different. The second half of the meeting will be a dialogue centering around areas of interest that have emerged from the presentation. We hope to encourage exchange, cooperation, and advancement between Gestalt programs. Binders containing training material collected by the interest group will be available to a limited number of participants.
Healing Trauma: Healing Tasks and Body Process James I. Kepner, Ph.D.; Shaker Heights, Ohio A central way of coping with trauma and it's aftermath is to disconnect from the bodily locus of the traumatic pain and emotions by numbing, desensitization, and dissociation. This leaves the survivor ungrounded, disconnected from feelings, with poor physical boundaries, and a disrupted sense of self. Therapy must include ways to gradually reclaim the body from the trauma so that the body and self become re-associated. This class will formulate a Gestalt perspective on trauma, explore some Body Process methods for working with embodied experience (grounding, breathing, exercises, etc.) and look at how phase of healing guides appropriate interventions.
Theatre & Therapy: A Field-Theoretical Understanding of the Dream Arthur Roberts, M.A., CMHC & Janet Sonenberg, M.F.A.; Boston, Massachusetts Dreams and other spontaneous imaginative phenomena have traditionally been understood as belonging to our private "inner" experience, but the unfolding discourse on field theory has called into question any clear-cut distinctions between "inner" and "outer". New conceptual tools have given us the possibility to understand even our most deeply personal experiences as complexly determined events emerging from an interconnected field. A two-year theatrical experiment at MITin which a troupe of actors incubated dreams based on a playwright's textled to surprising insights regarding the collective, interactive nature of dreaming and other "inner" experience.
Feminist Relational Theories & Gestalt Therapy: A Lively Dialogue Deborah Ullman, B.A. Orleans, Massachusetts; Margaret "Pat" Korb, Ph.D., Gainesville, Florida Feminist relational theories grew out of a dissatisfaction with psychoanalytic approaches to therapy and assumptions about women's development. So did Gestalt, partly, if "human" is inserted for "women". We will articulate the similarities, differences, and propose a clarifying Gestalt framework for embracing principles of relational development and connected knowing. Certain ways of thinking and discussing ideas are more common for women than men. Using lecture, discussion, and exercises, we will apply empathic epistemology to clinical case work, personal beliefs, and non-judgmental approaches to gossip. This is an inquiry into embedded gendered assumptions about self, trust, and process of understanding.
Friday Late Afternoon, June 5
Gestalt from an African Point of View INTERNATIONAL The Gestalt model and my culture, an African village traditional culture in transition, have some similarities and differences. In this brief talk I will try to show how these polarities appear in practice and suggest what, from my point of view, both thee Gestalt and African culture can offer to each other for a mutual reinforcement.
Gestalt Work with Children's Fear: Through the Land of Horror INTERNATIONAL Fear is a primary feeling that interrupts normal child/environment contact process. The child runs away from the situation, closes eyes and ears instead of looking and hearing, and the child becomes aggressive. We can distinguish different kinds of fear according to the point of interruption. Drawing and play therapy can support the child's curiosity to explore situation, to find dangerous object and have contact with it. Fear can be replaced with interest, curiosity, or aggression. Participants will try techniques of working with fear through playing and drawing; exploring their experience in finding fearful object and necessary support for dealing with it.
Cultural Action for Freedom: Paulo Freire as Gestaltist INTERNATIONAL Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator, has developed a "pedagogy of the oppressed" to help people move from being objects (known and acted upon) to being subjects (who know and act). This work, called conscientization, is based on dialogue and responsibility, and returns constantly to the field conditions (economic, cultural, social, and political) in which people and communities are embedded. It has many similarities to Gestalt therapy. I propose to present an overview of the work and thought of Paulo Freire, and its connection to Gestalt therapy, using some of Freire's own methodology.
Consulting in Complex Adaptive Systems: A Gestalt Perspective INTERNATIONAL Participants will be invited to share their views of the consulting role in larger systems, the underlying metaphors or organisation which inform practice, and how that might parallel or contrast with one-to-one work. We will discuss our own practice which is informed both by our experience as Gestalt practitioners and the close correspondence between the field theory of GT and recently developed insights on the processes of emergence and self- organisation from Complexity Theory. We will conclude with discussing the implications of this radical perspective where, as Stuart Kauffmann puts it, 'order emerges for free' on the edge of chaos.
An Innovative Approach to Social Integration INTERNATIONAL Social conflict stems from lack of mutual information and stereotypic ideas about the other that results in prejudice, rejection, and alienation. Social Integration is a process that aims to promote mutual acceptance and tolerance. Our assumption is that implementing basic concepts of Gestalt theory such as polarities, contact, figure and ground relationship, the formation of elements into a meaningful Gestalt, etc. will enable conflicting sub-groups to reduce prejudice, increase tolerance, and develop a process of integration. An emperical field-research that is currently conducted in Israel will be presented in the lecture.
Female Sexual Dysfunctions and Gestalt Therapy INTERNATIONAL The aim of this presentation is to understand women with sexual dysfunctions from a Gestalt therapy perspective and to point out some experiments that could be helpful working with them. First, issues that are important in understanding the nature and the meaning of the dysfunction for the couple/client, will be reviewed. Second, both DSM-IV classification of sexual dysfunctions and the Gestalt diagnosis for different dysfunctions, in terms of the cycles of Gestalt formation/destruction and boundary disturbances, will be discussed. Finally, some examples of useful experiments will be summarized and case examples will be given.
Everything the Novice Wants to Know About Gestalt Therapy Liv Estrup, M.A. and Rita Resnick, Ph.D.; Santa Monica, California "Be as you are and so see who you are and how you are...." In this introductory workshop we hope to provide a living Gestalt environmentteaching, through an experiential/didactic method, the basic principles of Gestalt therapy: field theory, phenomenology, and dialogue. Our desire is (1) to heighten each individual's personal awareness of the style in which s/he make contact with the world, (2) to highlight the way each individual makes meaning (the relationship between figure and ground), and (3) to aid participants in identifying present thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that encourage or prevent personal growth.
Infiltrating the Ivory Tower: Gestalt in Higher Education INTERNATIONAL The voice of Gestalt has neither been heard nor accepted in many disciplines which train future professionals within higher education. This program will focus on infusing a new generation with the power, excitement, and richness of Gestalt therapy through influencing training programs and the academic climate in higher education. The presenters, from counselor education, school psychology, nursing, and administration, will share both the importance and impact of Gestalt therapy in training graduate and undergraduate students in the human services professions to trigger sharing of their stories by the audience, and for brainstorming ideas for infiltrating the ivory tower.
Exploring the Body in Gestalt Sessions: A Developmental Approach Ruella Frank, Ph.D.; New York, New York, USA From the first spiral out of the birth canal to the crawling, sitting, and walking experiences of life, developmental movement patterns organize our sensations, perceptions, and emotions. When development goes smoothly and infant and environment are generally well matched, patterns emerge with fluidity and grace. When too many difficulties in the infant/environment field exist, an inhibition of movement pattern results. Developmental patterns form the underlying foundation for all present experience. Workshop participants will: experience several developmental patterns heightening awareness of fundamental supports for contacting; and learn to observe flow of contact and interruptions from a proprioceptive and developmental perspective.
How to Write for Journal Publication Joseph Melnick, Ph.D.; Portland, Maine Historically, journal writing has been minimized by the Gestalt community. However, this underemphasis has been changing rapidly and we currently have over ten Gestalt journals worldwide. The foremost objective of this workshop is to help participants learn how to write for journal publication. Information will be provided regarding the concrete specifics of writing for journals; helping individuals learn to utilize a Gestalt therapy perspective for assisting the strengths and weaknesses of their unique writing process, and how to utilize supports as a way of dealing with blocks and resistances. The workshop will consist of lectures, discussions and exercises. |
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