There is a detailed description of the comprehensive program. We offer pre-workshops to get to know each other and to help you decide on your training. Next pre-workshop: June 26, 2026

There is a detailed description of the comprehensive program.

The workshop is an introduction to working with Gestalt for counseling, coaching, and therapy. Exercises for self-awareness, group discussion, and space for sensing and perceiving what is currently coming into focus are well balanced. The ‘experience-based work’ in the here and now provides an initial insight into some of the basics of Gestalt therapy/counseling:

Phenomenology and how (and why) it is effectively applied in practice with clients. The important role of perception, awareness, and interpretation of our own experiences (awareness). The underlying assumptions about how change and perhaps even healing can occur through working in the here and now.

There will be brief theoretical inputs and ideas/resources on how to deepen this knowledge if interested, but the focus of this workshop is on experience and practice.

Date: 10.00 – 16.30 Uhr

Led by: Alex Neumann

Costs: 90 €

Venue: INKONTAKT Gestaltinstitut Berlin

Registration: inkontakt@gestalt-institut.com

We all have an implicit capacity for intersubjectivity, for empathizing with others and sensing their emotions and intentions. In this workshop, we will experience the resonances of the encounter through movement and other means of expression, such as creative writing and other artistic approaches. We will experiment with the methods of “mirroring” and “attunement” and in this way expand the possibilities of communication and being in contact and strengthen the ability to empathize.

Questions for this seminar and also for our lives are “What does the other person awaken in me?” “What parts of myself do I sense in the other person?” “Can we tap into the resources that we can recognize in our daily encounters with the other person?”

Every relationship can be imagined as a “pas de deux” from which everyone can emerge enriched, with new impulses in their knowledge of themselves and what is around them. And this “pas de deux” can then expand into a larger, collective dance.

This workshop is aimed at professionals in the helping professions as well as psychotherapists, teachers, artists, dancers and performers and all interested people of all ages.

Leader: Annalisa Maggiani, Psychologist, Dr.Phil. (University of Pisa), Dance and Movement Therapist (Art Therapy Italiana- A.P.I.D) MA in Art Psychotherapy (Goldsmiths-University of London) Advanced Master’s Degree in Authentic Group Movement (Art Therapy Italiana), Butoh

Date: February 14 – 15, 2026, Sa 10.00 – 17.00 + Su 10 .00 – 13.00

Costs: 150 €

Registration: inkontakt@gestalt-institut.com

Venue: Inkontakt Gestalt Institute Berlin, Gleimstr. 37, 10437 Berlin

Within a contemplative, body- and tango-oriented approach to Gestalt therapy—referred to as Relationship That Can Be Danced (Bdmtk)—eight phases of archetypal encounters are explored and shaped through individual and collective presence and through the tango-specific way of walking known as El Caminar. These phases are described as: noticing, positioning, arriving, giving impulse, responding, accompanying, and gathering. Within the contact cycle, they correspond to pre-contact, initiation of contact, full contact, and post-contact.

The therapeutic use of these phases strengthens presence, stimulates awareness, and modulates the quality of contact. The accompanying deceleration revitalizes and refines self-experience as well as the perception of the relational field. What emerges is reflected upon within the ritual of partner contemplation. Experiences that prove meaningful in self-exploration are then reflected upon with regard to one’s own therapeutic practice.

In this ritual, two people meet beyond opinion, dispute, and injury. Scientifically examined effects of Bdmtk include an increase in both the capacity for individuation and the capacity for surrender, as well as a reduction in conflict behavior. In one study, 18 couples reported higher satisfaction with their partnership one month after the standard weekend than before.

Participants may attend with or without a partner. No dance experience is required.

Contents and Processes

• The eight phases of an archetypal encounter

• Body-oriented self-experience

• Axis and autonomy: differentiation as a competence

• Synchronicity and confluence: touch and flow as a gift

• Partner contemplations: brief, healing, and connecting rituals

Facilitator: Johannes Feuerbach, he developed Relationship That Can Be Danced as a self-experience method for couples, drawing on Lomi bodywork, Gestalt therapy, contemplation, and tango. He began his therapeutic practice in 1980, initially working with Lomi bodywork. His therapeutic focus lies in couple and group therapy. He is a teaching therapist and trainer in Gestalt couple therapy. His most recent publication on Bdmtk appeared in GESTALTTHERAPIE 2022/2. He holds a degree in education and is a Gestalt therapist accredited by DVG and EAGT, a DVG-certified supervisor, and a psychotherapist (EAP/HP).

Dates: June 27–28
Schedule:
Saturday: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Fee: €150
Location: INKONTAKT Gestalt Institute Berlin
Registration: inkontakt@gestalt-institut.com

20. – 31.07.2026 each from 10.00 – 16.00 Uhr

The first week will be in German, the second week in English.

20.07.: Kunst als Zugang zu inneren Bewegungen. Intuitives Zeichnen als non-verbale Methode mit sich in Fühlung zu kommen. Leitung: Nicole F. Brémond

21.07.: Die Stille als Möglichkeit die Ohren nach Innen zu öffnen und mit sich selbst in Beziehung zu treten. Leitung: Birgit Schönberger

22.07.: Resonanzen werden in Bewegung und Tanz zum Ausdruck gebracht und durch Malen und Schreiben vertieft. Leitung: Annalisa Maggiani

23.07.: Körperverbundenheit wird durch Wahrnehmungsübungen, Bewegung, Dialog und Resonanz in der Gruppe gestärkt. Leitung: Carola Knüppel

24.07.: 

25.07.: Exploration in the Here and Now – A Day of Perception, Stillness and Movement. Led by Vera Mysak

26.07.: 

27.07.: Inner tensions, conflicts, and unresolved issues are brought to light and dealt with creatively. Led by: Gabriele Blankertz

28.07.: Silence as an opportunity to open your ears inwards and enter into a relationship with yourself. Led by Birgit Schönberger

29.07.: 

30.07.:

31.07.:

Costs: 80 € per day 

Registration: g.blankertz@gestalt-institut.com

Vanue: InKontakt Gestaltinstitut Berlin, Gleimstraße 37, 10437 Berlin

The training offers participants a framework for learning and development processes that enable them to deal responsibly with personal and social challenges and to manage conflicts appropriately. In this training course, we will work on conflicts in the context of family, partnership, growing up and society in a relationship-oriented way. An understanding of inner-psychological, interpersonal and social dynamics will be conveyed. Both internal and external areas of conflict are examined and dealt with. We work with experience-oriented methods of self-management and dealing with conflicts, tying in with inner values and working out their motivational power. Building on this, participants develop personal goals and strategies to achieve them.

Gestalt therapy background knowledge is imparted and implemented methodically and experimentally. The basics for working with people in social professions are taught in 10 workshops.

The training will be held in Arabic.

Introductory date: 29.03.2025

With the further training course “Flight and Identity”, we offer Arabic-speaking employees of social organisations/institutions with their own flight/migration experience a structured framework for a targeted examination of the question of how flight affects the identity of refugees. The participants contribute their own experiences, which are jointly reflected upon on the basis of the Gestalt approach and made usable for counselling work in various social fields. The focus is on dialogue-based work and creative methods.

This group supports women who, after losing their familiar life in Syria, are looking for a way into a self-determined life here in Berlin. Women find a safe place here where they can

find peace and understanding conversation partners
get support for coping with everyday problems
Experience strength and encouragement in exchange with other women
Learn coping strategies for dealing with the consequences of trauma.
Support for own goals and plans.
Body work, yoga, etc. contribute to mental stabilization.
The group sessions are supplemented by individual discussions as needed.

Time: Monday from 18:00 – 20:30.

Costs: The offer is free of charge for the women! 

Direction: Rawaa Alsamman, counselor, Gestalt therapist and take place in person or online.

Registration: inkontakt@gestalt-institut.com

The Space Between – Bridging Differences Through Encounter

Friday, June 20, 2025

From 2:00 p.m., admission begins: a calm and warm arrival before the opening.

2:30 p.m., Welcome and Opening of the Conference – Gabriele Blankertz opens the conference with a personal speech on Gestalt training as a laboratory for peace-building processes – then and now.

3:30 p.m ., Lecture: My Journey as a Psychotherapist Under Dictatorial Rule – Syrian psychotherapist Dr. Mouta Barakat speaks about what it means to practice therapy under authoritarian rule – and how fear and repression shape healing processes and social life. (In English)

6:00 p.m., Exhibition Opening – Featuring works by Syrian artists currently participating in the Gestalt training program – a moving testament to inner processes and creative expression.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

From 10:00 a.m., Admission

11:00 a.m., Lecture: Why War? – A Gestalt Perspective – Dr. Stefan Blankertz discusses the Gestalt theory of aggression as a key to understanding war, conflict, and change. A timely perspective on a frequently misunderstood force. (in German)

11:00 a.m., Lecture: Resilience and Healing – Dr. Lidia Chylewska-Barakat shares insights from ten years of trauma work in Syria – and how hope, empathy, and connection became powerful companions on the path to resilience and healing. (In English)

2:00 p.m., Workshop 1: Transcultural Dialogue Group – A workshop that embodies and connects across diversity. It will take place in three languages (English, Arabic, and German) and will be led by institute director Gabriele Blankertz and Rawaa Alsamman.

2:00 p.m., Workshop 2: Encountering ourselves and others from within – When we arrive in our center, true encounter becomes possible. In this workshop, we explore how genuine presence emerges from inner connectedness – both with ourselves and in contact with others. Facilitated by: Birgit Schönberger. (in German)

4:00 p.m., Workshop 3: Topdog/Underdog – Dynamic – We explore inner tensions between control and resistance – and the longing for freedom hidden within them. Facilitated by: Ben Graham (in English)

4:00 p.m., Workshop 4: Resonance Space– What Is Alive in Me in the Here & Now – In this workshop, we open a space for what moves us and enter into resonance with what emerges between us. Facilitated by: Gabriele Blankertz

From 7:00 p.m.: Festive Evening – with live music, swing and Latin rhythms, and space for dancing, connection, and celebration.

Sunday: June 22, 2025

10:00 a.m., Workshop 5: Practical Introduction to Art Therapy – From the Periphery to the Core – Connecting the In-Between Between inner and outer worlds unfolds a play of movement, perception, and image. In this workshop, we follow searching impulses – physical, emotional, mental – and explore the in-between spaces where the visible begins to emerge. Facilitated by: Nicole F. Brémond.

1:00 – 2:30 p.m.: Finissage – The artists will be present, offering the opportunity to engage in conversation in a relaxed atmosphere and to purchase artworks.

3:00 p.m.: Closing Gathering

Lectures are held in German and English and are available as texts in the other language.