Gestalt!, vol 5; no 3 - Announcements of Current Events in Gestalt Therapy

This next conference is being planned as a full-blown AAGT conference, with international proportions. We have secured a wonderful site on the beach in St. Petersburg, and our program committee is at work formulating the kinds of plenaries, workshops, and special programming people have come to expect from an AAGT conference. We want to encourage everyone reading this announcement to make plans to attend, especially as this conference, with it's theme in managing conflict, will afford Gestalt practitioners from around the world the chance to meet and to grapple with issues related to our current world events.

We also want to encourage you to submit proposals for workshops related to the themes and sub-themes. We have extended the deadline for these proposals to be sent to our blind peer review committee, and you can find a call for proposals at the AAGT web site (http://www.aagt.org), along with the submission form that goes with it. If you would prefer an email version of that call and form, please send a message to Phil (phil@g-gtc.com) and request such a thing. Our hope is that you will consult the AAGT web site and use the call to submit your proposals for blind peer review. We would also like to encourage you to print that out and use it with your colleagues and friends who may not utilize the internet.

Registration for the conference is possible as well through the AAGT web site. If you would like to view the facilities where the conference will take place, please consult the web site for the hotel (http://tradewindsresort.com/sirata), and you can get in touch with them to register your rooms, identifying yourself as part of the AAGT conference, so as to get the rate we have negotiated.

Everything we need to continue the evolution of our organization will be available - plenty of space and time to associate in comfortable and supportive surroundings. The only thing left, really, is for YOU to attend and to make your presence known. We earnestly desire that you will do so.

Presentations will be two hours in length, with time for participant discussion. We are encouraging innovative and creative presentations and experiential workshops that explore how people move in and out of conflict in various contexts: intrapersonal and interpersonal, couples, families, small groups, organizations, and communities. Student papers and presentations based on research projects are welcomed. Presentations may be theoretical, clinical, or experiential, and they may be demonstrations, panels, video presentations, or discussions. Presentations will be selected by the conference planning committee following blind peer review. Interest groups are encouraged to submit proposals. Presentations will be taped and tapes will be made available during the conference. Continuing Education credit will be offered to attendees.

Those wishing to submit a proposal must submit a presentation proposal form following the procedure described below. Interested persons can use the form below, request that a presentation form be sent to them, or download one from the AAGT web site (www.aagt.org).

The form asks for a 200-300 word description of the presentation, an outline, questions that can be answered from attending the presentation, and three relevant readings. Presentation proposal forms will be blind peer reviewed and selected according to the needs of the program. If accepted, the corresponding presenter(s) will be required to submit (within two weeks) a 100 word abstract of the presentation to be published in the conference program, a 60 word biography reflecting the relevance of presenter background(s) to the presentation, a signed release permitting the taping of the presentation, a description of any audiovisual aids required, and a curriculum vita for each presenter (please have these ready). All these items are necessary to support the process of review and the AAGT's granting of Continuing Education Units; we appreciate your cooperation.

Correspondence around presentations with multiple presenters will be conducted with the person submitting the proposal, who will be responsible for communicating with co-presenters and sending in the requested materials.

Please do not delay in sending your proposal. The deadline for receipt of the presentation proposal form is February 1, 2002.

Those needing help in the preparation of a presentation proposal can contact the conference coordinators, Philip Brownell (phil@g-gtc.com) and/or Chuck Kanner (chuck@kanneracademy.com), who will either answer the questions directly or assign a mentor.

Please type (all sections must be completed in order to be considered; expand the sections as needed and/or use additional sheets as necessary)

4. Description (a 200-300 word description of what you intend to do, how you intend to do it, and in what ways that relates to the conference themes and/or sub-themes; be specific):

5. A five to ten-point outline of the material to be covered, expanding on the description above; this need not be detailed:

6. An assessment test consisting of five objective questions (multiple choice, true-false, fill in, or matching). The correct answers to these questions must be included. If the presentation is entirely experiential, answer this question, "What three new awarenesses were the result of participation?" The questions must be able to be answered as a result of attendance, and the shorter and less complicated the better.

7. List one to three significant readings (articles or books) on the subject of your presentation. These need not cover the specific topic, but should serve to provide information for further study and be generally relevant. Use this format: