NYIGT PROGRAM CALENDAR FOR 2012-2013

We are very pleased to announce our 2012-13 program of presentations and meetings. Our presentation meetings generally take place on the 2nd Wed. evening of the month or on weekend afternoons. The Wed. evening Presentation meetings will begin at: 8:15pm for socializing and refreshments and the presentations will start at 8:45pm and go to 10:30pm. Weekend afternoon presentations are from 2pm - 5pm. All are welcome! Hope you can join us.

Meetings will be held at: Frank Bosco's Sound Health Studio,
20 West 20th Street, Suite 803, New York, NY 10011.
Exceptions will be noted in the calendar.

As the institute moves deeper into its second half-century, many of its members are moving into their older, and ultimately, final years, a process usually called 'aging'….the presenter, an octogenarian, being a prime example of this. What are the implications of this for both the aging members and the institute itself? Gestalt therapy is a dialogical interactive approach, at least as practiced by most of us. The therapist is very much part of that dyadic or group field. Also in our culture there are many introjects about aging and dying that involve the denial of the obvious and are expressed by euphemisms, such as 'passing over'…or 'away'…or 'on.'

The presentation will begin with a brief theoretical prologue that will pay attention to these issues and how they interact, and also to some practice issues, for instance: how much to reveal to under-structured clients; how aging affects the therapist-client(s) dynamic, etc. Then the assemblage will break up into groups of four (with an attempt at age diversity) and be given some suggestions of topics to discuss among ourselves, such as:

• What did you personally resonate to in the theoretical prologue?
• What personal experiences have you had with an aging therapist?
• How did this affect your relationship?
• How has the graying of the institute mattered in your experience?
• What specific concerns do you have about this phenomenon?
• How has your own aging affected your practice?

After the subgroups, the group-as-a whole, moderated by the presenter, will be invited to share, stemming from but not limited to the discussion in the subgroups. Our overall goal will be to help ourselves in dealing with these universal challenges…with no expectation of a unifying theory, but rather a step in the process for each person participating.

Bio: Bud Feder, PhD, is a former president of the NYIGT and well known for his work on Interactive Gestalt Group Therapy, his sense of humor, and his guacamole. He is the author (with Ruth Ronall) of Beyond the Hot Seat: Gestalt Approaches to Group.

I believe that aggression is much misunderstood in our common sense usage because it is often used only in reference to wars between nations and between citizens within nations. Yet in my view there is no human relation without aggression since there is no relationship without persons energetically presenting themselves to others. To bond with another, to converse with another, to work alongside another, to love another, one must exert oneself in reference to that other and such exertion is the essence of aggression. Even the subduing of oneself in relation to another involves aggression, in this matter self-aggression.

In this presentation, I will:

• Review and update the view of aggression implicit in the founding text of Gestalt therapy by Perls, Hefferline and Goodman, including its relational perspective
• Differentiate between inclusive aggression and exclusive aggression
• Discuss egalitarianism versus superiority strivings
• Utilize and explain Angyal's concept of "Universal Ambiguity" and how it relates to inclusive and exclusive aggression
• Discuss how my theories apply to: initiative, assertiveness, criticism and self-criticism, anger (including Incomplete "I"), parenting, being the object of other's aggression, and self-aggression
• Suggest practical applications for these theories

There will be an experiential piece based on the above, with alternatives open to group decision, followed by an open-ended discussion of the workshop material and experience. The experiential piece may include working with:

• Unfinished anger episodes between members of the group
• Experiences of aggression in therapeutic work
• Memories of aggression in group life -- e.g. at conferences
• Childhood experiences of aggression

Bio: Philip Lichtenberg is Mary Hale Chase Professor Emeritus in the Social Sciences Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College. Along with Mary Lou Schack, Joyce Lewis and David Henrich, he started The Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia. Philip had as 10 year research career at Harvard, NYU, Michael Reese Hospital and the NY State Department of Mental Hygiene before joining Bryn Mawr College. He is the author of 6 books and numerous chapters and articles. His books include: Psychoanalysis: Radical and Conservative, Community and Confluence: Undoing the Clinch of Oppression and Encountering Bigotry: Befriending Projecting Person in Everyday Life, with Janneke van Beueskom and Dorothy Gibbons, which will soon be available online.

After twenty years in private practice as a Gestalt therapist, making the transition to Life Coaching was both easy and difficult for me. I will share my perceptions of what Life Coaching is, comparing it to and differentiating from Gestalt therapy. Perhaps we will be able to co-create some experiments which will enable us to contrast the two practices.

Bio: Susan Gregory has been in private practice in New York City since 1991, and served as president of NYIGT from 2007-2009. She has taught at conferences all over the world and as guest faculty at Gestalt institutes in England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Susan's published book chapters and essays are on her website www.GestaltSing.com. She will receive her coaching certification from GISC this April.

The Experiment in Gestalt Therapy is an essential element of our theory and practice. It provides the basis of Gestalt therapy's examination of here and now experience and felt experience nurturing new perception and behavior. Introduced with dramatic appeal by Fritz Perls and the founding originators and fostered in 60 years of practice, it has become emblematic for the unique and creative ways Gestalt Therapy practitioners make contact and explore experience. This presentation is intended to build on the inspiring Gestalt Experiments presentation made last year by Sylvia Crocker.

A theoretical presentation will discuss originating innovations of "experiment" in Gestalt Therapy and how they have evolved over years of practice from the modern to the post modern period. Integrating assimilated technique with the urgencies and opportunities for the therapists/client's emergent sensibilities makes possible an artful elegant interplay of the therapist's/client's capacities for progressive interactive attunement involving directed attention and/or physical action giving rise to new feelings, insight, and action. Thoughts on how experiments are used, new approaches, learning and skills involved will be explored. An experiential segment will explore participants experience with experiments in contactful and supportive practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences to gain insights, new ideas and directions for practice. A discussion period will provide opportunity to clarify and elaborate.

Bio: Perry Klepner, MBA, LCSW, is a full member, Fellow and past president of the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy, 1993-95, where he studied with Laura Perls, Isadore From and Richard Kitzler. He has been on the faculty of several institutes and is in private practice in New York City and Kingston, NY, where he provides training, supervision and individual, couples and group therapy. He has trained, authored articles and papers, and conducted workshops and training on Gestalt Therapy in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Chelsea Studios
151 West 26th St, 5th Floor,
New York, NY 10011.

Rhythmic exchanges within therapy spring from a developing kinetic resonance – an experience arising from the present situation, echoing through each of our bodies and most often making its impact felt beyond what is momentarily apparent. It is kinetic resonance that informs our here-and-now by "thickening" our experience of this moment and even informing us of future possibilities. That is, our impulse to move either toward or away from the other creates a resonance within this present moment and predicts what has yet to take form or expression.

This three hour lecture-demonstration will explore, through theory and experiments in sensing and moving, how awareness of a developing kinetic resonance within therapy is central to our work and can inform both therapist and client to their present situation and serve as the ground for change.

Bio: Ruella Frank, Ph.D., is founder and director of the Center for Somatic Studies, faculty at the New York Institute for Gestalt therapy, adjunct faculty at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy, and also teaches throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Canada.

Ruella is author of articles and chapters in various publications, as well as the book Body of Awareness: A Somatic and Developmental Approach to Psychotherapy and her new book (co-authored) The First Year and the Rest of Your Life: Movement, Development and Psychotherapeutic Change.

Using our experiences at the 2012 AAGT Conference in Mexico as part of an emerging map of the whole we call Earth, how do we re-create and engage ourselves to become more "citizens of the earth": more diverse, more(and less) different, and more contactful.

Or do we want to?

Part of the disposition of Cosmopolitanism is welcoming, graciousness, hospitality, and acceptance of differences in our meeting.

What are the wholes we are part of, what are the processes, what are the events we can support to emerge --through the quality of our "meeting", our contacting?

Bio: Carl Hodges was the second President of the NYIGT after Laura Perls.

LOCATION: Chelsea Studios, 151 West 26th St, between 6th & 7th Aves.

Bio: Irish by birth, culture and conviction, Seán Gaffney is a Gestalt therapist, OD practitioner, trainer, supervisor and author. Resident of Sweden since 1975, he is a full member of NYIGT; a professional member and Program Director of Gestalt International Study Centre, faculty at Gestalt Academy of Scandinavia; and visiting faculty at Illawarra Gestalt Centre, Australia; Nordic Gestalt Institute, Denmark; Norwegian Gestalt Institute, Oslo; East European Gestalt Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation; Belfast Gestalt Centre, Ireland.

Group Process Meetings will be monitoring the process, not necessarily the presentation.

All are welcome to join our mailing list or for more information about the Institute at: info@newyorkgestalt.org