This is a brief report of a conference held under the auspices of the Gestalt International Study Center (www.gisc.org). It was a continuation of a conference held two years previously in which participants examined those influences leading to the development of Gestalt therapy. Co-conveners for the conference were Seán Gaffney and Edwin Nevis.

The structure and process of this conference were particularly conducive to engrossing discussion. Any given presenter would be given about thirty minutes to make an initial presentation of some seminal influence to Gestalt theory or its early development in practice, including the effect upon the originators of Gestalt therapy, and then there would be a time for clarifying questions. Following that the large group would break into small discussion groups around various figures of interest arising from the presentation and clarifying questions. Following discussion at the small group level, all would reconvene to share the gist of their relative discussions. This process began on Thursday afternoon, April 7 and culminated on Sunday, April 10 about noon.

This conference was a production of the Gestalt International Study Center (GISC) of Cape Cod. Edwin and Sonia Nevis are the founders and driving forces, and descriptions of their programs can be found at www.gisc.org.

The venue was in the Belgian countryside, 18 km outside of Antwerp, at the St. Martinushoeve Hotel and Conference Center. They provided excellent facilities and superb meals. Between sessions it was possible to enjoy walks in the woods.

The list of presenters and presentations follows:

• Philip Brownell (Sr. Editor, ejournal Gestalt! and Manager of the Gstalt-L eCommunity), presented
  “Theism: The Rejected Side of a Neglected Polarity in the Roots of Gestalt Therapy.”
• Anna Ravenna (Instituto Gestalt Firenze, Italy) presented
  “Dionysus: The Origin of the Greek Theatre Compared with Gestalt, an Experiential Psychotherapy.”
• Ken Evans (President of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy) presented
  “From Certainty to Skepticism: A Gestalt Perspective on the Dilemma of Post-Modernism.”
• Paolo Quatrini (Instituto Gestalt Firenze, Italy) presented
  “Franz Brentano: Objects and Phenomena”
• Gonzague Masquelier (Ecole Parisienne de Gestalt) presented
  "Existential Pressures in a Gestalt Perspective.”
• Melvyn Kimura Bucholtz (GISC, and the Stillness Institute, USA) presented
  “Gestalt: Zen of the West - Zen, Gestalt of the East.”
• Susan Gregory (New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy) presented
  “Elsa Grindler: Lost Gestalt Ancestor.”
• Deborah Ullman (GestaltPress, USA) presented
  “Lewin's Topological Psychology”
• George Wollants (Flemish-Dutch Gestalt Journal, The Netherlands) presented
  “Gestalt Therapy: Therapy of the Situation.”
• Gaie Houston (London Gestalt Centre) presented
  “Some Roots of Group Work in Gestalt.”
• Anne and Serge Ginger (Ecole Parisienne de Gestalt) presented
  "Moreno and Perls: Rival Twins.”
• Talia Levin Bar Joseph (Jerusalem Gestalt Institute, Israel) presented
  “Buberian Dialogue As a Foundation for the Bridging of the Divide.”
• Edwin Nevis (GISC) presented
  “Paul Goodman: The Life of a 20th Century Renaissance man.”
• Philip Lichtenberg (Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia) presented
  “Paul Goodman and Gestalt Therapy: Social Renovation and Radical Psychoanalysis.”
• The entire schedule was wonderfully facilitated by Seán Gaffney.

Pictures follow: