“The true self comes from the aliveness of the body tissues and the working of body functions, including the heart’s action and breathing. It is closely linked with the idea of the primacy process, and is, at the beginning, essentially not reactive to external stimuli, but primary.”
Donald Winnicott
This year-long (1 day every 2 months) workshop from The Gazebo School in London builds theoretical understanding and clinical practice skills in working with young people across a particularly broad age range.
The format has been extended to also cater for university counsellors, adult therapists, educators, pastoral carers and other professionals who are working with members of ‘generation Z’ in various settings.
This course counts as 42 hours of CPD.
When
7 dates:
- 19 Jan 2023
- 23 March 2023
- 18 May 2023
- 13 July 2023
- 14 Sept 2023
- 16Nov 2023
- 18 Jan 2024
Hours: 10am to 5pm
Attendance in person is required throughout.
Where
Opportunities to work outside in secluded garden, weather permitting.
Friends Meeting House
17 Woodville Road
Ealing
London
W5 2SE
- disabled access
- 5-minutes’ walk from Ealing Broadway station (trains from Paddington take 7 minutes)
- on-site parking
We meet in a well-ventilated room with a COVID protocol in place. We may also work in an adjoining garden.
The provocation…
A revised view of adolescence considers this a process that often extends into the mid-twenties. See Sawyer et al’s article in The Lancet, The age of adolescence.
Today’s young people are ‘techno literate’. During the pandemic, however, emphasis on remote communication resulted in an enforced shift for many, away from more embodied forms of expression. Consequently, some possess deficits in using one or more of their contact skills (senses, body, intellect), while others show anxiety, depression or reduced self-confidence.
Why an arts-based approach?
Incorporating the arts in a Gestalt therapy approach offers many an ‘experience near’ vehicle for self-expression that finds application across the age spectrum. When incorporated in a relational dialogue, arts modalities may help our clients (and ourselves!) track and ascribe meaning to experiences. This aids exploration of ‘unfinished business’, fosters resilience and aware choice-making and enhances wellbeing.
The vision
This course draws inspiration from the pioneering work of Gestalt therapists Violet Oaklander and Mark McConville. It also incorporates ideas from Dan Hughes, Ruth Lampert, Peter Levine, Patricia Papernow, Adam Phillips, Dan Siegel, Aletha Solter, Norman Shub, Colwyn Trevarthen, Donald Winnicott and others.
Elements of attachment, family systems, neuroscience, trauma and inter-generational theories are woven into the mix. The relational nature of the therapeutic encounter is central to this integrative approach.
This course may also interest those wishing to explore their own relationship with creativity, playfulness and expression of deep feeling.
Modalities
The group will experience at first-hand working with:
- drawing
- dreams
- painting
- clay
- haiku and creative writing
- lyric-making
- improvised musicking
- movement
- sand tray
- puppets
- therapeutic games
- sound healing
Course content
Includes many of the following:
- reasons adolescents, children and young adults enter therapy
- developmental principles
- conjoint assessment and devising help plans
- the therapeutic process
- crisis intervention
- step-family situations
- anger and aggressive energy
- bullying
- diversity
- failure to launch
- grief work
- power and perfectionism
- safeguarding; shyness
- additional needs
- starting groups
- reviewing and ending
Methods
Include:
- ‘live’ demonstrations
- didactic and dyadic skills practice
- group work and group discussion
- optional practicum session on final day
Recommended pre-course reading
- Windows to Our Children: A Gestalt Approach to Child and Adolescent Therapy and/or Hidden Treasure: A Map to the Child’s Inner Self by Dr Violet Oaklander
- Adolescence: Psychotherapy of the Emergent Self by Dr Mark McConville
- Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends by David Epston and Michael White
Payment
- Fee: £759 (payable by BACS transfer)
- ‘Early bird’ discount price: £700 (if paid before 1 November2022)
- Fee includes all materials, worksheets, extensive reading list, and Gazebo School attendance certificate
To register, or for more information, contact me by email.
About Jon Blend (course facilitator)
Jon Blend is a European adult, child and adolescent psychotherapist working in private practice in London, England. He brings over 40 years’ experience of working with adults, children, adolescents and families in the fields of community mental health, social work and performing arts. Jon is also a clinical supervisor, trainer and an improvising Lifemusician. He initially trained with Dr Violet Oaklander in 2000 and has been teaching the Oaklander approach for 20 years.
Jon is:
- Principal of Gazebo School London
- Wellbeing faculty member of the Institute for Arts in Therapy & Education
He is a visiting trainer with:
- NESTT, Yorkshire
- Gestalt Centre, London
- Gestalt Centre Wales
- Pathways, Manchester
- Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath
He is also a guitarist and performer with London Playback Theatre.
Jon has delivered Gestalt workshops and conference presentations to counsellors, psychotherapists and other health and education professionals in Budapest, Chepstow, Florida, Goole, Kyiv, London, Manchester, Naples, Oxford, Prestwich, Rzeszow, Sofia, Taganrog, Tbilisi, Toronto and Zagreb.
His writings include chapters on adolescence and trans-generational trauma, articles on music-making and an obituary of Dr Violet Oaklander (British Gestalt Journal). Many of his articles are available on this website.
On completing this intensive, members may apply for Jon’s advanced supervision course.
