Thank you for your interest in the Gestalt Training Institute of Philadelphia. We’re taking a pause in admissions for the 2023-2024 academic year. Please visit our Apply Now page to read our complete statement.
Gestalt Therapy Theory is a pioneering approach to human wellness and potential, with roots in Eastern philosophy, existentialism, field theory, and phenomenology. It is an embodied, experiential, and relational theory and practice that current research identifies as pivotal for creating lasting emotional and behavioral change. With its emphasis on awareness and present-moment experience, Gestalt Therapy Theory promotes lively, intimate and vivid dialogue that allows us to connect through our differences and similarities.
The 3-year GTIP training program develops growth and change in trainees, cultivating an embodied, relational and holistic way of being with others. We do this by inviting trainees to experiment with coming forward, withdrawing, taking up space and holding space, all in the here and now.
Gestalt Therapy Theory extends beyond the realm of interpersonal relationships and includes participation in the social, political and economic forces in our world. Gestalt values invite us to heighten our awareness of self, other and situation.
Historically housed at Bryn Mawr College, cohorts are kept small, allowing for individualized instruction. Meeting one weekend per month from September through May, our faculty emphasize experiential learning and the use of experimentation. By observing and experiencing faculty at work, students deepen their understanding of theoretical concepts and learn how to apply these ideas to their lives and work. In small groups, trainees integrate their learning in practice sessions with guidance and supervision.
Our curriculum builds from basic theoretical concepts to more specific applications. Both are interwoven through each aspect of our program. Completion of the 3-year training is contingent on trainees demonstrating an ability to both understand and apply basic Gestalt Therapy principles in their lives. Trainees are expected to engage in a significant course of individual psychotherapy or personal growth work before and during the completion of the program.
| We begin accepting applications for the next Training year each January. |
Our graduates really say it best:
“After most training programs you celebrate all of the knowledge you’ve accumulated from your professors and the cutting edge research you’ve read. GTIP works in reverse. Admittedly, we did do a lot of reading, but the path to a Gestalt diploma could only be traveled by each of us turning inward and forgetting everything we thought we knew. Then, we had to look each other in the eyes, risk vulnerability and exposure and begin to walk together with curiosity and compassion towards an unknown destination. After the first bewildering weekend, one of my classmates asked for the handbook for getting through the Gestalt program. That’s when we learned there wasn’t one.”
Train with us and “experience the wild and nontraditional ways that people heal and come to know themselves better, stronger and gentler.”