Men's GEW - Gestalt Experience Workshop

This Gestalt Experience Workshop (GEW) is a unique opportunity for men to explore how they relate to self and others and experiment with novel ways of experiencing, acting, and connecting within a supportive group context. This weekend aims to help men increase self-awareness, deepen capacity for meaningful connection, and become more alive, free, and whole in their personal and professional lives.

This workshop will follow the standard GEW structure and is open to anyone who identifies as a man. We seek to form a community of men inclusive of multiple intersecting identities and backgrounds.

In this increasingly complex and sometimes chaotic world, interpersonal relationships have never been more important—or more complicated! Relating effectively with others can advance your professional career and enrich your personal life. In this fast-paced, multitasking world, the ability to relate authentically is easily compromised. It is often easier to withdraw into isolation and lose sight of our need to contribute to the creation of stimulating and supportive relationships and communities. Relating well is based upon using our capacities to be self-aware, curious, and open to another's experience and viewpoint, as well as having the skills to communicate effectively in order to influence with integrity.

We invite you to participate in a GEW and learn how a Gestalt approach can help you to build more productive and satisfying personal and professional relationships. This workshop focuses on increasing your self-awareness and supporting your learning through direct, present experience and respectful exchange with others. Our skilled faculty facilitators create a space in which to explore, observe, practice, and discuss interpersonal interactions. In addition, core elements of Gestalt methods are explained to help you to integrate your learning.

This is a potentially transformative weekend that offers an opportunity to take some of the mystery out of creating and sustaining more satisfying professional and interpersonal relationships.

This workshop satisfies the Introductory Gestalt Workshop prerequisite for the Gestalt Training Program (GTP) and may contribute to acceptance in other GIC training programs.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of a GEW, you will be able to:

• Experience interactive processes, based on Gestalt theory and rooted in the present moment;

• Experiment with elements of embodied presence, such as: using the breath, body posture, and movement;

• Explore the ways your behavior affects others;

• Describe how interpersonal interactions with others affect you;

• Recognize the unintended consequences interpersonal interactions may have;

• Observe the process of dialogue from a Gestalt perspective;

• Practice using Gestalt methods to make meaningful contact with others; and

• Identify one or two ideas or behaviors you will take away from this workshop.

  Continuing Education (CE): 12 contact hours