Florian Aydogan (D) 
Graduate theologian, Gestalt therapist, Supervisor

A „gestalt” is a unit of meaning in which the total is more than the sum of the parts. Gestalt therapy aims to clarify the process of how the clients interpretate and structure their raw data of perception into narrative, and how this narrative (values, wishes) supports their choices of action.

Much of the work will take place with the help of „the empty chair“, a guided dialogue where an empty chair represents another person with whom the clients have a conflict, or with some part of themselves that they try to deny. The basic tenet is the paradoxical theory that you cannot change something you do not accept (A. Beisser).

Some of the issues people bring up for a therapeutical dialogue with the trainer or “the chair” may be on a deep religious or existential level; others may be pedagogical, aiming at clearer communication about trivial annoyances in everyday life. Both levels are equally important for the purpose of the group which is introducing the participants to the thinking and practice of gestalt therapy. The process of the dialogue is more important for the contact with other people than the content, and an individual’s process of communication tends to repeat itself in his/her dialogues at many levels.

Henning Röper (D)

Certified psychlogist, supervisor,
coach (DGSv), teaching therapist (SG), systemic consultant  

Current social developments, with increasingly intense reporting on international escalations, are promoting polarization within society. This polarization is leading to more and more frequent conflicts. In these conflictual situations, our cognitive abilities are limited. The increased level of agitation makes it difficult to find solutions and actually engage in relationships. It does not matter whether the conflict arises in couple relationships, families, or organizations – stressful situations lead to entanglements and misunderstandings that are not conducive to conflict resolution. When human reality meets therapeutic theory in such situations, more questions than answers often arise.

This workshop will use a systemic conflict model to show how we can manage to establish a relationship level in conflict situations. Participants will have the opportunity to work on conflicts they have experienced in all areas of their lives using systemic methods.

The focus will continue to be on learning physical and practical exercises for stress regulation. Participants will learn techniques and strategies related to their different roles in order to protect themselves in conflicts, gain distance, and serve as multipliers.

Ole Lindquist (DK)

Visual artist,
teacher of art and creativity 
and art-as-therapy

„In the beginning was the image“ says the Danish painter Asger Jorn almost as a complementary version of the beginning of John‘s Gospel. And his words contain a truth: Our psyche consists of images, symbols, pictures. So when we create images, we speak the language of the psyche.

In this workshop the picture and its image is at the center. Both as a laboratory and as a playground. The picture is a spacious thing where most things can be invited inside. To create is to add something that did not exist before. When I change an image, the image simultaneously changes me, creation has consequences in both directions.

Therefore, creation opens new doors and is often therapeutic.

A picture is a good place to be in whatever we are curious about: Our courage, our doubt, our wounds or our capacity for forgiveness.

Our innate knowledge of what is needed to heal a wound, to add what is missing or to invent what is not yet here – all of that we are in touch with when we create. Creation is a multidimensional occupation. 

We work in various materials in the form of painting, drawing, collage, and 3-dimensional work and we are pending between periods of creative work and reflective conversations that are always based on the visible images we have in front of us.