Challenge 10 – Study Gestalt Therapy

 

Do you see a duck or a rabbit?

And so to the third course I’ve started this year, an Advanced Diploma in Gestalt Therapy. This one is four years part time, and will potentially lead into a masters if I decide to pursue it that far. I almost didn’t pursue it past the first hour to be honest! The teacher spent most of the time talking about her bifocals, her dyslexia and struggling to put together a description of the rather simple act of borrowing books. I asked a few questions and was mostly met with a wall of confusion, as she didn’t really seem to know the content of the handouts she had given us. It was almost comical, except that the course wasn’t exactly being given away for free, and there was going to be a hell of a lot of these Wednesday night classes over the next year!

So during the break I went for a walk, got some air, breathed deeply, and told myself that although her organisational skills were clearly not her strong point, she had been teaching first years for quite some time. Considering the school was still operational, and there was a class of 2nd year students, she can’t possibly be that bad at it.  So logically her knowledge of subject matter must be considerable and unrelated to the first impression she had made. I prayed the second half would begin to prove this!

It started off badly, as she struggled to find a beanbag she didn’t keep rolling out of. Then when she did get comfortable she almost fell out trying to reach her teaching materials. Sigh. When the challenge of sitting down was resolved though it began to be evident why she was the teacher, as we delved into what the course would be covering. I was being reminded of why I was here, and it was good. Gestalt is all about communicating in the moment. Regardless of what has happened in the past, you work in how that affects you in the now.  People make meaning in their life from their own interpretations (such as seeing a duck or a rabbit in the picture above).  Sometimes the meaning we make is not useful, and gestalt works to alter this perception in order to make a more supportive, life giving meaning.  It’s the kind of therapy that’s hard to explain, which is maybe why it hasn’t hit the mainstream, but I’m definitely intrigued by it. She started to hit on some very interesting insights, and it seemed clear that once past the practical confusions of running a class, this woman really knew her stuff. Phew!

It’s the first of four weekends throughout the year this weekend, and our class consists of 5 guys and 2 girls and will involve a lot of group work over the year. I’m guessing we’ll probably know more about each other by the end of the year than any of us really wanted to.  And yes I hear you ask, we do get to sit in beanbags during class.  Quack !

2012 update:  It turned out to be a phenomenal year.  I learnt so much about myself through this training, and my connection to other people.  The trainer was absolutely phenomenal in her ability to truly listen to someone, and to really understand their needs and what drives them.  Her ability to bring the theory to what was already happening in the room with the existing interactions was almost as impressive as her ability to bring laughter in immediately after some heavy duty work.  The logistics of managing time and running the class for me paled in comparison to the way she worked with the group.  There was so much safety in the group I shared things I never thought I’d ever tell anybody.  It was confronting.  Challenging.  Scary.  Empowering.  I loved it.  So much so I’ve enrolled for the next 3 years part time for their masters course.  Highly recommended!