Gestalting Groups: Roots and Branches
Roots VI will take place in Belfast, Ireland, convened by GISC and hosted by Gestalt Centre Belfast.
Groups have been a fundamental part of the Gestalt approach since its inception. Fritz Perls was one of the first therapists to do therapy « live in front of a group » – later called the « Greek amphitheater. » As it developed as a specific approach to therapy it was then nicknamed the « broken wagon wheel. » The therapist would work one-on-one with each individual, using the group as communal support.
Yet our approach to groups and their application has always been much more diverse. In the opening presentations, our intention is to describe the early roots of Gestalt with groups before moving into the use of groups in Gestalt training.
We have invited people to present on various aspects of groups, from small to large groups, psychotherapy, supervision, teams, leader led, leaderless, growth, project oriented, etc. See complete topics descriptions on our web page. Learn more here.
Roots VI will feature sixteen presenters representing ten different countries. Presenters and topics include:
Astrid Alemany Dusendschön, France: From Intra-Personal (One-on-One) to Interpersonal to Group Level Working: Possibilities and Limits of Different Postures of a Group Animator/ Therapist, Recognizing Them and Their Effects on Group Work
Talia Bar-Yoseph Levine, UK: Business Families – The Beauty and The Complexity.
Simon Cavicchia, UK: Senior Team Dialogue – Facilitating the Emergence of Leadership in Complex and Uncertain Times
Marie Anne Chidia, England: Working with Multi-Disciplinary Teams: Gestalt and Team Coaching
Seán Gaffney, Sweden: History of Gestalt with Groups Theory
Joëlle Gartner, Ireland: Becoming and Being a Group in a Society in Conflict
Barry Gruenberg, USA: Leading through Uncertainty: A Gestalt-based Approach to Developing Groups of Leaders at Microsoft
Gaie Houston, England: Interpretation, Fantasy and the Group
Mike McElwee, USA: Integrating Gestalt into Pre-existing Complexity-based Organization Change Practices
Joe Melnick, USA: History of the Practice of Gestalt with Groups
Frans Meulmeester, Netherlands: Cancer in Perspective: a Counseling Group for Cancer Patients
Konstantin Pavlov, EEGI, Saint-Petersburg, Russia: Groups & Society Dynamics in Post-Soviet Lands: The « Insider’s » Perspective
Chantelle Wyley and Shanil Haricharan, South Africa: Forces for Change and Forces for Sameness: Reflections On Consulting in the South African Public Service and Working with Groupings Around Traditional Culture, Liberation Culture, and Organisational Culture
Yianna Yiamarelou, Greece: Relational themes in Group Supervision: Expectation, Obsession, Impasse