The very successful program of professional practice seminars continues in 2022 under new management.

 

From 2022 the seminars have be organised by the newly forming Victorian Association of Gestalt Practitioners and members of the working group will host events.

 

These evenings are an opportunity for gestalt practitioners, students and interested colleagues to meet and explore elements of our practice.

 

Seminars are Online or

at the Gestalt Centre / 622 Lygon Street North Carlton 3054

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All Seminars / $30 (exc GST). 

There are no refunds of Gestalt Project events.

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Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) is an internationally recognised, comprehensive framework for responding to any clinical issue or marginalised lived experience in ways that promote personal and community wellbeing. This seminar will provide an introductory overview of some key AOP principles, concepts, and techniques. We will apply an AOP perspective to evaluate some key strengths and limitations of Gestalt therapy and make suggestions for building an anti-oppressive Gestalt therapy community of practice. We will cover some historical, conceptual, and applied elements of AOP to explain its therapeutic value, including:

• How AOP differs from “friendly”, “inclusive’”, ‘”diversity positive”, and “affirming” approaches

• Why cultural humility is safer and more effective than “cultural competence”

• How to recognise and address implicit biases and privilege in your work

• Some Anti-Oppressive clinical practices you can apply to your work

• How AOP can help you to resolve some seemingly ‘”too hard basket” dilemmas and transform your practice

 

Presenter bio’s:

Dr Gávi Ansara (PhD Psychol, MCouns) (He/him) provided 20+ years of anti-oppressive practice alongside communities experiencing marginalisation. He received American Psychological Association’s Transgender Research Award for original, significant research, UK Higher Education Academy’s National Psychology Postgraduate Teaching Award, and University of Surrey Vice Chancellor’s Alumni Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to international human rights and social justice. Gávi is a polycultural, polyamorous, androsexual man living on Boon Wurrung land. He has lived experience of disability, homelessness, racist violence, and gender, body, kinship, and sexuality oppression. He strives toward cultural humility regarding his literacy, verbal, allistic, binary gender, sighted, and non-Aboriginal privilege. Contact at gavi[at]ansarapsychotherapy.com

 

eden brown (they/them) completed their Gestalt training in 2021. They have worked in the international development and community services sector for the past 12 years; within Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Indigenous non-government organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, has supported young people in state care, women and children escaping family violence and provided counselling to men who enact violence. They currently work as a counsellor for a LGBTIQ+ community health agency. They also co-chair an international online Gestalt Gender Group and is a collaborator and facilitator at Open Gestalt. eden is an able-bodied, queer, trans non-binary pasefika person of colour.  Contact at edenbrown3000@gmail.com.

 

 

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“Years ago, Gestalt took a relational turn paving way for its next turn. Given the crossroad we are at, the next ethical turn for Gestalt is towards social justice” - Kirti Singh. Through this dialogue, Kirti and eden would like to invite you to join them in expanding our capacity to hold the complexities and dynamics of the contemporary field. The current field conditioners draw our attention to the anthropocene; a landscape of rapidly evolving pandemics, climate challenges, racialised violence, ongoing sexual assault of women and children, LGTBQI-free zones, and a regression in geopolitical responsiveness. We propose more complexity, depth, and an expansion of our current ethical stance; we propose that, given the current field conditioners, the next ethical turn is a global social justice turn. Neutrality is a political position. How do we as practitioners stay experience-near, embody, integrate, and articulate an ethic of social justice in our practice? Let’s dialogue; bring your unique perspective, given our differences in positioning, to this conversation.

 

Presenter bio’s:

Kirti Singh is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified professional coach, and a process group facilitator. As director of exponent coaching, she works with individuals, organizations, and communities. She is a faculty at Open Gestalt and a visiting faculty at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She is a cisgender woman, able-bodied, a person of color, Indian-born immigrant to Canada. In her work, she acknowledges the impact of social identities and socio-cultural field conditions; and works towards making spaces more equitable and diverse. Currently, she is co-organising the Human Rights and Social Responsibility Committee at the International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy (IAAGT). Contact at kspaliwal.singh@gmail.com.

 

eden brown (they/them) completed their Gestalt training in 2021. They have worked in the international development and community services sector for the past 12 years; within Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Indigenous non-government organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, has supported young people in state care, women and children escaping family violence and provided counselling to men who enact violence. They currently work as a counsellor for a LGBTIQ+ community health agency. They also co-chair an international online Gestalt Gender Group and is a collaborator and facilitator at Open Gestalt. eden is an able-bodied, queer, trans non-binary pasefika person of colour. Contact at edenbrown3000@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This seminar sits alongside Lygon Street Therapy’s first-ever art exhibition, presented by artists Maria Sirpis and Matthew Austin. (Opening night of the exhibition is April 12, 6pm-8pm; please also come along to that). This seminar will include facilitated discussion and hands-on artmaking to enhance participants connection to self and the environment. It is hoped that participants will gain a deeper understanding of barriers that may disconnect us from the present moment and develop creative ways nurture connection to self that can support our work as therapists. In this body of artwork, Matthew and Maria explore visually the impact of therapeutic work on personal identity, presence, and the body in relation to the environment. Matthew and Maria will speak to key learnings from working together in this collaborative art-making project and talk in detail about the artworks presented in the exhibition that will be displayed concurrently. 

 

Presenter bio’s:

Maria Sirpis is a visual artist and art therapist and has trained in couples counselling. She currently works at South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault as Group Coordinator. Maria has worked for the past 11 years in various clinical roles mostly in the trauma field and made the decision last year to nourish her visual art practice with further study. Contact at mariasirpis@gmail.com

 

Matthew Austin is a visual artist, gestalt psychotherapist, and mental health social worker in private practice. He has worked over the past decade with the LGBTQIA+ community and has a particular interest in shame and its impact. Matthew opened his private practice to assist him to dedicate more time to his art practice. Contact at hello@matthewaustincounselling.com.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairwork was first developed by Dr. Jacob Moreno, the creator of Psychodrama, and then made famous in the 1960s through the work of Dr. Frederick “Fritz” Perls at the Esalen Institute in California.  Following his death in 1970, a wide range of integrative psychotherapists adopted and re-imagined the practice of Chairwork. The Four Dialogues Model – Giving Voice, Internal Dialogues, Telling the Story, and Relationships and Encounters – represents a crystallisation of nearly 60 years of Chairwork development. In this seminar, we will present the Four Dialogues model and show how it can be used with a wide range of clinical issues.  We will then do two demonstrations or case consultation sessions with volunteers from the group.  This will be followed by discussion with the group.

 

Presenter bio’s:

Scott Kellogg, PhD, is the author of Transformational Chairwork: Using Psychotherapeutic Dialogues in Clinical Practice (2015, Rowman & Littlefield). He is a former Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University and a  Past-President of Division of Addictions of the New York State  Psychological Association. An ISST-certified Advanced Schema Therapist, he has also trained in Gestalt Therapy and Voice Dialogue. Dr. Kellogg currently runs a Chairwork-centred private  practice in New York City. Through the Transformational  Chairwork Psychotherapy Project, he has taught this method of psychotherapeutic dialogue to practitioners in the United States and abroad. Website: www.transformationalchairwork.com. Contact at: kelloggchairwork@gmail.com

 

Amanda Garcia Torres, LMHC, is a certified Chairwork Psychotherapist and Co-Director of Training at the Transformational Chairwork Psychotherapy Project. Ms. Garcia Torres received her Master’s Degree in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness from New York University and has also completed training in Voice Dialogue. She began her journey with TCPP in 2013 and has trained clinicians in NYC and internationally. Her presentations and writings have addressed such topics as Chairwork, trauma, social justice, oppression, and identity issues. Ms. Garcia Torres is in private practice at Chairwork Therapy NYC. Website: www.chairworktherapynyc.com. Contact at: amandagarcialmhc@gmail.co