Networking meeting with IAAGT
The Lodz Gestalt School actively participated in an initiative offered by IAAGT – the International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy. Together with other institutes from Ukraine and Georgia (Germany was ultimately unable to join), we organized a meeting for those involved in Gestalt therapy in parallel with an international conference held in Veracruz, Mexico, under the title “Re-Imagining and Co-creating. Re-Imaginer and Co-Creator.”
Networking meeting with IAAGT – proceedings:
All Polish institutes and people connected with the Gestalt current living in Poland and abroad were invited to this meeting. The most committed participants came from different cities of Poland and for 9 hours (!) we had a wonderful time together! We shared our feelings and visions about our participation in the international community, discovered how we experience ourselves as people and how we can meet each other through our common humanity.
Together we also developed a message to the international community:
“Being different in our experiences and personalities, we strive to transform the old into the new by experiencing our humanity through belonging to the Gestalt community. Although we have mostly had to leave our countries and lack a sense of security in various spheres, we still have interest and motivation to interact.”
It was a completely new experience – participating in an international initiative – connecting with participants from Ukraine, Georgia, as well as the conference in Mexico. We really felt connected (which was the main idea of the initiative). Through these meetings it was possible to feel the energy of connection without being physically present in Mexico!
Unfortunately, the participants of the Polish meetings were exclusively migrants – Polish institutes did not give priority to the event and did not join this time. However, we were happy that in Georgia the situation changed – local Georgian colleagues joined the meeting, which was also attended by migrants from neighboring countries.
Nevertheless, we all derived warmth from the contact and being together! We are happy that the Lodz Gestalt School has such close ties with IAAGT through the many people who have supported our school since its inception – Rafael Cortina (chairman of the Mexico Conference Organizing Committee) and Lena Grigorieva (member of our team and IAAGT Regional Development Committee). It’s really great to explore the field and adapt to the here and now, working with people dedicated to the principles of Gestalt philosophy.