FRENPTES
← Training Training course · 27 hours in person

Introduction to Gestalt Therapy

A progressive, 27-hour theoretical-clinical journey designed to develop both a philosophical and epistemological understanding of Gestalt therapy and the practical skills required for clinical practice. The program starts from the historical and philosophical roots of the approach and gradually moves toward theoretical foundations, relational skills, and specific clinical interventions.

RegisterCourse program
StartTuesday, January 26, 2027, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
ScheduleFirst session on Tuesday, January 26; the schedule of the following sessions is set with the group, according to the preferences given at registration
Duration27 hours of training, from January to April 2027, one session every two weeks, in half-days (3 h) or full days (6 h) depending on the schedule chosen with the group
FormatIn person at Apogei Clinique, Sherbrooke
GroupGroup of 8 to 12 participants
AudiencePsychologists, psychotherapists, mental health professionals, and psychology students
Investment$800 for the full 27-hour course, payable in 4 instalments of $200 (plus taxes)
CertificateCertificate of attendance (27 h) issued at the end of the course

How we work

More than theoretical teaching, each session invites an experience of presence, dialogue, and exploration. Themes are approached through concrete situations, clinical exchanges, and experiential exercises that foster awareness, authenticity, and creativity in the therapeutic relationship. The content draws on phenomenology, existential dialogue, self theory, and the dynamics of contact.

Course program

27 hours of training from January to April 2027, one session every two weeks. The first session takes place on Tuesday, January 26; the schedule of the following sessions is set with the group according to the preferences given at registration. Half-days (3 h) cover one module; full days (6 h) bring two together, with a longer experiential part. The program moves from foundations to practice: origins, phenomenology, field, contact, dialogic relationship, experimentation, reading suffering, a full-day theoretical-experiential workshop, and integration.

Module 1 Tuesday, January 26, 2027 · 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Origins and foundations of Gestalt therapy Where the approach comes from and what sets it apart.
See detailed content

Content

  • The birth of Gestalt therapy: Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman; the post-war context and the break with psychoanalysis
  • The sources: Gestalt psychology (figure and ground), phenomenology, existentialism, Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, holism
  • What sets Gestalt therapy apart from other approaches: immediate experience, contact, responsibility
  • An overview of contemporary currents (relational, field, Gestalt psychopathology)

Experiential work and discussion

  • A “here and now” awareness exercise in large group
  • Introduction of participants and their expectations; training contract
Module 2 Date set with the group Phenomenology and the therapist’s stance The phenomenological method as the foundation of clinical posture.
See detailed content

Content

  • Describing rather than interpreting: reduction (epoché), description, horizontalization
  • Awareness: direct consciousness of what I sense, think and do in contact with the other
  • Distinguishing sensation, emotion, thought and judgment in clinical language
  • Presence and curiosity: not anticipating, not controlling the process

Experiential work and discussion

  • Awareness continuum in dyads (observer / narrator)
  • Debrief: what facilitates and what interrupts awareness
Module 3 Date set with the group Field theory and the holistic vision Understanding the person within their organism–environment field.
See detailed content

Content

  • The organism and its environment as a totality; organismic self-regulation and creative adjustment
  • Field theory: from Lewin to contemporary Gestalt therapy (Parlett, Robine, Wheeler)
  • Figure and ground: health as fluidity, suffering as a fixed figure
  • The therapist as part of the field during the session

Experiential work and discussion

  • Exploring figure / ground from a personal situation
  • Discussion: reading a clinical presentation in terms of field
Module 4 Date set with the group Contact and the contact boundary Contact as a living movement between self and world.
See detailed content

Content

  • The contact functions: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, moving, speaking
  • The contact cycle: sensation, awareness, mobilization, action, contact, withdrawal (versions and limits of the model)
  • The contact boundary and the self as process: id, ego and personality functions
  • Unfinished situations and their presence in the here and now

Experiential work and discussion

  • A guided contact sequence in dyads
  • Identifying, in a vignette, the stages of the cycle and where it stalls
Module 5 Date set with the group Modulations of contact Introjection, projection, retroflection, confluence, deflection, egotism.
See detailed content

Content

  • Modulations (or interruptions) of contact: definitions, clinical examples, protective value
  • Resistance as protection and creative adjustment, not as an obstacle
  • Bodily and relational manifestations; working hypotheses for each
  • Polarities: integrating opposites rather than eliminating a pole

Experiential work and discussion

  • Recognizing one’s own preferred modulations
  • Working with polarities in small groups; clinical discussion
Module 6 Date set with the group The dialogic relationship and the therapist’s presence The quality of the encounter as the axis of practice.
See detailed content

Content

  • Buber and the I-Thou relationship; the dialogic psychotherapy of Hycner and Jacobs
  • Presence, inclusion, confirmation: what the client needs to experience in the relationship
  • The difference between presence and empathy; the therapist does not lose themselves
  • Confluence, transference and countertransference from a Gestalt perspective; silence as intervention

Experiential work and discussion

  • Dialogic dyads: meeting, being met, saying what is happening between us
  • Debrief on moments of contact and withdrawal
Module 7 Date set with the group Experimentation and the creative process Moving from “talking about” to “experiencing”.
See detailed content

Content

  • The creative process according to Zinker: structure, direction and elegance of experimentation
  • Building an experiment grounded in the client’s total organism; consent and grading
  • Techniques and supports: empty chair, amplification, enactment, bodywork, drawing and objects
  • Introduction to the Institute’s projective and symbolic tools (Sand Tray, projective cards, theatre)

Experiential work and discussion

  • Designing and running a short experiment in a triad (therapist, client, observer)
  • Discussion: when to propose, when to hold back
Module 8 Date set with the group A Gestalt reading of suffering Health, suffering and process diagnosis.
See detailed content

Content

  • Health and suffering in Gestalt therapy: completion, fixation, symptom as a message from the organism
  • Process diagnosis: observing how the person makes contact rather than classifying them
  • Anxiety, depression and grief from a Gestalt perspective; bridges to contemporary psychopathology (Francesetti, Gecele and Roubal)
  • Limits of the approach, referrals and networked practice; the ethical framework of the Ordre des psychologues du Québec

Experiential work and discussion

  • Analysis of an anonymized clinical vignette using the course’s concepts
  • Discussion: what a process-based reading changes in intervention
Module 9 Full day (6 h) · date set with the group Theoretical-experiential workshop: Gestalt therapy in practice A full day of emotional and theoretical work to experience, in practice, what has been studied throughout the course.
See detailed content

Morning · Experiential work

  • Experiments in the whole group and in small groups: awareness, contact, cycle of experience
  • Guided emotional work, in a safe setting that respects each person’s pace
  • Practising the dialogic stance: presence, confirmation, inclusion

Afternoon · Lived theory and reflection on the experience

  • Theoretical reading of what was lived in the morning: field, contact modulations, dialogic relationship
  • Practice in dyads and triads (therapist, client, observer) with feedback
  • Transfer to clinical practice and preparation of the integration session
Module 10 Date set with the group Integration: from theory to practice Review, clinical reflection and next steps.
See detailed content

Content

  • Revisiting key concepts through practice situations brought by participants
  • Clinical reflection and consultation as spaces for integration and professional support
  • Ethical stance and ongoing professional development in Gestalt therapy
  • Further reading and training paths for going deeper

Experiential work and discussion

  • Brief presentation of clinical situations and group exchange
  • Review of the journey, closing and presentation of certificates

Workshops · in person and online

Two in-person workshops at Apogei Clinique and one hands-on workshop live on Zoom, built around the tools of outils.gestaltsherbrooke.com — the Institute’s free platform for projective and symbolic work in session.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026 · 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Discovery workshop: Gestalt therapy in practice (in person) An experiential morning at Apogei Clinique to experience the foundations of the approach: awareness, contact, here and now and Gestalt experimentation. The gateway to the January 2027 introductory course, open to psychologists, psychotherapists, practitioners and psychology students. $60 (plus taxes) Register
Friday, November 27, 2026 · 9 to 11 a.m. Symbolic play online: Sand Tray and theatre How to run a Sand Tray or symbolic theatre scene using the platform: choosing figures and settings, the pace of construction, phenomenological questions, working with polarities, and closure. Live demonstration and practice in pairs. $60 (plus taxes) Register
Tuesday, January 12, 2027 · 9 to 11 a.m. Projective cards in session Using projective cards and the body card to foster awareness, name emotions, and explore unfinished situations: instructions, work sequences, ethical considerations, and adaptations for children, adolescents, and adults. Live demonstration and practice in pairs. Bringing a laptop is recommended. $60 (plus taxes) Register

Small groups · certificate of attendance · free access to the platform before, during and after the workshops.

Professional frameworkThe course is offered by Helena Pinheiro Jucá Vasconcelos, psychologist (OPQ #15704-25), founder of the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Sherbrooke. This is a training and clinical reflection activity, not considered psychotherapy, in accordance with the standards of the Ordre des psychologues du Québec. Spaces are limited to preserve the quality of the exchanges.
Core bibliography
  • Buber, M. (1923/1958). I and thou (R. G. Smith, Trans.). Scribner. [French translation: Je et Tu, Aubier]
  • Ginger, S. (1987). La Gestalt : l’art du contact. Marabout.
  • Hycner, R., & Jacobs, L. (1995). The healing relationship in Gestalt therapy: A dialogic/self psychology approach. Gestalt Journal Press.
  • Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945). Phénoménologie de la perception. Gallimard.
  • Oaklander, V. (1978). Windows to our children: A Gestalt therapy approach to children and adolescents. Real People Press.
  • Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F., & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt therapy: Excitement and growth in the human personality. Julian Press. [French translation: Gestalt-thérapie, L’Exprimerie]
  • Polster, E., & Polster, M. (1973). Gestalt therapy integrated: Contours of theory and practice. Brunner/Mazel.
  • Yontef, G. M. (1993). Awareness, dialogue and process: Essays on Gestalt therapy. Gestalt Journal Press.
  • Zinker, J. (1977). Creative process in Gestalt therapy. Brunner/Mazel.
  • Further reading in Portuguese: Ribeiro, J. P. (1994). O ciclo do contato. Summus ; Frazão, L. M., & Fukumitsu, K. O. (Eds.). (2013). Gestalt-terapia: conceitos fundamentais. Summus.

Registration

Write to us through the contact form or by email, indicating the course and your area of practice. We will reply with the session dates and payment details.

Register