GESTALT INSTITUTE OF AUSTIN

Growth through Awareness

GIA Founded in 1998

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GIA Training

and

A Gestalt Reading List:

(*This suggested Reading List was compiled from the personal library of Joseph Meador, PhD)

 

Gestalt Institute of Austin offers training in Gestalt Theory to qualified applicants. The educational program at GIA is practical and experimental in nature and culminates in the awarding of a Diploma in Gestalt Theory.  


TRAINING:

Each student who is admitted to the training program will study privately, and in a group setting, with a selected GIA Faculty member.  Students are required to pass the diplomate examination at the conclusion of the program, as well as to submit and read a research thesis related to the field of Gestalt Therapy.  In addition, each student must undergo an individual training analysis with a certified Gestalt Therapist throughout the duration of the diplomate program. 


TRAINING CURRICULUM:

The GIA training curriculum provides a unique opportunity to study and experience Gestalt Theory from its early roots to its modern advances in the field of behavioral development.  The student will become familiar with the foundations of Gestalt Theory and Gestalt Therapy by studying from the original source documents and texts written by first generation Gestaltists, as well as by studying with the GIA Faculty who have studied and trained with a number of outstanding first generation Gestalt practitioners.

Following is the unified curriculum established by the Gestalt Institute of Austin.  Each course is worth 15 (fifteen) clock hours of credit.  420 training hours are required to complete the diplomate program.

1.  THE THEORETICAL:

  • GST-101  Introduction to Gestalt Practice 
  • GST-102  History of Gestalt Psychology
  • GST-103  Philosophy of Gestalt Theory 1
  • GST-104  Philosophy of Gestalt Theory 2
  • GST-105  History of Gestalt Therapy 1
  • GST-106  History of Gestalt Therapy 2
  • GST-107  History of Gestalt Therapy 3

2.  THE TEXTUAL:  (Readings Determined by Individual Faculty)

  • GST-201  Readings in Gestalt 1
  • GST-202  Readings in Gestalt 2
  • GST-203  Readings in Gestalt 3
  • GST-204  Readings in Gestalt 4
  • GST-205  Readings in Gestalt 5
  • GST-206  Readings in Gestalt 6
  • GST-207  Readings in Gestalt 7

3.  THE PRACTICAL:

  • GST-301  Gestalt Awareness 1
  • GST-302  Gestalt Awareness 2
  • GST-303  Gestalt Awareness 3
  • GST-304  Gestalt Awareness 4
  • GST-305  Gestalt Dreamwork 1
  • GST-306  Gestalt Dreamwork 2
  • GST-307  Gestalt Dreamwork 3

4.  THE PROFESSIONAL:  (Elective Offerings - 7 Courses are required)

  • GST-401  Process in Gestalt
  • GST-402  Gestalt Psychogenetics
  • GST-403  Reich and Somatic Process
  • GST-404  Somatic Process in Gestalt
  • GST-405  Relational Gestalt Therapy
  • GST-406  Family Process in Gestalt
  • GST-407  Child Process in Gestalt
  • GST-408  J.L. Moreno and Psychodrama
  • GST-409  Gestalt and Emotional Structure
  • GST-410  Gestalt and the Religious Community
  • GST-411  Gestalt and Sand Tray Therapy
  • GST-412  Gestalt and Art Therapy
  • GST-413  Gestalt and the Cycle of Experience
  • GST-414  Gestalt Theory and C. G. Jung


Readings in Gestalt:

This selected bibliography is offered as representative of the formative, theoretical, social and historical constructs of Gestalt Therapy as it evolved during both the East Coast and West Coast periods from the late 1940's to the late 1970's and early 1980's. Because of our interest in the historical development of Gestalt Theory, it is important that our training students have access to earlier Gestalt and Gestalt related textbooks written in the Early and Middle periods of the development of Gestalt Therapy. 


In addition, GIA has a growing collection of multi-media works including early Gestalt training films by Fritz Perls and James Simkins.  GIA also has several filmed interviews with Laura Perls.  In addition, GIA has collected a number of audio taped workshops and lectures by Fritz Perls.


G.I.A. Gestalt Bibliography:

*The following booklist is given to our training students, as many of these texts are required reading for course completion at GIA.  This list is also an excellent reference guide for those who wish to gain some familiarity with Gestalt Therapy.  This list is updated periodically.

Anderson, Walter Truett. THE UPSTART SPRING: ESALEN AND THE AMERICAN AWAKENING, Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1983.

Baumgardner, Patricia and Fritz Perls. GIFTS FROM LAKE COWICHAN: LEGACY FROM FRITZ, Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1975.

Birnbaum, Jack. CRY ANGER, Based On the Principles of Transactional Analysis and Gestalt Therapy, Ontario, Canada: General Publishing Co. Ltd, 1973.

Boyne, Gil. TRANSFORMING THERAPY, Glendale, CA: Westwood Publishing Co., 1989.

Brown, George Isaac, ed. THE LIVE CLASSROOM: INNOVATION THROUGH CONFLUENT EDUCATION AND GESTALT, New York: The Viking Press, 1975.

Churchill, Randal. BECOME THE DREAM: THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF HYPNOTIC DREAMWORK, Santa Rosa, CA: Transforming Press, 1997.

Clarkson, Petruska and Jennifer Mackewn. FRITZ PERLS, London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1993.

De Riet, Vernon Van, Margaret P. Korb, and John Jeffrey Gorrell. GESTALT THERAPY: AN INTRODUCTION, Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press, 1980.

Downing, Jack, ed. GESTALT AWARENESS, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1976.

Downing, Jack and Robert Marmorstein, eds. DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES, Highland NY: The Gestalt Journal Press, 1973.

Fagen, Joen and Irma Lee Shepherd, eds. GESTALT THERAPY NOW: THEORY, TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS, Palo Alto, California: Science and Behavior Books, Inc., 1970.

----------. LIFE TECHNIQUES IN GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1973.

----------. WHAT IS GESTALT THERAPY? New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1973.

Fantz, Rainette Eden. THE DREAMER AND THE DREAM, Cleveland, OH: Gestalt Institute of Cleveland Press, 1998.

Feder, Bud and Ruth Ronall, eds. A LIVING LEGACY OF FRITZ AND LAURA PERLS: CONTEMPORARY CASE STUDIES, Montclair, NJ: Walden Printing, 1996.

Feder, Bud. PEELING THE ONION: A GESTALT THERAPY MANUAL FOR CLIENTS, Bud Feder Publishing, 1982.

----------. BEYOND THE HOT SEAT: GESTALT APPROACHES TO GROUP, New York: Brunner/Mazel, Inc., 1980.

Gaines, Jack. FRITZ PERLS HERE AND NOW, Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts, 1979.

Geba, Bruno Hans. BREATHE AWAY YOUR TENSION: AN INTRODUCTION TO GESTALT BODY AWARENESS THERAPY, New York: Random House, 1973.

Gobar, Ash. PHILOSOPHIC FOUNDATIONS OF GENETIC PSYCHOLOGY AND GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY, Hague, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1968.

Goodman, Paul. NATURE HEALS, THE PYSCHOLOGICAL ESSAYS OF PAUL GOODMAN, New York: Free Life Editions, Inc., 1977.

Greenberg, Leslie S., Laura N. Rice, and Robert Elliott. FACILITATING EMOTIONAL CHANGE, New York: The Guilford Press, 1993.

Greenwald, Jerry. CREATIVE INTIMACY, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.

----------. BE THE PERSON YOU WERE MEANT TO BE, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1973.

Gustaitis, Rasa. TURNING ON, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1969.

Hamilton, Jeffrey D. GESTALT IN PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSELING, Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 1997.

Hatcher, Chris and Philip Himelstein, eds. THE HANDBOOK OF GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1976.

James, Muriel and Dorothy Jongeward. BORN TO WIN, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., 1971.

Keen, Sam. VOICES AND VISIONS, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1970.

Kempler, Walter. PRINCIPLES OF GESTALT FAMILY THERAPY, Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Press, 1974.

Kepner, James I. BODY PROCESS: A GESTALT APPROACH TO WORKING WITH THE BODY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY, New York: Gardner Press, Inc., 1987.

Knights, Ward A., Jr. PASTORAL COUNSELING, A GESTALT APPROACH, Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press, Inc., 2002.

Koffka, Kurt. PRINCIPLES OF GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935.

Kohler, Wolfgang. THE TASK OF GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969.

Latner, Joel. THE GESTALT THERAPY BOOK: A HOLISTIC GUIDE TO THE THEORY, PRINCIPLES, AND TECHNIQUEST OF GESTALT THERAPY DEVELOPED BY FREDERICK S. PERLS AND OTHERS, New York: The Julian Press Inc., 1973.

Lederman, Janet. ANGER AND THE ROCKING CHAIR, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969.

Leonard, George. WALKING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1988.

Lewin, Kurt. PRINCIPLES OF TOPOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1936.

Marcus, Eric H. GESTALT THERAPY AND BEYOND, Cupertino, CA: META Publications, 1979.

Naranjo, Claudio. GESTALT THERAPY: The Attitude and Practice of An Atheoretical Experientialism, Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB Publishing, 1993.

Oaklander, Violet. WINDOWS TO OUR CHILDREN, Highland, NY: The Gestalt Journal Press, 1978.

Perls, Frederick S. GESTALT THERAPY VERBATIM, Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1969.

----------. IN AND OUT OF THE GARBAGE PAIL, Lafayette, California: Real People Press, 1969.

----------. THE GESTALT APPROACH AND EYE WITNESS TO THERAPY, Palto Alto, California: Science and Behavior Books, 1973.

----------. EGO, HUNGER AND AGGRESSION, New York: Random House, 1969.

Perls, Frederick, S., Ralph F. Hefferline, and Paul Goodman. GESTALT THERAPY: EXCITEMENT AND GROWTH IN THE HUMAN PERSONALITY, New York: The Julian Press, 1971.

Perls, Renate with Eileen J. Ain. THOSE WHO COME AFTER - Autobiography of Renate Perls,  New Orleans, LA: Gestalt Institute Press, 2001.

Platonov, K. THE WORD AS A PHYSIOLOGICAL AND THERAPEUTIC FACTOR, Moscow, Russia: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1959.

Polster, Erving and Miriam. GESTALT THERAPY INTEGRATED: CONTOURS OF THEORY AND PRACTICE, New York: Brunner and Mazel Publishers, Inc. 1974.

Pursglove, Paul David. RECOGNITIONS IN GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968.

Ravich, Lenny. A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO ENLIGHTENMENT, New Orleans, LA: Gestalt Institute Press, 2002.

Reich, Wilhelm. CHARACTER ANALYSIS, New York: Orgone Institute Press, 1949.

Rosenblatt, Daniel. OPENING DOORS: WHAT HAPPENS IN GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975.

----------. THE GESTALT THERAPY PRIMER, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1976.

-----------. ,ed., A FESTSCHRIFT FOR LAURA PERLS, Highland, NY: The Gestalt Journal Press, 1980.

------------. YOUR LIFE IS A MESS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1976.

Ronsenfeld, Edward and Joe Wysong. AN ORAL HISTORY OF GESTALT THERAPY, Highland, NY: The Center for Gestalt Development, Inc., 1988.

Ryback, David with Letitia Sweitzer. DREAMS THAT COME TRUE, New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Schachtel, Ernest G. METAMORPHOSIS, New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1959.

Schiffman, Muriel. GESTALT SELF THERAPY, Berkeley, CA: Bookpeople, 1971.

Schutzenberger, Anne Ancelin. THE ANCESTOR SYNDROME, London: Routledge, 1998.

Shepard, Martin. FRITZ: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF FRITZ PERLS AND GESTALT THERAPY, New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1975.

Simkin, James S. GESTALT THERAPY MINI-LECTURES, Millbrae, CA: Celestial Arts, 1976.

Smith, Edward W. L., ed. THE GROWING EDGE OF GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Brunner and Mazel Publishers Inc., 1976.

Sonnemann, Ulrich. EXISTENCE AND THERAPY, New York: Grune & Stratton, 1954.

Stephenson, Douglas F. GESTALT THERAPY PRIMER, New York: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1978.

Stevens, Barry. BURST OUT LAUGHING, Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1985

----------. DON'T PUSH THE RIVER, Moab, UT: Real People Press, 1970.

Stevens, John O. AWARENESS: EXPLORING, EXPERIMENTING, EXPERIENCING, Moab, UT: Real People Press, 1971.

----------., ed. GESTALT IS, Moab, UT: Real People Press, 1975.

Stoehr, Taylor. HERE NOW NEXT: Paul Goodman and the Origins of Gestalt Therapy, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994.

Teachworth, Anne. WHY WE PICK THE MATES WE DO, New Orleans: The Gestalt Press, 1999.

Thomas, Jesse James. THE YOUNIVERSE, LaJolla, CA: Psychology and Consulting Associates Press, 1977.

Vaihinger, Hans, London.  THE PHILOSOPHY OF "AS IF", England: Routledge, Kegan, Paul, Ltd., 1924.

Walker, James Lynwood. BODY & SOUL: GESTALT THERAPY AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, New York: Abingdon Press, 1971.

Wheeler, Gordon. GESTALT RECONSIDERED: A NEW APPROACH TO CONTACT AND RESISTANCE, New York: Gardner Press, Inc., 1991.

Wheeler, Gordon and Stephanie Backman, eds. ON INTIMATE GROUND: A GESTALT APPROACH TO WORKING WITH COUPLES, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994.

Wysong, Joe, ed. LAURA PERLS, LIVING AT THE BOUNDARY, Highland, New York: The Gestalt Journal Press, 1992.

Zinker, Joseph C. SKETCHES, Cambridge, MA: The Gestalt Press, 2001.

----------. IN SEARCH OF GOOD FORM, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994.

----------. CREATIVE PROCESS IN GESTALT THERAPY, New York: Brunner/Mazel, Inc., 1977.