Outdoor Gestalt Workshop in Nature: Wild Shore—Ecotherapeutic Practices in Gestalt Therapy
“Psychotherapy works best through the ear. It is, above all, a matter of listening to the whole person—to everything that is submerged, unborn, hidden: the newborn, the shadow, the wildness, the beginning.” T. Roszak.
The Wild Shore is an experimental space that invites us to encounter ourselves, the Other, and the living world. It is an experimental space, immersed in the senses, where all our connections to life as a process take shape. It is a workshop space for phenomenological discoveries of your connection to the Earth and ecosystems of healing. It is grounded in the recognition that “wild” means self-regulating. The intention of this invitation is to jointly explore ways to strengthen our bonds with nature and connect with our ecological self. We will ground the sense of the wild self, rooting it in a network of connections with the environment. Through various practices and forest-based activities, we will focus on sensory, intersubjective connection. We will invite our imagination to engage in creative work related to the practice of radical inclusivity that embraces non-human beings. Our workshop-based work in a small community, grounded in field theory, will enrich our adoption of a biocentric perspective.
Through its existential, holistic, and phenomenological nature, Gestalt psychotherapy is able to beautifully weave a living bridge with eco-psychological and eco-therapeutic thought. It offers support for a conscious sense of belonging to the planet. At the heart of the practice lies the field theory perspective, which emphasizes humility stemming from the recognition that healing processes are perceived as field forces greater than the therapeutic relationship itself. Gestalt drawing on ecopsychology is a practice of becoming whole, a practice of belonging to the whole and of growing downward—toward the Earth, the roots, and the mycelium of connections. Gestalt ecology draws on ancient wisdom, radically connecting us to the body and to our bodily resonance with the living world. It invites us to reclaim the ability to function within a group that becomes a community. It awakens a longing for vital contact with nature and teaches resilience and regeneration. It can create a space for healing the processes of grief and provides ritual support as we cross the various thresholds of life.
Gestalt Workshop (Retreat) — About the Facilitator:
I have been working psychotherapeutically for more than a dozen years. I combine the aesthetics of Gestalt therapy with ecopsychology and deep ecology. I conduct workshops for people interested in integrating the psychotherapeutic process with work in nature. I am interested in the psychological phenomena of the late Anthropocene and the quality of contact with the “wild self.”
I co-create original projects-vessels for collective maturation and practice of conscious femininity. I participate in community projects related to climate activism and supporting the culture of therapy in building practices for health. My intention is an embodied practice where the deeply healing quality is an engaged presence.
Monika Gendek also leads supervision sessions for practitioners of various therapeutic modalities.