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Description:
What does it mean to grow older with awareness, vitality, and authenticity? How might we move beyond society’s narratives of decline and instead discover aging as an unfolding process of becoming more fully ourselves?This experiential Gestalt workshop invites women to gather in community to explore the lived experience of aging through awareness, dialogue, embodiment, and creative experimentation. Together, we will create a field of mutual support where each woman’s experience is honored and where aging is elevated rather than hidden.
We will explore the messages we have absorbed and internalized from family, culture, media, and our communities, noticing how these narratives shape our experience in the present moment. We will become curious about the introjects—the beliefs about beauty, usefulness, productivity, femininity, and growing older that may no longer serve us. We will delve into the polarities of aging—the grief and the gratitude, vulnerability and strength, endings and beginnings, dependence and freedom, fear and possibility—allowing new meanings to emerge.
As we release limiting beliefs and soften those we have nurtured internally, we arrive at the edge—the place where the familiar gives way to possibility. Standing at that edge, each woman is invited to take a courageous step into a more expansive vision of herself as an “Elder.”
As professionals we will experience the power of Gestalt principles applied to supporting women in this stage of development.
Learning Objectives:
Recognize the societal narratives describing aging.
Discuss the impact of the outside influences on our individual aging perspectives
Examine internal beliefs about aging and bring introjects we hold to the forefront.
Experiment to support new possibilities in aging.
Formulate new narratives that validate moving into elderhood.
Identify ways of applying these principles and processes to our work with clients.
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Description:
Legacy is often thought of as something we leave after we die but what if legacy is something we are creating every day?In this workshop, we explore legacy as a living, evolving expression of who we are becoming.
Through a Gestalt approach, participants reflect on both their lived and unlived lives – what has been fully expressed, what has remained hidden or repressed and how these experiences continue to shape the present.
Together, we examine the legacies we have inherited and discern which beliefs, patterns and burdens we are ready to release. We also explore the legacies we wish to cultivate through the choices we make today.
The workshop invites a compassionate exploration of grief, regret and death – not as an isolated event but as an ongoing process, transformation and renewal. By meeting these experiences with awareness we create space for greater freedom, authenticity and purpose.
Rather than asking “How do I want to be remembered?” We will ask the more immediate and transformative question: “How am I showing up today?” Legacy becomes an invitation to live more fully, release what no longer serves us and embody the values we want to leave in the world.
We will explore ways of applying these principles in our work with clients.
Learning Objectives:
Describe various ways legacy can be defined and interpreted
Examine generational legacies we carry
Compare and contrast the facets of our lives that have been expressed and/or repressed
Design a pathway forward to create legacy now.
Identify ways we may apply these principles to our work with clients.
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Description:
There comes a time in every woman's life when she is invited to cross a threshold—not away from life, but more deeply into it. This culminating workshop is an invitation into the sacred alchemy of aging: a rite of passage into Elderhood.Rooted in Gestalt principles of embodied awareness, presence, and authentic contact, we will cultivate a compassionate field where each woman can encounter herself fully and discover what is emerging now. Through dialogue, movement, ritual, silence, and connection with the rhythms of the living Earth, we will gently release inherited beliefs about aging, beauty, productivity, and worth, making space for a deeper identity to unfold.
Together we will enter the fertile void—the liminal space where endings and beginnings meet—and explore aging, impermanence, and even death as profound teachers that deepen our intimacy with life. Witnessing and being witnessed within community, we discover that Elderhood is both a personal transformation and a gift to those around us.
Come with your grief and gratitude, your resilience and your longing. Together we will cross the threshold, witness one another's becoming, and honor Elderhood not as the final chapter of life, but as one of its most luminous and sacred spaces.
Professionals will have the opportunity to experience the power of Gestalt methods from master therapists.
Learning Objectives:
Discuss death and dying as a process rather than event
Recognize introjects that shape beliefs and perceived constraints
Experiment with the mystery of the fertile void
Construct the architecture of your own transformation into elderhood
Identify ways we can apply the Gestalt principles we experienced to our work with older women.
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Description:
What does it mean to become a woman—not only biologically, but emotionally, spiritually, and in relationship with other women? How do we honor each season of our lives while embracing the wisdom, gifts, and challenges each stage brings?This experiential workshop invites women ages 18 and older into a shared exploration of the rich tapestry of womanhood, from Maiden to Mother, Creator, Mentor, and Elder. Together, we will reflect on the stories we have inherited, the roles we have embraced, and the ways we continue to grow and transform throughout our lives.
Through guided Gestalt-inspired awareness practices, meaningful partner and small-group dialogue, reflective exercises, and the wisdom of the larger circle, participants will have the opportunity to deepen their appreciation for their own life stage while cultivating empathy and respect for women in every season. As we listen deeply to one another, we begin to recognize that every phase of womanhood holds unique beauty, purpose, and gifts for the whole community.
Come as you are and experience the strength, compassion, and belonging that emerge when women gather with openness and authenticity. Together, we will weave a living community of women who celebrate one another, learn from one another, and help one another flourish across the generations.
This robust series offers a unique opportunity for expanding our clinical skills in working with this burgeoning population.
Learning Objectives:
Define womanhood
Describe the phases of womanhood along a continuum
Examine the roles that have been inherited
Experiment with awareness practices that deepen appreciation for our respective phases
Construct a crucible to celebrate womanhood across generations
Identify ways we can apply these principles in our work with older women.
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For women interested in personal growth and societal shift around issues or concerns about aging and refining the concept elderhood.
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There are no prerequisites for these workshops.
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Tuition, Refund Policy, Organization Policies
Tuition: $200.00 each individual workshop
$600 (save $200) when you purchase the full series. (4 workshops)—
To receive a refund for your cancellation:
30 or more days prior to your start date, you will be eligible to receive a full refund minus a processing fee.
This processing fee is 4% of total amount.14 or more days prior to your start date, you will be eligible to be refunded 50% of the reservation total.
Cancellations less than 14 days prior to the start date of the workshop or program, credits may be offered at the discretion of the Institute. If the reason for your cancellation is considered an emergency, this will be taken into consideration upon submission of required documentation.
Credits issued in lieu of a refund must be used within 12 months of the original program or workshop start date. After this period, any unused credit will expire and will no longer be valid. Extensions will not be granted.
In the event of cancellation, participants will be notified at least two weeks prior to the workshop start date.
Notice of Nondiscriminatory Policy
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There are no Continuing Education credits offered.
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There is no known conflict of interest for this program.
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Participants must attend the entire course and complete a course evaluation to be given a Certificate of Completion.
Certificates of completion will be emailed within 10 business days of course completion.