Arleen Maiorano: Executive Director, LCSW, LP, DCSW, Columbia University, is an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College. She has been trained in EMDR, Imago Relationship Therapy, and Interactive Group Therapy and integrates these modalities into her work with individuals, couples, and groups. "I most appreciate Gestalt Therapy's emphasis on relationship; on the belief that when we meet with fullness and openness, with genuine and unreserved acceptance, we create the ground from which all healing takes place."

Patricia Tucker: Director of Training, LCSW, LP, ACSW, Columbia University, is a graduate of Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy. In addition to her background in Gestalt Therapy, Patricia holds a certificate from the New York Society for Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. She is an Adjunct Professor, NYU School of Social Work. "What excites me about our work in Gestalt therapy is its focus on process. When we gain experiential awareness of how we do what we do, new choices emerge spontaneously. Our radical focus on process keeps our work alive and full of possibility."

Alan Cohen: Clinic Director, MSW, LCSW, LP, ACSW, BCD, Washington University. Alan's interest in Gestalt therapy coincides with his 35 years of meditation practice. He studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi over the course of four years, before beginning his post graduate training in Gestalt therapy. "I see the two approaches as complementing and supporting each other in their focus on awareness, the present moment, and acceptance of what is, as the basis of moving into the next moment. I am particularly interested in the curative and healing value of one's own presence."

Susan Friedberg: Family Program Director, LCSW, LP, ACSW, BCD, GCP, University of Michigan, has been practicing Gestalt Psychotherapy for the past thirty years. She is a graduate of the Gestalt Center and has also trained with Laura Perls and Jay Earley. Sue is an experienced couples and family therapist, having graduated from Ackerman Institute, and studied at Family Institute of Westchester, and Family Center with Salvatore Minuchin. For Sue, the Gestalt work continues to be exciting and fruitful. "I am always impressed by the power of the experiential work to further awareness, self discovery and creativity."

Connie Newman: Assistant Director of Training, MA, MA, LCAT, LMHC, LP, NCC, New York University. Connie's interest in Gestalt therapy evolved from a professional dance and dance education background, to movement-dance therapy training, to the integrated mind-body emphasis of Gestalt. "My current interests lie in the multi-utilizations of the therapeutic relationship to illustrate, engage and repair developmental wounds."

Johanna Barrett, LCSW, ACSW, New York University, has been in the practice of psychotherapy for 33 years and is a graduate of the Gestalt Center. She has had numerous courses in the treatment of individuals, groups, couples and family therapy. She was in psychoanalytic supervision with Dr. Richard Robertiello for 24 years. "Gestalt Therapy has always gone beyond looking at just the cognitive, linear perspectives of the person. It demands of the therapist an awareness of the body and how it manifests the psyche,which to me, is one of the greatest contributions to the field of psychotherapy."

Ruella Frank, PhD, LMHC, LP, Union Institute Graduate School, holds an MA in Movement Therapy and a PhD in Somatic Psychology. She has been exploring early infant movements and their relationship to the adult for over twenty-five years. She brings her background as professional dancer, yoga practitioner/teacher, and student of Laura Perls, to her Gestalt practice. "Gestalt Therapy has provided me a real home within its theory. It has allowed me to learn difficult psychological and philosophical concepts through the experience of my body."

Susan Jurkowski, LCSW, LP, ACSW, CGP, BCD, University of Pennslyvania, has a background in feminist psychotherapy, and special interests and training in dreamwork and group work. She has studied Jungian approaches to dreams, and recently completed training in Embodied Dream Imagery with Jungian analyst Robert Bosnak. "For me, the essence of Gestalt therapy is our creative interest and active engagement with what's happening in the present moment."

John Mastro, LCSW, Hunter College School of Social Work, is a Certified Eicksonian Hypnotherapist, and NLP Practitioner. He has trained with Laura Perls, and studied Rubenfeld Synergy, Bioenergetics, and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. He additionally has 35 years studying Tai chi, Twei Na, and Bagua. "Gestalt therapy has help lead me to a profound "knowing" that truth, beauty, magic and imagination can not be defined or explained. They can only be experienced. This 'knowing' informs my work and touches my life, soul and spirit."

Jim Mulry, LCSW, LP, ACSW, Fordham University, includes his gestalt training with Laura Perls and his years of mindfulness meditation as central to his present therapy work. Besides working with adults and couples, Jim also is skilled at working with adolescents. "When I found Gestalt, I felt that I had discovered a whole new way of seeing and understanding people, and even more importantly, myself, and that continues to this day."

Richard Shrobe, LCSW, LP, ACSW, Hunter School of Social Work, graduated from the Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and Training and did additional Gestalt training for two years with Laura Perls. He has been practicing since 1976 and worked in the drug rehabilitation field before entering private practice. He has also been a practitioner and teacher of Zen meditation. He is Zen Master in the Kwam Um School of Zen. "What is most important to me about Gestalt Therapy is the emphasis on person to person in the here and now."

Allan Whiteman, LCSW, LP, ACSW, BCD, Smith College, began his training in Gestalt Therapy in 1972. "I am most interested in its potential to see awareness as a human presence, which heals by seeing the wholeness which is already intrinsic in each of us." Allan has also done twenty-five years of Zen practice, ten years studying the Diamond Approach of A.H. Almaas, as well as long study in the therapeutic traditions of hypnotherapy with Stephen Gilligan and brief therapy. Most recently he began a hospice program in one of the New York State prisons.

Neila Wyman, LCSW, LP, RPP, Fordham University, came to Gestalt from five years of Jungian therapy and study. Gestalt therapy was an experiential revelation for her. She relished engaging so physically in the present and sensing the connection between herself and the world around her. Her curiosity led her deeper into healing in the body, energy and nervous systems. She studied Polarity therapy, Core Energetics, Somatic Experiencing and EMDR, and she trained in interactive group therapy with Jay Early. "Gestalt therapy, holistic in orientation, creates the space that holds and integrates these layers of healing."

ADJUNCT FACULTY
Dan Bloom, JD, LCSW, NYU School of Social Work
Francis La Barre, PhD, Union Institute Graduate School
Lina Jandorf: MHC, MA, State University of New York at Stonybrook
Evan Senreich, DSW, LCSW, CASAC, New York University
Todd Senzon, LP, MA , New York University

 

Faculty can be contacted at gestaltassoc@aol.com