Working with the family in gestalt therapy

Breadcrumb Abstract Shape
Breadcrumb Abstract Shape
Breadcrumb Abstract Shape

a specialisation with Viktoriia Varha

Viktoriia Varha

In the family each of us finds a mirror that reflects our deepest fears and our boldest dreams.

It is the place where we learn to dance on the waves of feeling, sometimes forgetting that every step can be a step towards understanding and acceptance — of ourselves first of all.

A family is not only a shelter from the outside world but also an arena where our most important battles and victories take place, teaching us to be more human, more courageous and more open to the world.

WHO IS THIS GROUP FOR?

For practising gestalt therapists, and for students who have completed at least 6 modules of training.

We invite you to a programme aimed at professionals with:

  • a psychological,

  • a medical,

  • a pedagogical education

WHAT THE PROGRAMME WILL INCLUDE:

  • In the course of the training you will become familiar with the main principles and techniques of gestalt therapy in work with the family.

  • You will also gain knowledge of the main stages and crises of the family, of family pathology, of diagnosis and of strategies for working with the family.

  • Difficult cases in work with families and with parent–child relationships will be examined.

DOCUMENT ON COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAMME: On completion of the training a certificate of the Kyiv Institute of Gestalt and Psychodrama is issued.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS:

  • The programme consists of 9 modules

  • Frequency of meetings: roughly once every 1–1.5 months,

  • Saturday–Sunday,

  • from 10:00 to 18:00.

FORMAT OF WORK:

  • online

  • on Zoom

SCHEDULE: Timetable of meetings:

  • meeting 1 — 25–26 October 2025

  • meeting 2 — 29–30 November 2025

  • meeting 3 — 27–28 December 2025

  • meeting 4 — 17–18 January 2026

  • meeting 5 — 11–12 April 2026

  • meeting 6 — 02–03 May 2026

  • meeting 7 — 13–14 June 2026

  • meeting 8 — 18–19 July 2026

  • meeting 9 — 15–16 August 2026

FORMS OF WORK IN THE GROUP:

  • lectures, exercises;

  • practising therapeutic skills in work with the family;

  • work under supervision;

  • discussion of difficult cases;

  • work with real families (including those of the seminar participants).

TOPICS OF THE SEMINARS: Module 1

  • Principles of gestalt therapy with a couple

  • a model of gestalt-therapeutic work with a couple;

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a couple;

  • the main techniques of working with a couple and a family.

Module 2

  • Gestalt therapy in work with families:

  • stages in the development of a couple;

  • an evolutionary–phenomenological model of relationships in parenthood;

  • the phases of parenthood.

Module 3

  • Gestalt therapy with a couple in clinical practice:

  • diagnosis and the clinical approach of the gestalt therapist;

  • gestalt models of working with personality disorders;

  • understanding and treating disturbances in relationships.

Module 4

  • Sexual imbalance in marital relationships:

  • the dynamics of sexual relations in marriage;

  • working with sexual trauma;

  • methods of working with sexual imbalance in a couple.

Module 5

  • Gestalt therapy in cases of violence in the family:

  • the Self and the traumatic background of the family;

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a family;

  • somatisation as a way of communicating in relationships, and the attention gestalt therapy pays to bodily experience.

Module 6

  • Gestalt therapy in work with families going through divorce:

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a couple before and after divorce;

  • working through separation, working with grief in the family;

  • restoring the relationship, and how to remain a parenting couple.

Module 7

  • Gestalt therapy in work with the families and couples of service members.

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a couple;

  • the main techniques of working with the traumatic background of a family;

  • adaptation, working with the couple’s grief, support within the couple and group psychotherapy.

Module 8

  • Gestalt therapy in work with families with children with special needs

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a couple;

  • the main techniques of working with the traumatic background of a family;

  • adaptation, working with the couple’s grief, support within the couple and group psychotherapy.

Module 9

  • Gestalt therapy in work with a family with adopted children

  • principles of organising consultative and psychotherapeutic work with a couple;

  • the main techniques of working with the traumatic background of a family;

  • adaptation, support, working with the couple’s projections and group parent–child psychotherapy.

  • Certification.

Viktoriia Varha

GROUP LEADER

  • qualified specialist,

  • psychotherapist with 20 years of practical experience,

  • author of remedial programmes for work with children with autism and with children with disabilities,

  • associate professor,

  • candidate of psychological sciences,

  • director of the Centre for Psychological Correction of the city of Uzhhorod,

  • accredited gestalt therapist of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT)

  • member of the Association of Gestalt Therapists of Ukraine

COST OF THE TRAINING:

  • The cost of one two-day module is the equivalent of 120 euros in hryvnia

  • To reserve a place in the group you need to pay for the first meeting (120 euros) and make an advance payment of 30 euros for the last meeting.

  • Advance registration is required in order to take part.

  • You can become a member of the group after an interview.