Key details
Date | Thursday 13 March, 2025
Time | 6.30pm - 8:30pm
Where | Online
Cost | $40 VAGP members. $50 non-members
Facilitator | Anna Kostina
About this event
The therapist's body is always an active participant in every therapy session. By understanding how it can be more involved, and learning to pay attention to our own bodily reactions during sessions, the body becomes a powerful tool for the therapist. It can serve as a source of information about hidden dynamics in the transference field, reflect processes yet to be uncovered in the client’s story, reveal personal needs, and much more.
In this workshop, we will explore:
- How exactly the body participates in the therapeutic process
- Ways therapists can observe and use their sensations and various bodily signals
- The kinds of information we can receive from the body and how to interpret it
Additionally, there will be an experiential component where we will practice observing and understanding our bodily responses.
This workshop will be valuable for therapists who typically do not use body-oriented methods, whether beginners or experienced practitioners.
About your facilitator
Anna Kostina (PhD in Clinical Psychology, GradDip Biosynthesis Psychotherapy, GradDip Supervision)
Anna is a clinical psychologist, body psychotherapist, and supervisor in Biosynthesis Therapy. She is a member of the European Association for Psychotherapy and has over 20 years of experience working with individuals and groups. Anna also teaches as an external collaborator at the Greek Centre of Biosynthesis, the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, and other institutions.
Her extensive experience includes participation in the International Program between Moscow, Russia, and Heiden, Switzerland, which has enriched her psychotherapy practice with a multicultural and a broad perspective (https://www.europsyche.org/approaches/biosynthesis/).
She can be contacted at annabkostina@gmail.com.
About the Gestalt Centre
The Gestalt Centre is the heart of Melbourne’s Gestalt community. We offer a four-year psychotherapy training program through Gestalt Therapy Australia, staying true to the experiential roots of Gestalt while embracing cutting-edge developments in contemporary Gestalt thinking and practice worldwide.
We also operate ConnectGround, a community-based counselling and psychotherapy clinic. ConnectGround serves as both a training facility for psychotherapists and a provider of low-cost individual and group therapy for clients. The clinic emphasises the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist as a key support for building awareness and adaptability. Psychotherapy interns and volunteers gain valuable hands-on experience, enhancing their skills and professionalism through client work.
