Gestalt Institute of Toronto - 2019-2020 Training Catalogue - The Gestalt Institute of Toronto
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Gestalt Institute of Toronto
2019-2020 Training Catalogue
2 WELCOME TO THE GIT
A MESSAGE FROM
THE ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR AND
THE DIRECTOR OF TRAINING
Many people are not aware that the Gestalt Institute We begin the year honoring the growing awareness
of Toronto is the grandchild of Fritz Perl’s Canadian of our role as a psychotherapeutic community as
dream of establishing a Gestalt community in a transformational change agents in an increasingly
place called Lake Cowichan in British Columbia. diverse world. Gestalt has from its inception
Our founder Harvey Freedman was intended to contained within it the key to transforming reaction
be the director of that center called The Gestalt into curiosity, and curiosity into empathy and
Institute of Canada, but after Fritz’ death in 1970, attunement. Deborah Plummer, international trainer
Harvey returned to Toronto to bring the dream here, in human diversity, who was keynote speaker at the
establishing the Gestalt Institute of Toronto in 1973 2018 AAGT Conference, will lead us in a two day
with Jorge Rosner. workshop on the healing power of cross-racial and
cross-cultural intimate friendships. Elder Shirley
However it is only in recent years that our Gillis-Kendall and Char Avalos, GIT graduate,
community took our place inside the lineage in continue to wake up our training therapists to the
North, Central and South America and Europe. It is history of First Nations in Canada and the impact of
only natural that we would begin to bring in some of colonialism, genocide and intergenerational trauma.
the leading international trainers to link our students
and alumni to the abundance of growth in Gestalt In a year of increasing responsibility as a
practice in arenas never dreamed of by Fritz. This psychotherapy training institute we have
year our invited leaders are Margherita Spagnuolo expanded our administrative staff. Carolina is
Lobb, Deborah Plummer, Michael Clemmens, now Administrative Director and we are delighted
Gianni Francesetti, and Ruella Frank. to introduce to you our new Executive Director,
Natasha Teoli. All of us rely heavily on the hub of
the institute - our Office Manager Scarlett Peterson
WELCOME TO THE GIT 3
WELCOME TO THE GIT
whom most of you have met or spoken with, and our
newest addition, Administrative Assistant, Zizi Putra.
Our continued vitality is due to those you never see:
our Board of Directors, our donors and our student
volunteers. Our reason for being is you, our students
and seekers, If you get a chance to check the website
you will see there our core vision and the values that
drive that vision. We are proud to be part of a strong
faculty which includes Tony Greco, Luisa de Amaral
and Lauren Nancarrow Clarke. Together we give you
our commitment to a shared vision and values. Finally,
we send heartfelt congratulations to the 2018-19 new
graduates RP(Qualifying).
Hope to see you all at the GIT!
Carolina Edwards Jay Tropianskaia
Administrative Director Director of Training
4 WELCOME TO THE GIT
The Gestalt Institute of Toronto
The Gestalt Institute of Toronto is one of the oldest scale with the quality of training as well as its
established psychotherapy training schools in association with leading international Gestalt trainers.
Canada. We were established in 1973 as a center for
some of the leading Gestalt practitioners of the day, Gestalt therapy today is vital and expanding
including Lore Perls and Isadore From. In addition to throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas with
the training of psychotherapists we have a tradition schools in Italy, Great Britain, France, Germany,
of providing one of the most challenging levels of Scandinavia, Tibet, China, Russia, Central and
personal growth and development workshops and South America as well as Canada and the USA.
ongoing groups. Our commitment to experiential The GIT is part of a growing international family
learning means that our graduates have embodied committed to the leading edge in humanistic
the theory and approach in their lives as well as their psychotherapy training based in neuroscience and
work. Over and over we hear from our students and quality based research, dedicated to the movement
participants: I have never connected more deeply to from behavioural and cognitive focus to experiential,
others, I now can be myself within a group, or I have relational, embodied and field approach.
found my honest voice…
Our students come from backgrounds as varied
In June 2014 we became the first psychotherapy as the arts and information technology, education,
training institute in Ontario to be recognized by occupational therapy, social work, bodywork and
the newly established College of Registered yoga. Some have always known that they flourished
Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) as addressing in the experiential approach or they seek to balance
all of the required criteria for training. We are also their academic strengths with embodied knowledge.
certified as a designated learning institute (DLI) The Gestalt psychotherapist brings their whole self
which provides the opportunity for international into a variety of settings, in private practice as well as
students to apply for a study visa to train with us. institutional settings working with a range of human
The GIT continues to hold its own on the international suffering including psychopathology and addictions.
TRAINING PROGRAMS 5
The Five Year Training Program
THE TRAINING PROGRAMS
The Gestalt Training Program consists of five years acceptance leads to greater acceptance of the other,
of part-time study on evenings and weekends. to a willingness to make mistakes in the presence
The program is scheduled between the months of of others and to the awareness that we are each an
September and April, followed by a five-day residential implicit part of everything that occurs in our shared
in a country setting early in May for Years One, Two reality and therefore any change in pattern of one
and Three, and in June for Year Four and the One-Year person affects the entire group.
Training for Professionals group.
The first two years of The Five Year Training
Program may be taken for intensive personal growth
for students not intending to go forward into the
Professional Development Training of Years Three,
Four and Five, which are geared to becoming a
Registered Psychotherapist. Years One and Two, or
equivalent, are prerequisite training for entrance to
Year Three through Five.
The Gestalt Institute of Toronto’s training programs
continue to be committed to experiential and
experimental learning within group process, an
approach that has been our trademark since 1973.
Real change is possible in a diverse group coming
together to support each other and the process. We
are committed to shared agreements to speak the
language of responsibility, to the principle that self-
6 TRAINING PROGRAMS
YEAR ONE — GESTALT APPROACH TO
PERSONAL GROWTH
Year One is a year unlike any other where a return to • Identify difficult behaviour as a function of your
creativity and spontaneity are encouraged through creative adjustment
experiential learning within a supportive, diverse and • Recognize the importance of the group and its
dynamic group. The emphasis is on working within the context in your own evolution
established framework of Gestalt theory as it is applied • Confront fear of intimacy and gain confidence in
to one’s personal growth and life goals within and interpersonal skills
outside of the group. The group is a living laboratory in
which to explore present-based awareness of yourself Students are expected to complete:
in relation to others. Students can expect to connect • Oral and Written Exams
with others at the deepest level. Learning acquired • A Reflective Journal as an ongoing personal
in Year One form the foundation of Gestalt therapy exploration of theory as learned in the classroom
practice as developed across the five years • For students intending to continue to Year Three it is
recommended to begin personal therapy with a
Learning outcomes include: Gestalt psychotherapist or student therapist, to fulfill
• Reclaim spontaneity—learn the difference between the required 30 hours of personal therapy by the end
risk-taking and recklessness of Year Two.
• Find language to identify and express your own
process in relation to others
• Awaken body awareness as a first step to embodied
relationality
• Discover the “how” of who you are – your
phenomenology
• Explore who you are at the boundary of experience
TRAINING PROGRAMS 7
YEAR TWO — INTRODUCTION TO
FIELD DYNAMICS
This year builds upon the foundational work of Year • Build and maintain effective relationships
One as group members are challenged to apply • Address emerging conflicts and differences with
embodied self-awareness to include awareness of perspective, self-awareness and respect, use of
the other. The group process becomes more figural, I-Thou and Here and Now
including awareness of and dissolving any fixed • Discover language for internal experience in order to
roles within the group. Students will learn to develop create rapport with the other
curiosity in their own patterns as well as in another’s • Develop ability to take and give feedback
difference, to understand and explore their responses • Include differences in interactions with others
to the behaviour of group members (which we • Achieve successful resolution of authority issues
understand as creative adjustments based in desire • Maintain self-care and level of health and manage
to belong) and to deepen their use of the group as a energy during training weekends
support for ongoing growth. • Begin to access and apply a range of relevant
professional literature
Competencies that are key in Year Two are:
• Integration of Gestalt theory of human psychological Students are expected to complete:
functioning and development • Oral and written assignments
• Integration of awareness of self in relation to one’s • Students intending to apply to Year Three will need
role as group member and trainee thirty hours of personal therapy with a Gestalt
• Integration of knowledge of human and cultural psychotherapist by the end of Year Two
diversity in relation to other group members
• Use of effective communication — access genuine Successful completion of Year Two includes academic,
curiosity and interest in one’s own responses to attendance, and interpersonal assessment, leading to
another’s approach and style readiness to begin Year Three.
8 TRAINING PROGRAMS
YEAR THREE — USE OF SELF IN
EMBODIED RELATIONAL PRACTICE
This year is where students learn to experiment with • Adapting the therapist’s approach within a culturally
the safe and effective use of themselves in deep diverse group
phenomenologically based dialog with one another, as • Demonstrate awareness of the impact of context and
well as supervised practice with students in Years One the presence of the therapist and the co-leader on
and Two. In this way students begin to experience process
themselves at the beginning of therapist training – • Developing effective skills in observation of self, the
applying professional ethics and boundaries to their client and process
relations with students in earlier training years, as • Employing empathy, respect and authenticity
well as with peers in their own year. As co-leaders • Maintenance of self-care and level of health
assisting faculty, students begin to learn the meaning necessary for responsible therapy and group
of process led groups and expand their creativity membership
through workshop creation and developing skills in the
Gestalt experiment. Students are expected to complete:
• Oral and written assignments
Competencies in Year Three include: • 188 hours of experiential and didactic teaching
• Integration of awareness of self in relation to • 100 additional hours of supervised leadership
professional role • Brief live therapy examinations
• Develop safe and effective use of self in the • Total of fifty hours of personal therapy with a Gestalt
therapeutic relationship psychotherapist by the end of Year Three
• Learn to bracket assumptions and become aware of
bias to assume non-judgmental stance Application from Year Three to Year Four is by group
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with interview held in June of each year.
Year One and Two students and coleaders
TRAINING PROGRAMS 9
YEAR FOUR — TRAINING AND
SUPERVISION IN GESTALT THERAPY
Students in Year Four are trained academically and All competencies are now applied to the practice of
experientially in the fundamentals of therapy practice psychotherapy with particular emphasis on:
and a range of diverse clinical applications of the • Exploration of the impact of personal bias and
work including Gestalt applied theory of clinical experience to the therapy relationship
application of phenomenology, Gestalt approach to • Applying personal experience and embodied
change, field theory and embodied relationality is more relational approach to safe and effective use of self
deeply explored. Students learn a broader range of • Learning how the phenomenological approach
considerations that are applicable to all psychotherapy supports therapist work with issues of
including safe and effective use of self and principles multiculturalism, diversity and power dynamics
pertaining to transference, counter transference • Learning to apply the ARK principle (M. Lobb) -
and self-disclosure. Students are supported in the aesthetic, relational and knowledge
principles and practice of therapy under supervision, • Obtaining clinical supervision and consultation
and receive practical training on how to setup and • Establishing and maintaining an effective therapeutic
maintain a practice, relationship
• Offering psychotherapy to clients and maintain a
Students are approved to see clients under supervision professional frame for therapy
by November of Year Four and obtain liability
insurance as well as a supervisor. Membership in Students are expected to complete
the Student Clinic provides clients for new therapists, • Oral and written assignments
and students create their own client base as well. • Professional Practicum
The fourth year program also includes clinical group • 166 hours of experiential and didactic learning
supervision. • 20 hours of clinical group supervision
10 TRAINING PROGRAMS
YEAR FIVE — ADVANCED GESTALT
PSYCHOTHERAPY TRAINING
Year Five is a support year for therapists-in-training Graduation and Practice
to complete their hours and supervision requirements
for writing their final clinical paper to prepare for By Year Five students have developed their own
graduation in addition to meeting requirements to therapy practice as Supervised Student Therapists
apply for membership in CRPO. Once students and may be ready to apply for RP (Qualifying) status
have substantially completed the requirements for midway through the training year. In this way there
graduation from the GIT, they may apply for RP is no interruption of their practice following their
(Qualifying) status with the College of Registered graduation. Our graduates work in a variety of settings
Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). from running successful psychotherapy practices, to
working in clinics, hospitals and schools.
Year Five Program includes:
• Five Seminars on advanced approaches by Graduation from The Five Year Training Program
international leaders and senior faculty requires completion of all academic requirements, 30
• Monthly reading group, video and discussion hours of direct one-on-one or dyadic supervision with
sessions on current issues in psychotherapy an approved supervisor, a minimum of 150 direct client
• Ongoing direct client hours under supervision hours, and the acceptance of an extensive clinical
• 48 hours of didactic and experiential learning paper. Graduation takes place in June or December of
• 20 hours of clinical group supervision each calendar year. Individuals successfully meeting
all requirements receive a Diploma of Completion
Year Five students are welcome to continue on as of The Five Year Training Program in Gestalt
members of the Gestalt Student Clinic until they have Psychotherapy.
reached RP(Qualifying) status.TRAINING PROGRAMS 11
MAY AND JUNE FIVE-DAY TUITION FEE SCHEDULE FOR 2020
RESIDENTIAL TRAINING
The May Five-Day Residential Training takes place in Year One — Gestalt Approach to Personal Growth
a country setting outside of Toronto. The residential is • $4,500*
a requirement for all students at the end of Year One,
Two, Three and Four in order to complete their year. Year Two — Introduction to Field Dynamics
• $4,500*
The June Five-Day Residential Training Program
completes the requirements for Year Four and the One- Year Three — Use of Self in Embodied Relational
Year Training Program for Professionals. Practice
• $4,500*
Five-Day Residential for Training Programs
A fee of $620 for 2019-2020 training year includes Year Four — Training and Supervision in Gestalt
accommodation and all meals. The residential fee is Practice
separate from tuition fees. • $4,500*
Travel arrangements are the responsibility of the
individual. Year Five — Advanced Gestalt Psychotherapy Training
• $2,400*
*$100 administration fee is added if paid by
instalments.
GIT Tuition fees qualify to be claimed as a non-
refundable tax credit with Revenue Canada.
.12 TRAINING PROGRAMS
One Year Training Program
for Professionals
For professionals seeking to deepen their experience Participants will receive a certificate of completion of
of personal work within a training community, this is a the One Year Training for Professionals Program which
year of didactic and experiential exploration of Gestalt represents 180 continuing education hours. Successful
therapy’s aesthetic, relational and embodied approach. completion of the One Year Program is considered
The format is identical to Year One of our intensive equivalent to Year One of the Five Year Training
training program, except that the weekly meetings are Program. Therefore graduates of this program are
daytime sessions held on Friday mornings and the eligible to apply to Year Two of the CRPO recognized
course is enhanced to include the supervision needs Five Year Training Program.
and professional sharing of participants.
In addition to learning outcomes of Year One of
Gestalt therapy has been called a “right brain-left the Five Year Program, this program highlights the
brain” approach in that practitioners are trained to following learning outcomes:
move fluidly between their embodied knowing and • Applying multiple layers of awareness from
their cognitive skills, resulting in creative interventions embodied to field awareness in a variety of clinical
that are never the same in any two meetings. This contexts
keeps the therapist alive and constantly changing to • Working relationally
meet the client. Practitioners from other disciplines can • Working in the present moment
learn to bring these “Gestalt moments” into their work, • Gestalt as the clinical application of
leading to greater rejuvenation inside clinical practice. PhenomenologyTRAINING PROGRAMS 13
• Working with embodiment Course Schedule: 20 Friday mornings between
• Learning to be field sensitive October 4, 2019 and May 29, 2020, seven weekends
• Working with forms of contact and Residential June 2 – 7, 2020
• Adapting the experimental attitude
• Practicing and experiencing Hot Seat Tuition Fee: $4,500 plus residential fee
• Finding support in the practice Five-Day June Residential fee of $620 includes
• Understanding the difference between self- accommodation and all meals.
disclosure and self inclusion in order to apply Travel arrangements are the responsibility of the
Safe and Effective Use of Self individual.
The program concludes with a five day intensive Tuition Fee can be used as a non-refundable tax
including experience of Gestalt modalities such as credit.
encounter, role play, movement and art in a natural
setting.
Continuing Education (CE): 180 hours14 CONTINUING EDUCATION
GESTALT FOR Individual issues of interest will be available as time
SUPERVISORS permits.
This one day seminar Instructor: Jay Tropianskaia, RP, Senior Faculty
is designed for Date: Monday February 10, 2020 , 10am – 5:00pm
clinical supervisors Fee: $225
who wish to include Early Bird Rate: $195 (register by January 16)
the relational and Continuing Education (CE): 6 hours
phenomenological
approach in their Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
supervision work, as education hours.
well as for trained
Gestalt supervisors
who wish to continue to upgrade their supervision
skills. New topics that will be covered include:
• the importance of tracking what the supervisor
knows as a key to integration
• Recognition as the key ethic of supervision
• application of Margherita Lobb’s ARK approach to
each supervision session
• the use of self in the role of supervision in the
diagnostic process
• new light on parallel process
• practice supervision session for integration of
skills and peer feedbackCONTINUING EDUCATION 15
WORKING WITH This four session workshop offers experiential, applied
CONTINUING EDUCATION
COUPLES and theoretical support for those therapists who feel
called to working with couples.
For registered
psychotherapists Instructor: Jay Tropianskaia, RP. Senior Faculty
who have Dates and Time: Four Friday mornings April 3, 17, 24,
graduated from May 1, 2020, 9:30am-12:00 pm
the GIT Training Fee: $425.
Program or Early Bird Rate: $375 (register by March 6)
have equivalent Continuing Education (CE): 10 hours
training and are
ready to work Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
with couples. education hours.
Gestalt Therapy is uniquely suited to couples work
with its emphasis on co-creation and its foundational
belief that I can only know myself through the other.
However working with couples can be challenging for
beginning therapists where the focus has been on the
inter-relationship between the therapist and the client.
For a couple it is recognizing and supporting the
co-creation of their mutual recognition that is of interest
to the therapist. To be able to do this a therapist must
accept that each member of the relationship is a gift of
growth for the other.16 CONTINUING EDUCATION
THE GUILTY HEALER: In this one day seminar we will dig deeply into our
ONE DAY SEMINAR perfectionism and our humanity, to find the power of
fallible presence in the healing relationship.
What is enough in
caring for another? Instructor: Jay Tropianskaia, Senior Faculty
Where is the place Date and Time: Monday December 2, 2019,
for the anger and 10:00am-5:00pm
resentment that arises Fee: $225
in the caregiver, and Early Bird Rate: $195 (register by November 1, 2019)
what to do with the Continuing Education (CE): 6 hours
guilt that accompanies it? These are the unanswered
challenges inside caring for others, whether in a moment Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
of listening to a friend when we are already tired, or in education hours.
the therapy office when a client’s agitation or coldness
impacts our energy, or in the dynamics of love and hate
in long term committed care to a partner or parent.
Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb speaks about “the ethics
of fallibility” as our need to integrate compassion to
ourselves with acceptance of our own limitations. In an
article dedicated to the work of relational psychoanalyst
Donna Orange, Margherita writes: “if there is not a goal
to be achieved, but a presence to fulfill, can we accept
that we are not perfect?”CONTINUING EDUCATION 17
EMBODIED Instructor: Qi Shan
DIALOGUE Date: Seven Wednesdays November 6, 13,20, 27,
December 4, 11, 18, 2019, 10:00am-12:30pm
Qi Shan returns to Fee: $ 450
share her passion Student or GIT Graduate Discount: $ 395
with body process Continuing Education (CE): 17.5 hours
as a support for
dialogue. Shan Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
writes: “The body education hours.
is a connection
between our past
Qi Shan is a GIT graduate, a
and our future and can only stay in the here and now.
graduate of the Developmental
By exploring body’s expression and its narrative, our
Somatic Psychotherapy Program
presence becomes more clear, we vibrate, our response
in New York, and has completed
to the world become less stuck and more playful.”
training in somatic experiencing,
psychodrama, and sensory
This workshop is designed and is appropriate for all
awareness. She leads ongoing
professionals who seek to deepen their understanding
groups in the Chinese community in Toronto. Before
and experience of embodied therapy — including:
coming to Canada, she was the project manager at
counsellors, social workers, psychologists, physicians,
Shanghai Social Worker Association and lectured widely
nurses, art and music therapists. Senior students in the
across China.
Gestalt Institute training program or its equivalent are
also welcome. Class size is limited to 12 participants18 CONTINUING EDUCATION
ANNUAL JUNE
RESIDENTIAL
This five-day
residential program
is led by the GIT
Faculty. Participants
will engage in
individual and
group sessions and
experience a variety
of creative modalities. Alumni, as well as individuals with
Gestalt therapy or equivalent group experience, who are
interested in exploring an in-depth Gestalt approach are
invited to apply to attend the June residential. An excellent
opportunity for those who wish to renew their connection
with the creativity of Gestalt and want an intensive
personal change process. You will join with GIT students
who are completing their training year.
Instructors: Faculty of the GIT
Dates: June 2 - 7, 2020
Fee: $1,675 (program, accommodation and meals)INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS 19
DEBORAH PLUMMER - Debbie asks us to accept our critical importance to
INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS
TWO DAY WORKSHOP the inclusion effort, accept our role as transformational
with an international change agents, and confront our own need for
leader in the field of experience and skills within our multiple and
diversity intersecting identities.
Advancing Inclusion: Biography
Turning Us and Them Deborah L. Plummer, PhD, is a psychologist and
into We nationally recognized diversity thought leader. As Chief
September 26, 2019 Diversity Officer at the University of Massachusetts
Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care,
Achieving Racial Equity she shapes and leads the academic health sciences
One Friend at a Time center’s embrace of diversity as fundamental to its
September 27, 2019 institutional excellence. She is also a Professor in the
Departments of Psychiatry and Quantitative Health
With diversity in Toronto predicted to reach 70% and the Sciences. She is the author of several books including
news media indicating an increase in intolerance in our Advancing Inclusion: A Guide for Effective Diversity
country, how has this influenced our group identity as Council and editor of the Handbook of Diversity
“welcoming” Canadians? Amidst an increased awareness of Management (Rowman and Littlefield).
race, gender, and immigration issues, the publication of Truth
and Reconciliation, growing movements such as the Black Dates and Time: September 26 & 27, 2019. 10am-4pm
Lives Matter, #MeToo and MMIW, deepening one’s self- Fee: $425
awareness becomes a critical element in order to increase Early Bird Rate: $350 (before August 28)
respect for difference. As health care practitioners in troubled Continuing Education: 12 hours
times, we often stand as a bridge between belonging and Participants will receive a certificate of CE hours.
otherness.20 INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS
BODY STRUCTURE Biography
FROM GESTALT Michael Craig Clemmens, PhD, is a psychologist and
PRESPECTIVE trainer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a faculty member
of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and teaches at the
Patterns of our Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Michael is the
physical embodiment author of Getting Beyond Sobriety, the editor of Embodied
are revealed and Relational Gestalt: Theory and Applications and numerous
expressed in our articles on Gestalt therapy, body process, and addiction.
thinking, feeling, and
lived histories. They Dates & Time: Thursday November 14 & Friday November
are shaped through 15, 2019 10:00am - 5:00pm
our interactions with Fee: $450
the world, the places GIT Students and GIT Graduate Rate: $ 395
and spaces we inhabit, developmental contexts, and Continuing Education (CE): 12 hours
relational others. As body or character structure, these Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
patterns become relatively fixed modes of being through education hours
which we both express and limit our evolving self and our
narrative. From a Gestalt perspective, these structures are
creative adjustments that can be attended to and explored
in the novelty of the present moment. By doing this we
can support the expansion of awareness, embodiment,
and possibilities for individual and collective growth and
change. In this workshop we will explore these structures
(including our own) through embodied experiences of
place and space, world/other, and energetic and physical
heart space.INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS 21
PANIC ATTACKS Biography
Gianni Francesetti is a psychologist, Gestalt therapist and
A long awaited chance psychiatrist. He trained in Psychotherapy at the Venice
for students and centre of the Istituto di Gestalt HCC. He has carried out
psychotherapists to research work in the field of psychosomatic medicine and
spend a day with one of stress, working with French neurobiologist Henri Laborit,
the leading international and has specialized in Chronobiology at Paris University.
leaders on the growing Previously a trainer in Ericksonian hypnosis and neuro-
edge of Gestalt and linguistic programming, he is now an invited international
phenomenology. Gianni Gestalt therapy trainer at the Istituto di Gestalt HCC
has written, researched Italy. He is the curator and co-author of the book Panic
and lectured on new Attacks and Postmodernity, co-curator and co-author of
Gestalt approaches to psychopathology, depression, the books: Absence is the Bridge Between Us - Gestalt
anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, trauma and Therapy Perspective on Depressive Disorders and
autism, He is deeply human and inspiring, connecting the Gestalt Therapy in Clinical Practice. His interests currently
beauty of his embodied relational therapy demonstrations lie in the fields of clinics and psychopathology.
with deep philosophical, mythological and scientific
wisdom. Join him in exploring his groundbreaking work Date and Time: Wednesday January 15,
on Panic Attacks as acute attacks of solitude. Students 10:00am to 5:00pm
who have read his books and worked with him in Fee: $240
international conferences will want to sign up early for this Early Bird Fee: $195 (register before December 12)
seminar. Continuing Education: 6 hours
Participants will receive a certificate CE hours22 INTERNATIONAL TRAINERS
CHILD PARENT nonverbal patterns developed in the relationship with
SOMATIC significant others become the implicit core of adult
PSYCHOTHERAPY functioning.
INTERNATIONAL
TRAINING Level Two is open to those participants who have
PROGRAM completed Level One Training in 2019.
Ruella Frank is Level Two
continuing her new Dates and Times: January 10 – 12 and
groundbreaking June 19 – 21, 2020
Child-Parent Somatic Fee: $ 850 CAD / $ 700 USD
Psychotherapy Continuing Education (CE): 24 hours
International Training
Program at the GIT, Participants will receive a certificate of continuing
a four module program which will complete in June 2020. education hours.
Teaching practitioners to intervene at the earliest phases
of social development through an understanding of Biography
movement. Using a movement oriented approach to Ruella Frank, PhD, founder and director of The Center for
analyze and treat the child parent developing relationship, Somatic Studies, brings a lifetime of exploration of early
the CPSP program explores the subtle yet profound infant movements and their relationship to the adult, which
movement exchanges that shape and underlie our has influenced psychotherapeutic approaches throughout
earliest patterns of attaching and demonstrates how the world. She is author of books and articles introducing
specific movement experiences become self and relation her embodied, relational and development approach
experiences and vice versa. Of interest to people of all including Body Of Awareness (2001, Gestalt Press).
backgrounds, the CPSP training program will enhance Ruella is introducing this new groundbreaking program
your perception of human movement by revealing how in partnership with the Gestalt Institute of Toronto which
welcomes her as an ongoing guest faculty.PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS 23
REALLY MEET ONE In Gestalt the meeting between you and me is called
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
ANOTHER - “dialogue” which means:
THE POWER • to listen to the intentionality of the other through the
OF PROCESS how not the what of communication
• to develop curiosity in the other through curiosity in
Over the years we one’s own reactions and responses
have heard these same • to ask questions that originate in our genuine honesty
remarks from Gestalt so as to not alienate the other through re-traumatizing
group participants: In or shaming
the group I felt seen • to have fun together by being in the here and now
for the first time, I
found the meaning of Gestalt therapy is a conversation that comes close to
intimacy with others, “high play” as group members explore their capacity
I have really met like- to co-create the “unknown next step” out of the shared
minded people, I feel present with others without losing myself, present moment. In this way it is a model for good
I have found my voice… Through a process oriented approach relationship and for returning to us all the spontaneity we
Gestalt is known to reach levels of intimacy fairly quickly even have lost when children.
between strangers and yet without the induction of shame or Join a group of strangers in an experiment of deep
the generating of unfinished business. You will “really meet connection.
others” and share the learning of
• the language of responsibility through which the “you’ Leaders: Jay Tropianskaia, RP, Senior Faculty, Carolina
word is replaced by “I” Edwards, RP, Senior Faculty, Luisa de Amaral, RP, Faculty
• the way to turn judgments into interventions Dates and Times: Jan 14, 21, 28, Feb 4, 11, 25,
• the way to meet one another by honouring and respecting Mar 3, 10, 17 7:00-9:00pm
difference Fee: $ 425
Early Bird Fee: $ 375 (register by December 12, 2019)24 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
ENCOUNTER GROUP The dynamism of early Gestalt was embedded in the 24
hour encounter groups where time and often exhaustion
A group of people evoked honesty between group members. Contemporary
committed to meeting Gestalt still works within the parameters of I and Thou
once a month to practice here and now, and puts greater emphasis on embodied
radical honesty wvith Relational truth, on the inseparability of self and other.
one another in a safe Participants feel more fully alive through grounded and
environment . supported expression. Not for the faint of heart, this
Designed for Gestalt workshop is led by senior GIT faculty.
students and alumni
who wish to renew their Dates and Times: Six Sunday afternoons Oct 20, Nov 24,
present-centered I and Jan 19, Feb 9, Mar 22, Apr 26 2:00 – 4:00pm
Thou engagement skills. Fee: $350
Early Bird Fee: $ 300 (register by October 1)
An opportunity to:
• Practice using phenomenological language to describe
your experience in a way that is neutral and honest so as
to make impact
• Play in the space between you-and-me we call “contact”
• Rediscover where self support meets other support
• Receive feedback that is Beyond judgment and beyond
blame
• Become more Responsive and Flexible to the truth of your
impact on anotherPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS 25
THE LOVE WORKSHOP Experiences include:
• Opening our windows of tolerance on the ability to be
One of my shamanic loved
teachers used to say • Codependency and what the heart is asking
“with all my skills in • What we give to others as key to what we need
sensing and seeing, • Love and sex, the different needs we have that get
when I am in love I go confused between the two
into high alert because I • The place of compassion and empathy in the human
know I am in danger”. design
In therapy sessions and Leader: Jay Tropianskaia, RP, Senior Faculty,
in many friendships, love Dates and Times: Tuesday March 24, 31, April 7, 21,28,
is the ground. That is, it is not the pre-requisite for getting 7:00-9:00pm
together and it is not the outcome. It is the given. In most Fee: $ 375
other arenas of our lives – from family, to marriage and other Early Bird Rate: $ 325 (register by February 28)
such partnerships, to spiritual communities, country and
culture – what we know of as love and how to love remains
a mystery. This workshop explores the relationship between
falling in love, being in love and loving. You will be guided to
explore experientially the forms love takes, and the different
embodied feelings and expressions of loving.26 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
SHAMANISM FOR • Know the other through knowing yourself at the
GESTALTISTS deepest level of energy
• Examine the blocks to energy that keep us from
Part Two of the maintaining our presence in other worlds and spaces
intersection between
shamanism and Leader: Jay Tropianskaia, Senior Faculty
embodied relational Dates and Times: Tuesday February 25, March 3 & 10,
Gestalt explores what 6:30-9:00pm
Castenada called the Fee: $225
Energy Body and what Early Bird Fee: $195 (register by January 10)
Gestalt calls
“the space between”.
Participants will learn to
• Identify and control the level of energy you bring into a
space in order to respond impactfully to the energy of the
other
• Learn the vital importance of making every space your
own
• Begin to discern the difference between different
energies, both human and non human in order to interpret
and respond to intent
• Re-awaken the “living body” which includes 10 eyes, 5
ears, 10 chakras, and feeler fibres and what we call “the
aura” - that were key to survival in ancient societiesPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS 27
THE SPACE IN Grant began his meditation practice
BETWEEN while in South Asia studying yoga
in 2005. He has studied in the
Do you rise from Theravadin and Zen traditions and
your meditation with spent nearly two years living at
compassion for all Tassajara Zen Mountain Centre
beings - until you in California. Grant is a senior
actually meet one? Is it Gestalt Institute student and trainee
hard to stay connected therapist and co-facilitates the dharma group Gravity
to your practice when (gravityto.org) in Toronto, giving talks and hosting sits and
the proverbial rubber hits retreats.
the road of your life?
Over four sessions, we will explore the space between sitting Leader: Grant Hutchinson
in silence and sitting with another person; between internal/ Dates and Times: Tuesday mornings March 10, 17, 24, 31,
external awareness of your body and of staying attuned to it 10:00am-12:00pm
while connecting to another person; between the language Fee: $150
your body speaks and the words you choose.
Together, let’s explore relational meditation as the subtle and
ordinary practice of meeting another human being.28 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
HONORING Ming Wu is a Gestalt
DIFFERENCES psychotherapist-in-training and is
a HBA graduate of York University.
This workshop seeks Ming’s passion for sensory
to open a space for awareness, art and meditation
dialogue around the has greatly impacted her therapy
differences between sessions with individuals. She
us. We will do this in enriches her Gestalt training with
an effort to find our ongoing training in somatic experiencing for trauma. She
own bodily support is looking forward to bring the “language of the body” into
for the consequent the experiences of honouring our differences with each
shame in confronting other.
these differences.
Together we will Sheldon Holder is an activist,
explore the traumatic response that arises out of discrimination musician, writer and trainer. He
and self-censorship. In a world where there is an urgent need completed three years of the Five
Year Training Program before
to maintain conformity and respectability, we will attempt to
taking a break to pursue a double
create a safe space for a humane contact using the Gestalt
major in Human Geography and
approach. History with a minor in Equity
Studies at the University of
Leaders: Ming Wu and Sheldon Holder Toronto. He has never left the GIT
Dates and Times: Six Tuesday evenings, November 19, 26, community or his commitment to Gestalt. He joins us
December 1, 10, 2019, January 7, 14, 2020 7:00 – 9:00pm at the Institute in training aspiring therapists to honour
Fee: $225 racial, gender and cultural differences. Sheldon produces
workshops for therapists and trainees that seek to open a
space for dialogue around the differences between us.PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS 29
SHARING OUR Leaders: Sharon Faibish & Modya Silver, Senior Students
STORIES - THE Dates and Times: Six Sundays October 27 to December 1
IMMIGRANT 5:00-7:00pm
EXPERIENCE Fee: $60
For many
newcomers
to Canada
the immigrant
experience
has been filled
not only with
opportunities but
with challenges.
Often there is
little time or welcoming space to share the more challenging
side of the experience, the places where your new life may
not be what you expected. This group is designed as a
space to share your stories - successes as well as struggles.
The Gestalt approach supports our desire for authentic
human contact and connection through deep dialog based in
the sharing of one another’s commonalities and differences.30 ARMCHAIR SERIES
ARMCHAIR SERIES
This series examines
one of the least
understood concepts
in our world today.
Take an experiential
look at Power through
different Gestalt
lenses, and through
the presence of
various Gestalt faculty.
OCTOBER 15, 2019 : Power – what is it? Whose is it?
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 : Power Up – Fear of Shining
FEBRUARY 4, 2020 : Power On – Vitality of the Living Body
APRIL 27, 2020 : Power Over and Under – Dominance
and Submission Top Dog and Underdog
JUNE 16, 2020 : Power and Weakness – Explore the Real
Power of Weakness
Fee: $10 per session49TH ANNUAL POTPOURRI 31
GESTALT MIXTAPE 2020 - 2:00 pm – SIDE 3 – MEETING UP (how am I met and
49TH ANNUAL POTPOURRI
COME AS YOU ARE how am I missed?)
On each of the Sides • Halo: “Remember those walls I built… they’re tumbling
choose one workshop for a down”—Beyoncé
total of 4! • Knowing Me, Knowing You: “It’s the best I can do”—
ABBA
• Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: “I’m just a soul whose
intentions are good”—Nina Simone
3:45 pm – SIDE 4 – PARTING WAYS (hanging on and
walking out)
• Don’t Make Me Over: “Accept me for what I am”— Dionne
Warwick
• Get Lucky: “We’ve come too far to give up who we are”—
Daft Punk
9:00 am - Registration • Unfinished Symphony: “How can you have a day without
a night?”—Massive Attack
9:30 am – SIDE 1 - SHOWING UP (the hidden sides
of myself)
5:00 pm FEEDBACK
• “No one’s getting smarter” - The Offspring
• “I ask myself what am I doing here?” - Alessia Cara 6:00 pm CLOSE
• “Shyness is nice” - The Smiths
11:00 am – SIDE 2 – WANTING IT (desires, addictions Leaders: Senior students of the GIT
and fears) Date: Saturday April 18, 2020
• Desperado: “Your pain and your hunger, they’re driving Fee: $60
you home”—Eagles
• Bad Romance: “I want your everything as long as it’s
free”—Lady Gaga
• What Do You Want From Me?: “Do you think I know
something you don’t know?”—Pink Floyd32 FACULTY STAFF AND GUEST LEADERS
FACULTY AND STAFF
Jay Tropianskaia Carolina Edwards Tony Greco Luisa de Amaral
Senior Faculty Senior Faculty Senior Faculty Faculty
Lauren Nancarrow Natasha Teoili Scarlett Peterson Zizi Indra Putra
Clarke, Faculty Executive Director Office Manager Administrative AssistantFACULTY STAFF AND GUEST LEADERS 33
GUEST LEADERS
FACULTY STAFF AND GUEST LEADERS
Elder Shirley Charlene Avalos Michael Gianni
Gillis-Kendall Clemmens Francesetti
Ruella Deborah Susan Margherita
Frank Plummer Sinclair Spagnuolo Lobb34 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board of Directors
The Gestalt Institute of Toronto is a charitable organization registered with the Canada Revenue Agency and a private educational
institute with Human Resources Development Canada.
The GIT Board of Directors works with the administration and Faculty to establish policy and direct ongoing strategies for
development and change. A special thanks to the Board President, Carol Good, for her clarity, and care and commitment to
excellence in leadership. The current board represents a high level of skills and experience which have made It possible for
the GIT to go to new levels with confidence. We are grateful for the giveaway of time and energy of board members who are all
voluntary, a number of whom have served for several years.
Carol Good, Jeff Bouganim, Natalie Haynes
Michael Cottrell
President Treasurer
Linda Kamerman Michelle Keeley Andrew Miller Michele ConnorDONORS
FACULTY, STAFF & BOARD OF&DIRECTORS
DONATION 35
Sustaining the Lineage & Building the Future
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Gestalt Institute of Toronto has an oral history and a written
tradition that goes back to 1973 and before. If you have been
changed in any way by your experience at the GIT, you are
part of the lineage of Gestalt. Your donation can support our
physical expansion and help us to increase our ability to reach a
wider community so that Gestalt can continue to evolve and be
relevant. In August 2016 the Gestalt Institute of Toronto moved to
new expanded quarters on Parliament Street. We are currently
raising money for the creation of a dedicated Student Clinic
space. You can support through a tax deductible donation to
the GIT Student Clinic Building Fund, the JoAnne Greenham
Memorial Fund or the Bursary Fund. All donations are gratefully
appreciated.
Thank you to our 2018 -2019 Donors
Donation Funds
• Student Clinic Building Fund (fund to create physical space Lifetime Member: Marsha Baillie
for two dedicated therapy rooms for student therapists)
• JoAnne Greenham Memorial Fund (fund to honor one Year Gold Donors ($1000 or more): Bud Tangney, Year 2A & 2B Class
3 student each year who most closely carries forward the Fundraising, Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy
humour, creativity and presence of our beloved Executive
Silver Donors (up to $1000): Linda Kamerman, Natalie Gold
Director who passed away in February 2014)
• Bursary Fund (provides for 5 bursaries each year to
students who can benefit from financial support to continue
their training)36 YEAR AT A GLANCE
September 2019 Date Page January 2020 Date Page
Information Night September 16 39 Ruella Frank January 10-12 22
CPSP - Level 2A
Debbie Plummer September 26 & 27 19
Advancing Inclusion Information Night January 13 39
Really Meet Each Other January 14 - March 17 23
October 2019 The Power Of Process
Armchair Series October 15 30
Gianni Francesetti January 15 21
Encounter Group October 20 – April 26 24 Panic Attacks
Information Night October 28 39
February 2020
Sharing our Stories: October 27 - December 1 29 Armchair Series February 4 30
The Immigrant Experience
Gestalt for Supervisors February 10 14
November 2019 Information Night February 10 39
Embodied Dialogue November 6 - December 18 17
Shamanism for Gestaltists February 25 - March 10 26
Armchair series November 12 30 Part Two
Michael Clemmens
Body Structure November 14 & 15 20 March 2020
Information night March 9 39
Honoring Differences November 19 - January 14 28
Support Group The Space in Between March 10 - 31 27
Relational Meditation
December 2019 The Love Workshop March 24 - April 28 25
The Guilty Healer December 2 16YEAR AT A GLANCE 37
April 2020 Date Page
YEAR AT A GLANCE
Working with Couples April 3 - May 1 15
Annual Potpourri April 18 31
Come As You Are
Information Night April 20 39
Armchair Series April 27 30
May 2020
Information Night May 25 39
June 2020
Annual June Residential June 2 - 7 18
Armchair Series June 16 30
Ruella Frank June 19 - 21 22
CPSP - Level 2B38 THE GESTALT STUDENT CLINIC
Gestalt therapy is an opportunity Therapists at the Gestalt Student Clinic are available days,
to move through old issues, make evenings and weekends. We currently have student therapists
changes, improve relationships, who can provide therapy in languages other than English.
express creativity, decrease Please contact the clinic for information.
generalized fear and mistrust, and
learn to have more fun. Gestalt Fee: $40 per session
therapy is a present-centered and
experiential approach to personal For an appointment call 416.964.9464 ext.18
change. To be fully present in the
here and now offers you more
excitement, energy and courage to
live life directly.
The Gestalt Student Clinic is run by our Year Four and Five
students. They provide excellent and affordable psychotherapy
under supervision. Confidentiality is assured. The service is
available in Toronto, Thornhill, Missisauga, Burlington and Guelph.THE GESTALT INSTITUTE OF TORONTO 39 INFORMATION NIGHTS A perfect introduction to the method, the approach and the community of the Gestalt Institute of Toronto. Learn first hand about our Five Year Training Program through combining with like-minded people in lively Gestalt experiential explorations of yourself and others. Evenings are led by Gestalt faculty. Dates and Times: Monday evenings 7:00 – 9:00pm September 16, 2019 October 28, 2019 January 13, 2020 February 10, 2020 March 9, 2020 April 20, 2020 May 25, 2020
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