Dear Colleagues,
Council has just returned from its first face-to-face meeting in Melbourne where we worked on a strategic plan for the next six months. Please find details of the plan below. We have also had some changes on council withTrish Landsberger and Sophie Boord resigning and two new council members joining us, Barbara Churcher and Eric Houghton. Barbara is our new secretary and Eric will co-chair the international role with Jelena. Thank you for taking on these important positions and thank you Trish and Sophie for your work.
GANZ continues to support Gestalt practitioners in the region as well as expanding knowledge and understanding of Gestalt more widely in the community. The strategic plan supports these objectives. These are exciting and changing times for GANZ and council is available for discussion regarding the strategic plan through the Contact email on our website, or via the blogs in the members area.
Our organisation continues to grow and develop through this time of change, and we continue to be a strong voice for Gestalt. Please share this email with other Gestalt practitioners you may know and encourage them to join. Membership is now a simple online process which is excellent value and will give discounts for all GANZ events. Register here.
There were several key goals in the strategic plan which are expanded below by the relevant elected council members.
Membership drive
Since the consolidation of registering bodies in both Australia and New Zealand, many members have opted not to renew their membership of GANZ. We hope that practitioners will return to us now that we have removed our regulatory function and lowered subscription rates accordingly. We want GANZ to stand as an organisation that provides a sense of community and support for all Gestalt Practitioners in our region. We will make recruitment of members a top priority in the coming six months. We want our modality to not only survive but to grow in strength within the wider psychotherapeutic community.
Current subcommittee: Anthony Jones, Eric Houghton and Elizabeth Denton.
Regional peer groups
We are in the process of developing guidelines for regional peer group meetings to commence in the new year with the support of GANZ. This is an initiative which was clearly identified by membership as an important part of building Gestalt community at both of our recent conferences. At present we are planning to run a pilot in Brisbane in the new year. If you have interest in supporting this regional peer group project in any way please contact Leila.
Subcommittee: Leila Davis, Eric Houghton and Leonie Sinclair.
Professional development opportunities
Opportunities for professional development were discussed and planned for the new year.
International links
The importance of being connected with gestalt organizations worldwide is recognized among GANZ members. In this moment, International part of GANZ actively works with New Zealand gestalt therapists and explores possibilities for future growth in NZ. In addition, as there are three main gestalt therapy organizations – European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT), Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy (AAGT) and Mexican Association for Gestalt Therapy (AMPG), GANZ is trying to develop a platform for gestalt therapy students worldwide through all these associations. The platform will support the exchange of skills, knowledge, and experiences of trainees from various parts of the world. Moreover, GANZ is working on the collaboration with EAGT, AAGT and AMPG through research projects, PD and community engagement. Finally, during 2018 GANZ will try to contact Asian gestalt community and explore possibilities for connection with this part of the world.
An increased focus on Gestalt things in New Zealand is leading to a weekend gathering of practitioners in March 2018 and discussion around greater contact and connection. The aim is to have more New Zealand events and participation in the greater GANZ community. Professional development and access to research is of particular interest. The hope is to collaborate with training institutes in Australia around visiting speakers and trainers along with developing some local content. Regular Skype conferences are planned to allow for dialogue and planning.
Research
GANZ research chair (madeleine Fogarty) has joined the committee for the International research Conference which will be held in Santiago in 2019. This will be an event that represents AAGT, EAGT and GANZ. The AAGT conference in Toronto in 2018 will include a panel on RESEARCH. Our GANZ research chair has been invited to contribute to this panel
Improving the website
The new GANZ website www.ganz.org.au is not only the way for people to join GANZ, it is intended to be an important tool for communication with members, promotion of Gestalt Therapy and the GJANZ Journal online, and to act as a source of resources to support Gestalt practitioners. The website and associated IT arrangements are intended to make administrative tasks of running the organisation as easy as possible, and to set up a structure that will support GANZ to function well in the future. While the basic functions of the website are in place, a lot of work has been taking place in the background to make the most of this tool. Once these tasks are complete, the focus on improving the website will shift towards development of resources for members.
Development of electronic resources for members
We are developing resources for the web-site including articles, videos, weblinks. Anyone who would like to contribute to this resource development is warmly welcome
Gathering 2019
A gathering for Sydney in 2019 is planned under the theme of “Circles within Circles”. This gathering is consistent with the GANZ Council’s plans, in consultation with members, to work towards better inclusion for diverse voices within the Gestalt community.
Engagement with membership around constitutional issues
There have been a number of issues around our Constitution. The structure of Council, the process for its election, membership levels, and the fee structure have all been of concern to various members and groups. We will thoroughly review the constitution over the coming year. Members will have a chance to review the document which we hope can be adopted at the end of 2018.
Current subcommittee: Alan Meara and Elizabeth Denton
Warm regards,
GANZ Council
Leila, Liz, Leanne, Eric, Anthony, Jelena, Barbara, Leonie, Madeleine
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