Workshops

Introductory Training Workshop: Gestalt Institute of Kentucky (6 sessions)

Dates: February 7th through April 11, 2026

       The objective is to acquaint participants with the history, theory and practice of Gestalt therapy, which in the early 1970’s was the third most frequently used approach to psychotherapy (behind psychoanalysis and behavior therapy) in the United States.  After several decades of emphasis on dualistic, symptom-oriented approaches such as CBT, DBT and EMDR, the wholistic, existential foundation of Gestalt therapy is allowing it to re-emerge in the Americas and western Europe as a means to vitalize the therapist-client relationship and the therapeutic process. 

The workshop provides 24 hours of in-person and virtual training for therapists, counselors and personal coaches who have had no prior formal training in the Gestalt approach to therapy and personal growth.

          Gestalt therapy is experiential, experimental and expressive. Rather than attempting to dissociate emotions from traumatic memories, the Gestalt approach enables clients to develop the support they need to integrate and act on them.  It requires far more than conceptual and classroom learning on the part of the therapist, who must participate in her or his own therapy and self-exploration to learn how to guide clients through the same process.  

          The institute’s certification program entails 300-hours of training over a period of 2 1/2 years.  This workshop, for participants who may become interested in certification, will count toward that requirement.  CE credit (12 hours) for part of the introductory workshop is in the process of application and if approved will be available for psychologists, social workers and professional counselors.

The schedule is as follow:

Two 6-hour trainings (Saturdays)  (9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. with lunch break)

Four 3-hour trainings (Tuesdays) (6 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. with one break)

          The workshop fee is $600.00 A $ 75.00 non-refundable deposit is due two weeks prior to the first meeting. The remainder of the fee is due at that meeting. . 

         The workshop curriculum is available upon request to Dr. Maggard at 427 W. Jefferson Street, Paducah, KY 42001.