2026 Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh Fall Seminar Series
Friday, October 23, 2026 – Gestalt Therapy — Clinical Theory and Technique
Friday, October 30, 2026 – Power, Presence, and the Field: Gestalt Practice in the Age of State Violence
Friday, November 6, 2026 – A Gestalt Approach to Ethics and Boundary Management and Suicide Prevention
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 – Physical Process: The Foundations of Gestalt Somatic Therapy
Friday, December 4, 2026 – The Phenomenon of Spiritual Awakening: A Gestalt Exploration of Authenticity and Change – Registration Coming Soon.
Friday, January 15, 2027 – Embodied Connections: Sex Therapy from a Gestalt Perspective
Gestalt Therapy — Clinical Theory and Technique
Thomas Petrone, Ed.D.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2026
1:00–4:15 PM
IN PERSON | 1824 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
Gestalt therapy continues to be a highly regarded and effective treatment modality. This seminar provides the opportunity to learn core aspects of Gestalt theory and their application with a variety of treatment concerns It also provides an opportunity to learn more about the GIP Two Year Gestalt Training for Professionals as well as a refresher for seasoned therapists.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Summarize core concepts of Gestalt theory
- Describe fundamental aspects of Gestalt theory relevant to diagnosing and treatment planning with mental health clients
- Practice Gestalt intervention techniques and analyze their efficacy in applying them to specific clinical settings and populations
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: $100
For psychologists, LPCs, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.
Power, Presence, and the Field: Gestalt Practice in the Age of State Violence
Umaa Thampu, MBACP (Accred.)
A special in-person seminar with our esteemed Gestalt colleague from London.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026
1:00–4:15 PM
IN PERSON | 1824 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
This seminar explores how sociopolitical forces, including state violence, racism, immigration enforcement, and abuses of institutional power, shape the therapeutic field and influence both client experiences and therapist presence. Grounded in Gestalt field theory, participants examine contact boundary disturbances and creative adjustments that may arise in response to oppressive conditions, while learning to distinguish survival strategies from pathologizing interpretations. The seminar also invites therapists to examine their own positionality related to race, citizenship, class, and political alignment, and to consider how historical structures of slavery, Indigenous genocide, colonialism, and anti-Black racism continue to inform contemporary experiences of power and violence. Through this lens, participants develop practices for remaining grounded and present with clients whose safety is threatened, while engaging thoughtfully with discomfort, differing values, and challenges to their own assumptions without withdrawing from therapeutic contact.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Apply field theory to understand how sociopolitical events (immigration raids, political violence, revelations of elite abuse) actively shape the therapeutic relationship and client presentations.
- Identify contact boundary disturbances (confluence, retroflection, deflection) that may emerge when therapists encounter material related to state violence, racism, or their own proximity to power.
- Recognize creative adjustments in clients navigating oppressive field conditions, distinguishing between pathologizing frameworks and those that honor survival strategies.
- Examine personal positionality regarding race, citizenship, class, and political alignment, and articulate how these positions influence therapeutic presence and awareness.
- Trace connections between contemporary manifestations of power abuse (Epstein network, ICE enforcement) and historical structures of violence (slavery, Indigenous genocide, ongoing anti-Black racism and colonialism).
- Develop practices for staying present and grounded when working with clients whose safety is directly threatened by state or institutional violence.
- Engage productively with discomfort when one’s own values, safety, or political beliefs are challenged, without collapsing into defensiveness or withdrawal from contact.
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: $150
For LPCs, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.
Space is limited. Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
A Gestalt Approach to Ethics and Boundary Management and Suicide Prevention
Dr. Maura Krushinski, Psychologist, LPC, ACS, NCC
TWO LICENSURE-REQUIRED SEMINARS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2026
Ethics: 1:00–4:15 PM | Suicide Prevention: 4:30–5:30 PM
HYBRID • ONLINE & IN PERSON | 1824 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
These Gestalt theory-based seminars will focus on supporting mental health practitioners’ commitment to the highest levels of ethical behavior, competence and integrity in the provision of mental health services and offering vital training in the essential elements of understanding and practicing suicide prevention skills.
SUICIDE PREVENTION REQUIREMENT
The suicide prevention seminar fulfills the one-hour training requirement described in the Matt Adler Suicide Prevention Continuing Education Act (Act 74 of 2016, formerly House Bill 64), covering assessment, treatment, and management of suicide risks for licensees of the Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology and the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors as part of the continuing education required for license renewal.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES — ETHICS
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of three core concepts of Gestalt theory in recognizing and addressing three common ethical dilemmas
- Apply two skills of Gestalt therapy as applied to the ethical decision-making process, diagnosis, and treatment planning while engaging in the provision of mental health services
- Demonstrate the use of an ethical decision-making model when providing mental health services.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES — SUICIDE PREVENTION
- Demonstrate understanding of the primary differences between suicide ideation, intent, gestures and attempts
- Identify two ways to assess for possible environmental and community-based sources of distress leading to suicidality
- Summarize three interventions for tracking suicidal behavior, feelings, and ideation in the management of suicidal clients
Ethics: 3.0 CE credits | Suicide Prevention: 1.0 CE credit | FEE: Ethics: $120 | Suicide Prevention: $40
For psychologists, LPCs, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.
Physical Process: The Foundations of Gestalt Somatic Therapy
Stephanie Helsel, PhD, LPC, ACS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2026
5:30–8:45 PM
IN PERSON | 1824 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
Designed for clinicians, this advanced seminar bridges theory and practice by highlighting how to work holistically with clients. Deconstructing the mechanics of Gestalt relational embodied therapy and theory will illuminate practical applications to assist with deep client self-support, awareness, and dynamic, growth-oriented experiments. Therapists will learn how to track their own somatic experience in sessions as well to provide a regulated, supportive relational field for their work.
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: $150
For psychologists, LPCs, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.
The Phenomenon of Spiritual Awakening: A Gestalt Exploration of Authenticity and Change
Leza Vivio, MS, LPC, CIMHP
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2026
Time: To be announced
ONLINE ONLY
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
This three-hour experiential program explores experiences commonly described as “spiritual awakening” through a Gestalt and psychotherapeutic lens. Participants will examine heightened awareness, shifts in identity and meaning, authenticity, and changes in relationship to self, others, and the world. Drawing on phenomenology, awareness, figure/ground, contact, and the paradoxical theory of change, the program considers how these experiences may be understood within psychological transformation. Didactic discussion, reflection, and experiential exercises will support clinically curious and culturally respectful engagement with spiritually meaningful experiences.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Describe at least three features commonly associated with experiences identified as spiritual awakening and explain how Gestalt concepts of phenomenology, awareness, and figure/ground apply to understanding these experiences.
- Differentiate essentialist concepts of an “authentic self” from a Gestalt understanding of authenticity as an emergent process of awareness and contact, and apply the paradoxical theory of change to personal transformation.
- Demonstrate at least two Gestalt-informed strategies for exploring spiritual metaphors and narratives while distinguishing spiritual meaning-making from psychological integration and respecting diverse interpretations.
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: To be announced
Register coming soon.
Embodied Connections: Sex Therapy from a Gestalt Perspective
Marisa Floro, PhD, LCSW, CST
FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2027
1:00 – 4:15 PM
IN PERSON | 1824 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
Designed for clinicians, this advanced seminar bridges Gestalt theory and sex therapy practice by highlighting how to work holistically with clients around sexuality, intimacy, and sexual experience. Deconstructing the mechanics of Gestalt relational and embodied therapy will illuminate practical applications for increasing client awareness,self-support, and capacity for meaningful contact. Therapists will explore how to track their own somatic experience in the therapeutic encounter while providing a regulated, supportive relational field for exploring sexual concerns and patterns of contact.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- Describe how an embodied Gestalt therapeutic process can improve client awareness and support a creative adaptation model of psychological and sexual growth.
- Apply principles of somatic embodiment, relational presence, and Gestalt theory to enhance client and therapist self-support in sex therapy.
- Demonstrate the use of relational presence, attuned contact, and experiential experiments as active, evidence-informed mechanisms for clinical change in the treatment of sexual and relational concerns.
3.0 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS | FEE: $150
Statement on Multicultural Considerations and Equitability:
The field-theoretical and the phenomenological tenets as well as the principles of holism take, per definition, cultural differences into consideration. Implicit in its field-theoretical understanding is the fact that human beings are not islands but impacted by social influences as well as impactful on others. With respect to the existential field, each person shares a world with others in a variety of ways contributing to meaning and value. (Kirchner, 2000). As such the Administrative staff and faculty of the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh are dedicated to conveying respect to all program participants without bias toward gender, physical disability, culture, ethnic origin, spiritual/religious orientation, sexual orientation or other personal differences. It is the expectation of the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh that all program participants will exercise the same principles.
Statement on Evaluation Process:
The Institute faculty will consider the following key elements when determining each participant’s completion of individual seminars and awarding of Continuing Education credit:
- Full attendance and participation
- Completion of seminar evaluation
Statement on Privacy Policy:
This Privacy Policy explains the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh’s treatment of your personally identifiable information collected in connection with your activities with the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh and its website. This Privacy Policy also explains how you can ask questions and make suggestions about our privacy practices and review and update your personal information.
We urge you to read the Privacy Policy (listed in full on our website) carefully and to check back periodically as this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies or websites, which are not owned or controlled by the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh.