Short Courses for 2024 – 2025
Relational Gestalt Therapy
Dyad Practice & Supervision Workshop
Led by PGI Core Faculty members
Ren Barnebey, LMFT and Michelle Seely, LMFT
Emphasis will be on identifying, practicing, and articulating the foundational concepts of RGT in the work. Each session will consist of therapist/client dyads and theoretical discussion. Active participation is required each week. Short readings may be offered to enhance learning, but the focus will be on skill building and integration of theory.
We will meet for 8 Mondays at 8:00 am – 10:00 am PST on Zoom.
Dates:
October 7 & 21, 2024
November 4 & 18, 2024
December 9, 2024 January 6 & 20, 2025 February 3, 2025
Format:
- There will be two pieces of work giving each participant the opportunity to be therapist twice and client twice.
- We will explore and discuss each piece of work
- We will address theory issues as they emerge
Group limited to 8 participants. Eight week commitment required.
Your participation in this workshop counts toward PGI Certification.
Participants should have minimum of 1 year Gestalt experience as a client or trainee.
Former and current students of PGI will be given priority registration.
Cost: The fee $520, payable in full or in monthly installments (4 at $130). Group members will responsible for the entire tution regardless of attendance.
Please note: No CEUs will be given for this program.
Refunds: Full refunds upon request until September 25.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
- identify and discuss the dialogic concepts of presence and inclusion as they appear in workshop dyads
- identify the practical applications for therapist effectiveness of building skill in use of the dialogic principle of inclusion
- identify the practical applications for therapist effectiveness of building skill in use of the phenomenological method
- identify the practical applications for therapist effectiveness of building skill in use of the dialogic principle of presence
- identify the practical applications for therapist effectiveness of building skill in use of the here and now awareness
- identify the practical applications for therapist effectiveness of building skill in use of the skill of identifying and sharpening the “figure” in a dyadic session
- use a therapeutically-oriented supervisory stance to discuss relevant relational dynamics in the therapeutic process.
- observe and define therapist use of self in the therapeutic process.
- use a Relational Gestalt Therapy oriented stance to work productively with relevant themes in the therapeutic process.
Short Courses for 2023
POWER AND VULNERABILITY IN THE SUPERVISION PROCESS: A Workshop for Supervisors and Supervisees
May 14, 2023 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Pacific Time
Both participants in the supervision relationship are personally and professionally vulnerable. Thus the power is bidirectional, just as it is in therapy. Each participant has power, although the particular forms of power may be different and the distribution of power may be asymmetrical. But no one is immune from narcissistic vulnerability, including the supervisor. Supervisors want to have the experience of being liked, respected, viewed as helpful, for instance. How do these desires get managed in difficult supervision processes? Supervisors and supervisees can benefit from exploring together how power and vulnerability operate in supervision relationships.
Also, themes of power and of vulnerability operate in different ways depending on the situation in which the supervisory relationship occurs. Are there racial or ethnic differences between the supervisor, supervisee, and/or the patient? Is the supervisee being evaluated in a formal manner by the supervisor? Is the supervisor being evaluated by the work setting in which the supervision takes place? Does the supervisee evaluate the supervisor in a formal or informal manner? How do the parties in the supervision relationship navigate the question of what kind of supervision best serves the supervisee and the patient?
We will explore together the vagaries of power and vulnerability, in hopes we can become more sensitized to the interplay of power and vulnerability in our supervisory relationships, and perhaps we can also become more graceful when these themes become disruptive forces in our work.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:
- Identify the relevant structural, cultural and personal power dynamics that are inherent in most supervision relationships.
- Use a didactically-oriented supervisory stance to work productively with relevant power dynamics in the therapeutic process.
- Use a therapeutically-oriented supervisory stance to work productively with relevant power dynamics in the therapeutic process.
- Observe and define “presence” and “emotional courage” in the supervision process.
Class Fee: $65.87
Refund Policy:
Refunds may be issued up to 5 days before the class.
Continuing Education for Psychologists, MFTs and LCSWs: 3 hours
Pacific Gestalt Institute (PGI) Provider #PCE 369
PGI is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PGI maintains responsibility for this program and its content. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences recognizes APA approved CE providers for MFT’s and LCSW’s.
3-Part Online Class Series for Psychotherapists
Being With What Is—Living Gestalt’s Paradoxical Theory of Change
Working relationally requires us to grow our ability to meet what comes and stay present—to stay right with whatever shows up. This is simple, but not at all easy. We know that staying present and open-hearted for the fear, shame, impatience, hope, dread, judgment and everything else we humans encounter will make way for real change—but we resist! So we start right here, by welcoming the resistance…
In this unique workshop series Michelle Seely (LMFT), will teach practical and effective ways we can tend to ourselves and our patients when the very hardest emotions show up.
Learn to increase your skills, deepen your ability to embody, and make use of Relational Gestalt theory and Buddhist psychology as we weave them together allowing each to shed light on the other. You’ll have new skills to find your way back to the ground of the present moment when you feel overwhelmed or unsure of what to do in your personal life or in a client session.
Program Highlights
The main pillars of Relational Gestalt theory can be seen as north stars—they orient us toward what is—and we can return to them again and again when we notice we have strayed into trying to control things. Buddhist teaching and stories can reorient us in the same way. With these lenses we can learn to find and to trust the wisdom in our own struggles. Phrases like “what is in the way, is the way” begin to make sense and light the path.
Each monthly session will begin with a short period of guided practice in Shamatha meditation. This eyes-open meditation practice is particularly well suited to our work as relational therapists. We will then explore Relational Gestalt theory and Buddhist psychology ideas through lecture, discussion, direct work with our own challenges, breakout exercises, Q & A, and home practice.
This Is An Experiential Class Series
Here’s What’s Included In Each Monthly 3-Hour Class Session:
- Class resources to explore integration of Gestalt theory and Buddhist psychology
- Discussion and small group exercises for practice and exploration of our own blocks, challenges, delights, and passions
- Support for putting the ideas to use in your own life
- Monthly guided meditation audios and written materials you can download and keep to continue the work after the course.
- Guided Meditation Instruction in Shamatha meditation practice. (Shamatha is a Sanskrit word that is translated as “the practice of tranquility.”)
- 9 CEs available for full attendance + completion of course surveys
Class Series Fee: $450
Early Bird rate of $375 until January 15, 2023
Click Below To Register Today –Pay Before January 15th and Save $75!
Class Series Schedule:
3 Sunday mornings from 9:00 am-12:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
- February 12, 2023: 9:00 am-12:00 pm PST
- March 12, 2023: 9:00 am-12:00 pm PST
- April 16, 2023: 9:00 am-12:00 pm PST
Program Requirements:
This is an intermediate level class appropriate for students who have at least one year of training at Pacific Gestalt Institute, or who have familiarity with relational gestalt theory concepts such as the paradoxical theory of change, dialogue, field theory, and the phenomenological method. If you have knowledge of Buddhist psychology but not of Gestalt and are interested in this class, or if you have any questions—please email Michelle Seely and we can discuss whether this class will be a good fit for you.
Refund Policy:
Once accepted into the program, any cancellation notice must be received 30 days in advance of the program starting date and an administrative fee of $75 will apply. There are no refunds after that date or for missed days during the course.
About the Instructor:
Michelle Seely (LMFT, PGI Faculty) is a licensed therapist and accomplished teacher of gestalt and meditation who has trained and supervised licensed therapists and associates in the United States and internationally. She has served on the core faculty at the Pacific Gestalt Institute for over a decade and is a contributing author to the academic anthology, The Relational Heart of Gestalt Therapy (Routledge 2022). She has a private practice in Los Angeles.
Michelle has developed techniques that integrate gestalt theory and somatic practices with Buddhist psychology and mindfulness for a mind-body-spirit approach to therapy. She has taught Mindful Self-Compassion programs privately and with InsightLA Meditation. She is president emeritus of the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles (GTILA), where she also served on the executive board for eight years.
Continuing Education for Psychologists, MFTs and LCSWs: 9 hours
Pacific Gestalt Institute (PGI) Provider #PCE 369
PGI is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PGI maintains responsibility for this program and its content. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences recognizes APA approved CE providers for MFT’s and LCSW’s.
Class Series Fee: $450
Early Bird rate of $375 until January 15, 2023
Click Below To Register Today –Pay Before January 15th and Save $75!
Faculty
Chris Avitabile
M.F.T.
Armin Baier
L.C.S.W., J.D.
Ren Barnebey
M.F.T.
Christine Campbell
M.F.T., A.T.R.
Kerry Renjilian Gough
L.P.C.C , L.M.C.H
Lynne Jacobs
Ph.D.
Paulina Trujillo Perez
M.F.T.
Michelle Seely
M.F.T.
Gary Yontef
Ph.D., A.B.P.P.
Pacific Gestalt Institute
1800 Fairburn Ave
Suite 103
Los Angeles, CA 90025
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