Beginning January 2010
The Gestalt Couples Therapy Training Program provides practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to view a couple as a two-person system. An emphasis on building a collaborative system enables therapists and others who provide support to couples to identify a couple's strengths as well as ineffective patterns of interacting. Participants learn how to support couples in developing new and more effective relational processes.
The program is designed to meet the needs of a two different sub-groups of participants:
Group A
(Composed of Clergy and others who are new to learning Gestalt theory and practice)
Group B
(Composed of participants who have completed the Gestalt Training Program (GTP) or its equivalent)
The program is composed of a series of seven sessions. Each session consists of a two-day weekend. Group A and Group B meet together on Saturdays for two training practice sessions (practicums). The curriculum and practicum tasks are designed to support students' level of Gestalt therapy theory knowledge and skills.
The program also includes a series of 12 online conferences which are provided during the period between each of the training weekends. These sessions present theories of Gestalt couples therapy, interactive experiential exercises and learning practice sessions. Students form small learning teams who partner in completing the experiential activities and learning exercises.
| Group A | Practicum Dates | Group B |
| 2010 | 2010 | 2010 |
| January 22-23 | January 23 | January 23-24 |
| February 19-20 | February 20 | February 20-21 |
| March 26-27 | March 27 | March 27-28 |
| May 7-9 | May 1 | May 1-2 |
| June 11-12 | June 12 | June 12-13 |
| September 10-11 | September 11 | September 11-12 |
| October 15-16 | October 16 | October 16-17 |
Interested persons should submit an application and interview (phone or in person) with a faculty member.
Once accepted, participants must have web access to participate in the online conferences.
121 hours of instruction
A free half-day orientation session for prospective students who are interested in enrolling in the training program can be provided through the program's distance learning component. Contact the registrar at registrar@gestaltcleveland.org for more information.
Volunteer clients must commit to participating in five Saturday sessions with a student from the training program.
Application Fee (Non-refundable): $150
Tuition: $3,500
Chairperson(s)
Lester P. Wyman, PhD, LISW-S Bio
Karen Tomoff, LPCC-S, LICDC Bio
Faculty will be drawn from:
Debra Dunkle, PhD, LISW Bio
Alan Federman, MA Bio
Martina Moore, LISW Bio
Elizabeth Bach Van-Valkenburgh, LISW-S Bio